Copper Age

The 1,000-year-long Copper Age is also

known as the Chalcolithic Period. It lasted
from about 4500 B.C. to 3500 B.C.,
overlapping with the early Bronze Age. Some
cultures and individuals used Copper Age
technology after the Copper Age was over. The
word Chalcolithic is derived from the Greek
words “chalco” (copper) and “lithos”(stone).
The oldest copper ornament dates back to
around 8700 B.C. and it was found in present-
day northern Iraq. There is evidence for copper
smelting and recovery through processing of
malachite and azurite in different parts of the
world dating back to 5000 B.C.. Copper pipes
used to carry water, dating back to around
2700 B.C., were found in one of the Egyptian
pyramids. The Latin name for copper is
Cuprum (Cu). It is believed that it has
originated from the island of Cyprus where
the Romans used to mine copper from its rich
copper mines.
Copper was being fashioned into implements
 

and gold was being fashioned into ornaments

about 6,000 years ago, 3,000 years before the
Greeks and Roman empires. Copper was the
first metal to be worked by man on a
relatively large scale in part because it is
found in "large pure ingots in a natural
state" in many different locations around the
world. Axes, points and armor could be
fashioned by simply hammering the metal;
melting it wasn't necessary.
Gerald A. Larue wrote in “Old Testament Life
 

and Literature”: In Palestine: “The Chalcolithic

Age extended from the middle of the fifth to
near the end of the fourth millennium B.C.
During this period the art of smelting and
molding copper was developed, and stone
and bone tools were now augmented by a
limited supply of implements made of this
new substance. The skill developed by smiths
in the handling of copper is amply illustrated in
the several hundred beautifully fashioned cultic
items from the end of the Chalcolithic period
that were discovered in a cave near the Dead
Sea in the spring of 1961.
 Andrew Curry wrote in Archaeology magazine,
“Once largely ignored by the scholarly
community, the Copper Age has become a
hot topic. Since the collapse of communism in
1989 opened doors for western scholars in
countries including Bulgaria, Romania, and
Ukraine, a new appreciation for the region's
prehistory is taking hold. The centuries
between 5000 and 3500 B.C. are now seen
as a crucial transition period during which
early Europeans began to use metal tools,
developed complex social structures, and
established far-flung cultural and trading
networks.
 "Far from being a historical footnote, Copper
Age Europe was a technological and social
proving ground. Archaeologists have found
the earliest evidence of distinctions between
rich and poor, rulers and the ruled. There is no
evidence of social hierarchy prior to this period,
in the Neolithic, or Stone Age. Until recently,
scholars assumed the Copper Age was no
more advanced. "Copper Age and Neolithic
societies are always described as
egalitarian, or as less complex," says
German Archaeological Institute researcher
Svend Hansen. The latest discoveries,
however, suggest that humanity's first hesitant
steps out of the Neolithic were probably taken
as a result of the development of metal working
and the changes in society that came along
with this technological breakthrough." [Ibid]
See Otzi, the Iceman
Making Copper

 Some natural copper contains tin. During the

forth millennium in present-day Turkey, Iran
and Thailand man learned that these metals
could be melted and fashioned into a metal---
bronze---that was stronger than copper, which
had limited use in warfare because copper
armor was easily penetrated and copper
blades dulled quickly. Bronze shared these
limitations to a lesser degree, a problem that
was rectified until the utilization of iron which is
stronger and keeps a sharp edge better than
bronze, but has a much higher melting point.
Smelting ore probably began in China or India
and made its way westward. Much of the
copper in ancient civilization in Mesopotamia,
the Middle East, Egypt, Phoenicia, Greece and
Rome came from Cyprus, whose name is the
source of the word copper.
 To melt copper out the rock it is necessary
to keep a fire at least 1981̊F (1083̊C). This
was most likely done in ancient Copper Age
sites by continuously blowing a fire through
tubes made from wood, bamboo or reeds.
Archaeologists recreating the process need
about an hour of constant blowing to produced
several copper pellets the size of BBs.
Producing copper for an ax using this method
would take several weeks .

Bronze, metal compound containing copper and

other elements. The term bronze was originally
applied to an alloy of copper containing tin, but the
term is now used to describe a variety of copper-
rich material, including aluminum bronze,
manganese bronze, and silicon bronze.
Bronze was developed about 3500 BC by the
ancient Sumerians in the Tigris-Euphrates
Valley. Historians are unsure how this alloy was
discovered, but believe that bronze may have first
been made accidentally when rocks rich in ores of
copper and tin were used to build campfire rings
(enclosures for preventing fires from spreading). As
fire heated these stones, the metals may have
mixed, forming bronze. This theory is supported
by the fact that bronze was not developed in North
America, where natural tin and copper ores are
rarely found in the same rocks.
Etruscan Bronze Disk
This bronze disk with the head of Acheloos, an
Etruscan river god, was made sometime in the
early 5th century BC. The artifact came from
an ancient burial ground in Tarquinia and
illustrates the sophistication of Etruscan metal
workers.
Around 3000 BC, bronze-making spread to Persia,
where bronze objects such as ornaments, weapons,
and chariot fittings have been found. Bronzes
appeared in both Egypt and China around 2000 BC.
The earliest bronze castings (objects made by
pouring liquid metal into molds) were made in sand;
later, clay and stone molds were used. Zinc, lead,
and silver were added to bronze alloys by Greek and
Roman metalworkers for use in tools, weapons,
coins, and art objects. During the Renaissance, a
series of cultural movements that occurred in
Europe in the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries, bronze
was used to make guns, and artists such as
Michelangelo and Benvenuto Cellini used bronze
for sculpting.
Today, bronze is used for making products
ranging from household items such as doorknobs,
drawer handles, and clocks to industrial
products such as engine parts, bearings, and
wire.
.II. TYPES
Tin bronzes, the original bronzes, are alloys of
copper and tin. They may contain from 5 to 22
percent tin. When a tin bronze contains at least 10
percent tin, the alloy is hard and has a low melting
point. Leaded tin bronzes, used for casting, contain
5 to 10 percent tin, 1.5 to 25 percent lead, and 0 to
4.5 percent zinc. Manganese bronze contains 39
percent zinc, 1 percent tin, and 0.5 to 4 percent
manganese. Aluminum bronze contains 5 to 10
percent aluminum. Silicon bronze contains 1.5 to 3
percent silicon.
Bronze is made by heating and mixing the
molten metal constituents. When the molten
mixture is poured into a mold and begins to harden,
the bronze expands and fills the entire mold. Once
the bronze has cooled, it shrinks slightly and can
easily be removed from the mold.

