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Americas

Jewellery played a major role in the fate of the Americas when the Spanish established an empire to seize South American gold. Jewellery making developed in the Americas 5,000 years ago in Central and South America. Large amounts of gold was easily accessible, and the Aztecs and Mayans created numerous works in the metal. Among the Aztecs, only nobility wore gold jewellery, as it showed their rank, power and wealth. Gold jewellery was most common in the Aztec Empire and was often decorated with feathers from birds. The main purpose of Aztec jewellery was to draw attention, with richer and more powerful Aztecs wearing brighter, more expensive jewellery and clothes. Although gold was the most common and popular material used in Aztec jewellery, silver was also readily available throughout the American empires. In addition to adornment and status, the Aztecs also used jewellery in sacrifices to appease the gods. Priests also used gem encrusted daggers to perform animal and humen sacrifices.^[12][21]

Another ancient American civilization with expertise in jewellery making was the Maya. At the peak of their civilization, the Maya were making beautiful jewellery from jade, gold, silver, bronze and copper. Maya designs were similar to those of the Aztecs, with lavish head dresses and jewellery. The Maya also traded in precious gems. However, in earlier times, the Maya had little access to metal, so made the majority of their jewellery out of bone or stone. Merchants and nobility were the only few that wore expensive jewellery in the Maya Empire, much the same as with the Aztecs.^[25]

In North America, Native Americans used shells, wood, turquoise, and soapstone, almost unavailable in South and Central America. The Native Americans utilized the properties of the stone and used it often in their jewellery, particularly in earlier periods. The turquoise was used in necklaces and to be placed in earrings. Native Americans with access to oyster shells, often located in only one location in American, traded the shells with other tribes, showing the great importance of the body adornment trade in Northern America.^[27]

Although initially of interest either as a curiosity or a source of raw material, jewellery designs from the Americas has come to play a significant role in modern jewellery (see below).

Source from : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki