Metal keys first appeared during the Ancient Roman Empire and were viewed and often flaunted during the period as an indicator of wealth and/or elevated social status, as Ancient Roman keys were typically comprised of bronze or iron, occasionally worn as decorative jewelry (e.g. rings, bracelets, belt attachments etc.), and used primarily to secure high value items (e.g. jewelry boxes, document cases, coin chests etc.) making them both functional tools but also visible reminders of social status and income. Because only the wealthy could afford metal keys within the Ancient Roman Empire, lower socioeconomic classes relied upon more simplistic, wooden lock mechanisms and in many cases left valuable possessions unsecured entirely. Some Ancient Roman keys featured intricate designs (e.g. animal motifs and geometric patterns etc.), personalized and designed to reflect the predilections of the owner of the key and the lock it is designed for. The Latin term for key, which is “clavis”, evolved and came to mean “code” or “solution” over time, which is notable because it demonstrates the period when physical access and security and intellectual access and security became conceptually correlated with one another. Archaeologists and historians have recovered metal keys from Ancient Roman villas, balneae (pronounced “bahl-neh-eye”) which are bathhouses, and burial sites, often discovered alongside personal items (e.g. grooming tools, coins, small religious tokens etc.). The modern day concept of personal security and having exclusive access to one’s belongings and/or information traces its origins back to these early locking mechanisms and keys as what began as a practical intervention for safeguarding valuables laid the foundation for the modern day systems of privacy, ownership, and controlled access to sensitive and/or valuable information or objects
