Cultural masks are known to have been worn long before human beings developed written language. Many types of masquerade used by preliterate societies have disappeared from history, frequently along with the societies themselves. In many cases, only archaeological fragments, drawings, or photographs remain to tell us what the masks looked like and give a sense of how the societies used them. It is known that the ancient peoples of the Americas used masquerade in war, religion, and entertainment, although the only surviving artifacts are death masks. 

The earliest surviving masks are made of stone or seashell, and were found in the region now known as Israel, Palestine, and Jordan. These date back some 9000 years. Wood masks were probably used for living masquerade much earlier, but, due to weathering, few have survived. The oldest such mask is what appears to be a crest mask representing an aardvark, discovered in Angola and dating back to around 900 C.E.