A Golden Funerary Mask (ca 7th – 4th Centuries BCE). From the Necropolis of Trebenishte, Illyrian Kingdom of the Enchelei (Lake Ohrid). [1024×1024]

A tradition dating back to the Mycenean Elite, even before the Trojan war – [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mask_of_Agamemnon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mask_of_Agamemnon)

Possibly even earlier, with discoveries like the Varna Man in Bulgaria dating thousands of years earlier.