Stone Age, Bronze Age, Iron Age

The Stone Age, the Bronze Age, and the Iron Age are three periods of history identified by the way people made tools and weapons. Different ancient civilizations developed at different speeds. So you might have one group of early people using bronze tools, while another group was still using stone tools. Those with better tools had a much easier time conquering other groups of people. The material used to make tool and weapons most definitely had an influence on daily life in ancient times.

Stone Age man did not have sharp claws or strong sharp teeth. He was not larger or stronger than other animals. He could not run like deer or antelope. To survive, early man invented and created stone and bone weapons and tools. With these tools, early man could kill and trap those animals he needed for food. With stone axes and spears, he could defend against those animals that he thought might be food. Since many of the tools he created were made out of stone, this is called the Stone Age. The Stone Age is considered to have begun about two million years ago, and ended sometime after the end of the last ice age about ten thousand years ago.

The Bronze Age in ancient China started around 1700 BCE. This is when men learned how to mine copper and tin to make bronze weapons. Bronze is a combination of 10% tin and 90% copper. Bronze weapons are much stronger than stone weapons. The discovery of bronze changed many things. For one thing, miners and craftsmen were needed to mine tin and copper, to make bronze weapons. That meant farmers had to learn how to produce more food than they needed because not everyone was farming. That meant weavers and potters were needed to clothe the miners and craftsmen, and to provide pottery containers to the farmers to use to store food. There were many new inventions once the Bronze Age began in ancient China. Most people were still farmers, but labor was getting organized through the development of jobs other than farmers.

Around 6000 B.C., people in western Asia discovered how to use metals. They soon realized the advantage in using metal rather than stone to make both tools and weapons. Metal could be shaped more exactly, allowing craft workers to make more refined tools and weapons with sharp edges and more precise shapes. Copper, silver, and gold, which were commonly found in their elemental form, were the first metals to be used. These were relatively soft and could be easily pounded into different shapes.

  1. Why would a civilization with better tools be able to conquer other groups of people who didn’t have as advanced tools?
  2. Why is it called the Stone Age?
  3. In the Bronze Age, why were some people not farming?
  4. Other than tools, what did many ancient people want to use stone and metals for?
  5. CHALLENGE: IF MAN WAS NOT THE STRONGEST, FASTEST, OR BIGGEST ANIMAL, WHAT GAVE HUMANS THE ABILITY TO SURVIVE AND BUILD STRONG SETTLEMENTS?

The Use of Metals

An important step was taken when people discovered that a rock that contained metal could be heated to liquefy the metal (a process called smelting). The liquid metal could then be poured into molds of clay or stone to make precisely shaped tools and weapons.

Copper was the first metal to be used in making tools. Craft workers later realized that tin could be added to copper to make bronze. The widespread use of bronze has led historians to speak of the period of time from 3000-1200 B.C. as the Bronze Age. Around 1200 B.C., bronze was replaced by iron. Iron was used to make weapons with sharper and stronger edges, which would give armies and advantage against enemies who had inferior weapons.

The Iron Age followed the Bronze Age. This was the period of time when people made tools of iron. Iron tools were stronger than bronze tools. Weapons were more powerful. Iron weapons began in the Middle East and in southeastern Europe around 1200 BCE. It didn't start in China until around 600 BCE.

Looking back through time, each civilization went through a Stone Age (stone tools and weapons), then a Bronze Age (bronze tools and weapons), and then an Iron Age (iron tools and weapons). Each improvement in tools and weapons led to other improvements in each civilization, improvements such as new inventions, better production of food, and new or improved goods. These inventions depended upon the type of material discovered and then used. Thus, the material used to make tools and weapons had a great influence on life in ancient times.

  1. Define smelting:
  2. Smelling metals
  3. Melting metals to form shapes
  4. Melting stone to create stone weapons
  5. Finding liquid metal
  6. How is bronze made?
  7. What is the strongest of the metals mentioned?
  8. CHALLENGE: WHAT MAKES ONE CIVILIZATION STRONGER THAN OTHERS?