III. CHARACTERISTICS AND USES

Liberty Bell
 The Liberty Bell, which is a
symbol of American
independence, is made of 943
kg (2,080 lb) of bronze. The
metallurgical composition of
the bell is approximately 70%
copper, 25% tin, 2% lead, 1%
zinc, and smaller amounts of
other metals. As bronze
weathers, a brown or green film
forms on its surface. The brown
film that has formed on the
surface of the Liberty Bell
inhibits corrosion.
Bronze is stronger and harder than any other
common metal alloy except steel. It does not easily
break under stress, is corrosion resistant, and is easy
to form into finished shapes by molding, casting, or
machining.
The strongest bronze alloys contain tin and a small
amount of lead. Tin, silicon, or aluminum is often
added to bronze to improve its corrosion resistance.
As bronze weathers, a brown or green film forms on
the surface. This film inhibits corrosion. For
example, many bronze statues erected hundreds of
years ago show little sign of corrosion. Bronzes
have a low melting point, a characteristic that makes
them useful for brazing—that is, for joining two
pieces of metal. When used as brazing material,
bronze is heated above 430°C (800°F), but not
above the melting point of the metals being joined.
The molten bronze fuses to the other metals,
forming a solid joint after cooling.
Lead is often added to make bronze easier to
machine. Silicon bronze is machined into piston
rings and screening, and because of its resistance to
chemical corrosion it is also used to make chemical
containers. Manganese bronze is used for valve
stems and welding rods. Aluminum bronzes are
used in engine parts and in marine hardware.
Bronze containing 10 percent or more tin is most
often rolled or drawn into wires, sheets, and pipes.
Tin bronze, in a powdered form, is sintered (heated
without being melted), pressed into a solid mass,
saturated with oil, and used to make self-lubricating
bearings.
IRON AGE BEGINS IN SOUTHWEST ASIA
The Iron Age is the period in the development of
a culture when iron is commonly used for
making tools and weapons. Iron-working
techniques probably arise first in what is now
Armenia around 1500 BC. They spread into Asia
Minor and then to Europe and elsewhere. In one
sense, the Americas and Australia never had an Iron
Age, for the use of iron was unknown on these
continents prior to its introduction by European
explorers and settlers. In another sense, however,
the entire world still is in the Iron Age, since iron
remains the principal metal used for tools and
weapons.
Iron Age, period in the development of any culture,
when iron was commonly used for making tools and
weapons. As one of the three ages into which
archaeologists divide human prehistory, it generally
follows the Bronze Age. Chronologically, the term
is only of local value because iron took the place of
bronze at different times in different cultures.

Metallic iron was known and used for ornamental

purposes and weapons in prehistoric ages; the
earliest specimen still extant, a group of oxidized
iron beads found in Egypt, dates from about 4000
BC. The archaeological term Iron Age properly
applies only to the period when iron was used
extensively for utilitarian purposes, as in tools, as
well as for ornamentation. The beginnings of
modern processing of iron can be traced back to
central Europe in the mid-14th century BC.
Ages of Man, in classical legend and poetry, those
periods into which the history of humanity was
divided. The earliest was the GOLDEN AGE, an
age of innocence and happiness, when strife and
injustice were unknown; this was the period when
Cronus (the Roman counterpart of Saturn) ruled the
world. No agriculture was necessary, since the earth
produced on its own an abundance of everything
people needed, and the climate was unvaryingly
mild. After the Golden Age came the SILVER
AGE, less happy than the earlier period. During
the Silver Age, people were obliged to labor for
their livelihoods and build homes to protect
themselves from the elements. In the succeeding
AGE OF BRONZE, people became more savage
and began to destroy each other. The fourth and
last period was the AGE OF IRON, a period of
crime and violence. Slaughter and warfare
spread over the world, and Astraea, goddess of
justice, departed to heaven and became the
constellation Virgo. In his Works and Days,
Greek poet Hesiod listed five ages, inserting an
Age of Heroes between the Bronze and Iron
Ages. Hesiod’s Age of Heroes consisted of those
who took part in the Theban and Trojan wars. In his
famous fourth Bucolic, a pastoral poem, Roman
poet Virgil wrote of the completion of the cycle and
the birth of a child who would usher in a new
Golden Age of peace and happiness.