Left:  A glass bead necklace from Maker Faire, by Jenine Bressner.  Beads are among the oldest forms of human adornment, representing our earliest expressions of abstract symbolic communication.

Right:  Neck rings worn by women of the Padaung.  According to the Padaung creation myth, the rings are a reminder of the long-necked dragon mother from whose egg the Paudaung emerged.