Metallic+Advancements+Through+the+Ages

More Information on Metallic Advancement through the Ages

 * __ Encyclopedia Britanica: The Bronze Age __
 * Encyclopedia Britanica: The Iron Age

Metals are the substances by which which man has defined himself and have enabled him to take control of his environment as no other creature has.
 * The history of the progress of early man can be clearly traced by observing his ability to gather, refine, improve, shape and mold various metals around the world in different periods of time.
 * Innovations in the uses of these metals set civilizations apart in the creation of valuable ornaments made of precious metals and more importantly tools made of workable metals which created advantages in weaponry, agriculture, transportation and household items.
 * New ways of working with metals eventually ushered in the Industrial Revolution and a host of innovations we take for granted today.

Neolithic man began shaping copper into knives and sickles, replacing those made of stone, around 7000 BC.
 * These tools were lighter, stronger, held an edge better and lasted longer than stone. By 3800 BC the metal was being smelted and cast and demand for it led to the first instance of mining.
 * This early use of copper tools formed the bridge between the Stone Age and the Bronze Age which began some thousand years later.
 * Bronze is an alloy of copper and tin which is much stronger than either component in its pure form. Its discovery has been traced to the Middle East but by 1500 BC it could be found all over Europe and China as well. The fact that items of such value could be made relatively compact and lightweight led to increased trade around Eurasia and beyond.

Iron is readily available but its high melting point made it virtually impossible to extract it from ore until hotter furnaces were fashioned in Anatolia around 1500 BC.
 * Crude pig iron was used to fashion tools and household items but it wasn't until the process for creating steel out of iron was discovered around 1100 BC that Bronze weapons were finally replaced by the newer technology.
 * Steel is made by adding additional carbon to the iron during the smelting process, thus creating a much stronger, longer lasting and workable material.
 * The process of casting with iron was developed in China around 500 BC using very high temperatures. Surviving artifacts made using these early steel processes are of incredibly high quality.Armor plating from the Middle Ages shows almost no signs of oxidation many centuries after they were cast.
 * Quantities of iron and steel that could be smelted and refined were traditionally limited by the availability of large amounts of firewood used to make charcoal. In the 18th Century coke made from coal was found to be a suitable substitute in the steel-making process, paving the way for mass production which formed the core of the Industrial Revolution. Many processes for creating new materials such as aluminum using metal components followed soon thereafter.

Click here to watch a video detailing the use of metallurgy in African art.

[|Ancient Civilization Timeline of Metallurgy, Agriculture and Domestication of Animals]