Ancient jewellery is any form of ornamentation people used in the olden times. When the term jewellery is used, many people think of its proper and widely accepted definition as those pieces made of precious metals such as gold, silver, platinum, copper, and brass with mounted gemstones, precious or semiprecious stones. What is not a popular notion is that they may be made of different kinds of organic as well as inorganic materials—for example, feathers, hair, scales, bones, leather, shells, ceramics, wood, metals, and minerals.

People of all cultures ever since the ancient times have been wearing ornaments for personal beautification, as marks of social or official rank, as symbols of affiliation in any religious, social, or political group.

These pieces of jewellery have been worn on the head as crowns, tiaras, hairpins, hat ornaments, earrings, nose rings, lip rings, and earplugs; on the neck as necklaces, collars, and pendants; on the breast as brooches, buttons, and clasps; on the extremities as bracelets, rings, armlets, and anklets; and at the waist area as girdles and belts.

The information on this type of jewellery was largely derived from the artifacts that have been dug—that is, those personal objects in the tombs that have been preserved all this time. Other current knowledge on jewellery from ancient times (those that were not buried with the dead) can be traced back to those portraits in ancient paintings and sculptures.

Understanding the history of jewellery provides understanding as regards to how the culture evolved with time because wearing jewellery depicts the personality of one, who is part of a group displaying similar characteristics.