Once working metal jewelry became established at various places in the world, bracteates quickly came to appear on local clothing. They are already found on the clothing of the ancient Egyptian pharaoh, Tutankhamun, in the fourteenth century BC. They are also found among the artifacts from the so-called Tillya Tepe Hoard from northern Afghanistan, dating to the beginning of the first millennium AD, but also on excavated garments found along the ancient Silk Road, at excavations in China, and these days in global fashion and regional dress.
The word bracteate derives from the Latin bractea, meaning a thin piece of metal.
Digital source illustration (retrieved 18 June 2016).
GVE