"Iron weapons revolutionized" — warfare and iron implements .. did the same for farming"
Alan W. Cramb, Professor of Engineering
The use of metals to make tools, weapons, or Jewelry has been one of humanity's pivotal achievements. Manipulated metals are everywhere, from kitchen utensils to high-tech weapons and tools. Even items that contain no metal are likely to owe some debt to a metal tool that was used in their construction.
As near as archeologists can tell, the love affair between humans and metals probably began around 8700 B.C.E., evidenced by a copper pendant found in northern Iraq. Smelting, the extraction of metal from a metal-containing rock, began around 5000 B.C.E. when copper ores were melted to get at the metal. By 4000 B.C.E. people were using gold and adding arsenic to copper to create arsenical bronze, probably the first
man-made alloy, or metal mixture. Although harder than copper, arsenical bronze took a heavy toll. Metalworking gods of several cultures are described as lame, probably the result of their long exposure to the valued but unfortunately poisonous metal. Around 3500 B.C.E., tin and copper were combined to make bronze. Trade spread the hot new trend and people made bronze weapons, armor, decorations, and tools. The Bronze Age gradually came to an end as trade dwindled and tin became hard to come by. Iron and the Iron Age were the replacement. Centuries later, people mixed small amounts of carbon with their iron to make steel.
