The Hmong minority people of Laos migrated to the hills of Luang Prabang from Yunnan province of Southern China in the early 19th century. By the end of the19th century several Hmong villages had been established in the golden triangle of Thailand. Silver is symbolic to this hill tribe people as wealth and good life. As such a lot of wealth is kept in the form of silver jewellery. Neck rings are worn either singly or up to six tiers. Lock-shaped pendants suspended from heavy chains are attached to them. At a naming ceremony a Hmong baby is given a silver neck ring to keep the soul in to signify that the baby belongs to the human world. These lock ornaments were also used in healing ceremonies to recall the wandering souls of the sick to be called back and secured to the body.