The Neolithic, the earliest farming communities, and the Bronze Age, the first urban and literary society, are referred to collectively as the Chalcolithic period. The Greek word “Chalcolithic” roughly translates to “copper age,” and the Chalcolithic period is frequently—though not always—...
Copper was used in blue pigments like this "Egyptian Blue" faience saucer and stand from the Bronze Age, New Kingdom of Egypt (1400–1325 BC). Natural bronze, a type of copper made from ores rich in silicon, arsenic, and (rarely) tin, came into general use in the Balkans around 5500...
Iron It is not possible to mark a sharp division between theBronze Ageand theIron Age. Small pieces of iron would have been produced in copper smelting furnaces as iron oxide fluxes and iron-bearing copper sulfide ores were used. In addition, higher furnace temperatures would have created more...
Metallurgy - Copper Alloy, Zinc Alloy, Brass: While some zinc appears in bronzes dating from the Bronze Age, this was almost certainly an accidental inclusion, although it may foreshadow the complex ternary alloys of the early Iron Age, in which substant
The Chalcolithic period refers to that part of Old World prehistory wedged between the first farming societies calledNeolithic, and the urban and literate societies of theBronze Age. In Greek, Chalcolithic means "copper age" (more or less), and indeed, the Chalcolithic period is generally--but...
Native copper was mined and used extensively and, though some bronze appeared in South America, its use developed slowly until after the arrival of Columbus and other European explorers. Both North and South America passed more or less directly from the Copper Age into the Iron Age. soldering...