First of all, it is for the need for survival. In primitive societies, in the process of fighting against nature, in order to protect themselves and avoid the harm of beasts, human beings often wear animal skins, horns and other things on their heads, arms, wrists or feet, on the one hand, in order to dress themselves as the same kind of prey to confuse each other, on the other hand, these animal skins and horns themselves are a weapon of defense or attack. As for the small gravel, small animal bones or animal teeth hanging from the neck, waist or wrist, in addition to the earliest unconscious decorative behavior of man, the real function is probably for the need to count or remember.
Secondly, it is a symbol of strength. In a very simple primitive society, human beings undoubtedly need courage and strength to demand food from nature and defeat fierce beasts. In the eyes of primitive people, the reason why the beast is full of power, its sharp claws, hard bones and beautiful fur must have played an important role. Therefore, after capturing these beasts, humans ate what they could eat, and wore their bones, teeth, etc. on their bodies, thinking that they would absorb the power of the beasts and defeat the fierce beasts with it. It seems that from these primitive jewelry, primitive people have received some spiritual comfort and strength.
On the other hand, the more a person wears such and "jewelry," the more likely he is to wear more and more valuable jewelry. In fact, these brave people often like to decorate their bodies with bright, eye-catching and easily recognizable bodies, such as beautiful feathers, teeth of beasts, rare shells and even valuable "beautiful stones" (jade) as symbolic signs to show and show off their strength and authority. Plekhanov said in On Art: "These things were first worn only as signs of bravery, dexterity and force, but later on. It is precisely because they are signs of bravery, dexterity and power that they begin to evoke aesthetic sensations and fall into the scope of ornaments. "
Third, it is a kind of totem worship. The sun, moon, stars, wind, rain, thunder and lightning, these are originally ordinary natural phenomena; But in the eyes of primitive people, these things have some kind of magical power. Primitive people lived with nature, with the sun, the moon, the stars, the rivers, and the flying beasts, and they worshiped the substances that nature had given them to survive. Over time, this substance was deeply imprinted in their minds and became a totem with magical powers. They worship it as their ancestors or protectors, or as blood relatives of their clan or tribe. In the beginning, humans assimilated themselves into these totems in order to protect themselves. Slowly, people incorporated these totems into their jewelry, and made their jewelry into the image or shape of these totems, such as round bracelets and rings like the sun and full moon; Like bird-shaped crowns, hair strands, and so on.
Fourth, it serves as a talisman. Engels pointed out: "In ancient times, people were completely unaware of their body structure and were affected by dream scenes, so they had the idea that their thoughts and feelings were not the activities of their bodies, but a unique activity of the soul that dwelled in this body and left the body at the time of death." "Primitive man believed that all things have a soul, and that the soul is divided into good and evil, and that it is the good spirit that brings happiness and joy to mankind, and the evil spirit that brings disaster and disease. In order to keep the evil spirits from approaching and at the same time to be protected by the good spirits, primitive people used ropes to wear shells, small gravel, feathers, animal teeth, leaves, and fruits on their bodies, believing that these things had a supernatural power invisible to the human eye, with which man could be blessed and evil would be driven away. These things, which reduced protection and warded off evil spirits, were later put on the human body in the shape of some kind of ornament, and became a kind of special jewelry. Moreover, this custom and meaning have also been preserved, and jewelry has been given more beautiful sustenance and mysterious colors by human beings.