METAL AGE: main characteristics

We call Prehistory to all that part of human life that happened before history, that is, all those events that occurred before the arrival of writing and therefore a part of our history without written sources. From this period we can study two main technological periods, being the so-called Stone Age and the Metal Age. To know the latter, in this lesson from a TEACHER we are going to talk about the characteristics of the Metal Age.

First of all we must bear in mind that the concept of the Metal Age is often used to speak of a prehistoric technological period in the Europe and Asia area, being a concept especially used by Hispanic American historians and not so much by African, Asian or English states.

We call the Metal Age to the prehistoric stage after the Stone age in which humans began to manufacture products using molten metal, being essential the concept of metallurgy. Previously and on a few occasions the inhabitants of the Stone Age had already used elements metal, but these were treated by techniques such as hammering instead of processes metallurgists.

Regarding its chronological situation, we can speak of an origin around VI millennium BC C. being when the first metal foundries are known, in this case of copper, and whose situation was in the area that we know as Asia Minor. As for its origin in Europe we must go to the III millennium BC C. with the arrival of metallurgical processes in the Aegean Sea area.

It should be taken into account that some cultures did not learn to carry out metallurgy until many years later, with the already existing writing, by which these peoples cannot be considered belonging to the Metal Age, since they are part of the Age of Metals. Ancient.

The long duration of the Metal Age, together with the great differentiation that exists between its periods, makes it difficult to list a series of general characteristics of the entire stage; therefore we must talk about unique characteristics of the period that can be differentiated from the Stone Age and the Old Age. The main characteristics of the Metal Age are as follows:

• The human being learns to melting and shaping metals, giving rise to the so-called metallurgical processes.
• The use of metal tools instead of the previous stone they give rise to this stage.
• The new metal tools they changed the situation of agriculture, greatly improving production and even generating surpluses in certain cultures.
• Commerce is born as such, both to sell metals and to sell the agricultural surplus that has arisen.
• The first cities are born, man is no longer nomadic.
• The mining it becomes one more job, being essential for the peoples of the time.
• The blacksmiths, goldsmiths and merchants They are born as a social class, having greater relevance than traditional classes such as farmers or ranchers.

To continue this lesson on Age of Metals characteristics, we must talk about the different periods of this stage of history and what were the specific characteristics of each of these periods.

Copper Age

Copper was the first mineral used by the human being, especially due to the ease of obtaining it and how easy it was to handle. It is thought that its origin was about 65000 BC C. being the first zone of which we know that of Asia Minor. The main characteristics of the Copper Age were the following:

• Metallurgy begins by means of which the human being discovers the handling of copper.
• Weapons and decorative elements are created with copper that in a short time become great commercial values.
• The first organized settlements are born, and the human being begins to stop being nomadic.
• The first social classes are born, with an important role of people who know how to handle copper.

Bronze Age

From 2,800 a. C. human beings learn to melt and handle bronze, being a much more resistant and effective element than copper. The main characteristics of the Bronze Age were the following:

• Elements are born that centuries later would mark peoples such as the Gauls or the Iberians.
• Commercial networks are born between the villages to trade resources that were not found in all areas, examples being amber or gold.
• Social differentiation increases, and is marked by the kind of weapons that human beings possess.
• Cities are born and we see the first civilizations, the appearance of the Minoan civilization being very important in Europe.

Iron age

In the II millennium BC. C. the foundry had advanced so far that they were able to work with iron, being a much better element than bronze. The main characteristics of the Iron Age were the following:

• Iron changed the military landscape forever, giving birth to large-scale weapons manufacturing.
• Agriculture greatly increased production, thanks to the iron tools used in the field.
• Great cultures such as the Egyptian or Mesopotamian appear.
• The characteristic towns of the Ancient Age arise, serving as a bridge for the end of this stage of history.