(Incomplete) History Of Metallurgy

Pre-Bronze Age:

Prehistoric man is known to have used six metals. These were: gold; silver; copper; tin; lead; iron. Prehistoric man discovered that some metals were more useful for certain jobs and they began to specify particular metals for applications. For example; Gold and silver are very soft and were therefore predominantly used for decoration and bullion for trade.^[1]

Gold, Silver and Copper are all examples of native metals.^[1] Metals such as iron are moderately reactive and occur as their oxides, sulfides and carbonates, in the Earth's crust.^[7]

Copper, which occurs in native form, may have been the first metal discovered given its distinctive appearance, heaviness, and malleability compared to other stones or pebbles. Gold, silver, and iron (as meteoric iron), and lead were likewise discovered in prehistory. Forms of brass, an alloy of copper and zinc made by concurrently smelting the ores of these metals, originate from this period (although pure zinc was not isolated until the 13th century).^[3]

Nuggets of gold were often the easiest to find and use. Naturally found mixed with sediment in river beds across the globe, Gold was easy to collect and relatively easy to shape.^[1] Copper, much like Gold and Silver existed in a natural state, with 99.9% pure ores found around the globe.^[1]

Lead is soft, easily worked, and Prehistoric man realized that it was perfect for making into vessels to transport liquids. Later on, Lead would be a fundamental material in the manufacture of pipes such as those used to transport water in the early Roman Empire.^[1]

Copper offered Prehistoric man more qualities and could be hardened by hammering or forging and was therefore used to make tools - albeit very primitive ones.^[1]

Humans may have started smelting copper as early as 6,000 B.C. in the Fertile Crescent, a region often called "the cradle of civilization" and a historical area of the Middle East where agriculture and the world's first cities emerged.^[2]

The discovery of Bronze (an alloy of copper and tin) changed the way that Man lived, hunted, fought and prospered. It was stronger than copper, could be hardened by forging, and could be cast to a specific shape.^[1]

Bronze Age:

Archaeological evidence suggests the transition from copper to bronze took place around 3300 B.C. The invention of bronze brought an end to the Stone Age.^[2]

Initially, bronze was made of copper and arsenic (forming arsenic bronze) by smelting naturally or artificially mixed ores of copper and arsenic.^[3] It was only later that tin was used, becoming the major non-copper ingredient of bronze in the late 3rd millennium BCE. Pure tin itself was first isolated in 1800 BCE by Chinese and Japanese metalworkers.^[3]

Ancient Sumer may have been the first civilization to start adding tin to copper to make bronze. Bronze was harder and more durable than copper, which made bronze a better metal for tools and weapons.^[2]

An ancient civilization is deemed to be part of the Bronze Age because it either produced bronze by smelting its own copper and alloying it with tin, arsenic, or other metals, or traded other items for bronze from production areas elsewhere.^[5]

The Bronze Age ended around 1200 B.C. when humans began to forge an even stronger metal: iron.^[2]

Iron Age

The discovery of smelting around 3000 BC led to the start of the Iron Age around 1200 BC.^[4] The Hattites discovered iron around 1500 BC giving them a distinct advantage in war.^[4]