Metal Ages

The Metal Ages is a term for the period of human civilization beginning about 6,000 years ago during which metallurgy rapidly advanced, and human populations started using metals such as copper, tin, bronze and finally iron to make tools and weapons. By heating and shaping metals in hot furnaces, humanity also learned to use precious metals such as gold and silver to make intricate ornaments.

With these technological adaptions, human society became more productive and human settlements became larger and more prosperous, but also more violent. The Metal Ages are divided into three stages: the Copper Age, the Bronze Age, and the Iron Age.

Bibliography

General

• Dawn of the metal age: Technology and society during the Levantine Chalcolithic
• Flint‐working in the metal age
• About the chronology of the beginning of the metal ages

Specific

• Beginning of the metal age in the central Balkans according to the results of the archeometallurgy
• The Dongson Culture and cultural centers in the Metal Age in Vietnam
• From the Mousterian to the Metal Ages: Long-term change in the human diet of northern Spain