[Pino Bianco, an Italian antiquities collector and archaeological consultant, has amassed an array of ancient gemstone and bead necklaces that made their first appearance in the U.S. at the JCK International Jewelry Show in Las Vegas in June. The following excerpts are from a speech he delivered at the GemFest Europa symposium in June in Vicenza, Italy.] Since the beginning of time, after solving the problems of survival and realizing themselves to be different from the other animals, human beings started to think about enhancing their bodies with ornaments. It is interesting to note how for ancient people, body ornaments came immediately after &endash; if not at the same time as &endash; essential tools linked with survival, such as eating implements. In very early periods, as far back as the Upper Paleolithic Period (about 20,000 years B.C.), people created their ornaments