Editing Metallurgy (section)

==History==
{{See also|Alchemy|Chalcolithic|Bronze Age|History of ferrous metallurgy|Mining and metallurgy in medieval Europe|Metallurgy in pre-Columbian America|Metallurgy in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica|Copper metallurgy in Africa|Iron metallurgy in Africa|History of metallurgy in the Indian subcontinent|Non-ferrous extractive metallurgy|}}[[File:Grave offerings.jpg|thumb|Artefacts from the [[Varna Necropolis]] in present-day [[Bulgaria]]]]
[[File:Metal production in Ancient Middle East.svg|thumb|The mining areas of the ancient [[Middle East]] with [[arsenic]] (in brown), [[copper]] (in red), [[tin]] (in grey), iron (in reddish brown), gold (in yellow), silver (in white), [[lead]] (in black), [[arsenic bronze]] (in yellow), and tin (in bronze)]]

The earliest metal employed by humans appears to be [[gold]], which can be found "[[native metal|native]]".  Small amounts of natural gold, dating to the late [[Paleolithic]] period, 40,000 BC, have been found in Spanish caves.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Yannopoulos |first=J. C. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hE7uBwAAQBAJ&pg=PP8 |title=The Extractive Metallurgy of Gold |publisher=Springer US |year=1991 |isbn=978-1-4684-8427-4 |location=Boston, MA |pages=ix |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-1-4684-8425-0}}</ref> [[Silver]], [[copper]], [[tin]] and [[meteoric iron]] can also be found in native form, allowing a limited amount of [[metalworking]] in early cultures.<ref name=ephotos>{{cite journal|author=E. Photos, E.|title=The Question of Meteoritic versus Smelted Nickel-Rich Iron: Archaeological Evidence and Experimental Results|journal=World Archaeology|volume=20|issue=3|pages=403–421|jstor=124562|doi=10.1080/00438243.1989.9980081|url=http://img2.tapuz.co.il/forums/1_132972987.pdf|year=2010|access-date=1 January 2015|archive-date=22 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222133855/http://img2.tapuz.co.il/forums/1_132972987.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> Early cold metallurgy, using [[native copper]] not melted from mineral  has been documented at sites in [[Prehistory of Anatolia|Anatolia]] and at the site of [[Tell Maghzaliyah]] in [[Iraq]], dating from the 7th/6th millennia BC.<ref name=":0">{{cite book |title=A Companion to the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East |date=15 August 2012 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons, 2012 |isbn=978-1-4443-6077-6 |editor1-last=Potts |editor1-first=Daniel T. |volume=1 |page=296 |chapter=Northern Mesopotamia |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P5q7DDqMbF0C&pg=PA296}}</ref><ref name=":12">{{Cite journal |last1=Radivojević |first1=Miljana |last2=Roberts |first2=Benjamin W. |date=2021 |title=Early Balkan Metallurgy: Origins, Evolution and Society, 6200–3700 BC |journal=Journal of World Prehistory |language=en |volume=34 |issue=2 |pages=195–278 |doi=10.1007/s10963-021-09155-7 |issn=0892-7537 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name=":22" />

The earliest archaeological support of [[smelting]] (hot metallurgy) in Eurasia is found in the [[Balkans]] and [[Carpathian Mountains]], as evidenced by findings of objects made by metal casting and smelting dated to around 6200–5000 BC, with the invention of copper metallurgy.<ref name=":02">{{Cite book |last=Haarmann |first=Harald |author-link=Harald Haarmann |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PNduBAAAQBAJ&q=Technological+advancement+in+pottery |title=Roots of Ancient Greek Civilization: The Influence of Old Europe |publisher=McFarland & Company, Inc |year=2014 |isbn=978-0-7864-7827-9 |location=Jefferson, North Carolina |pages=60–61 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":12"/><ref name=":22">{{cite journal |last=Chernykh |first=Evgenij |date=2014 |title=Metallurgical Provinces of Eurasia in the Early Metal Age: Problems of Interrelation |url=https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/isijinternational/54/5/54_1002/_html/-char/en |journal=ISIJ International |volume=54 |issue=5 |pages=1002–1009 |doi=10.2355/isijinternational.54.1002}}</ref> Certain metals, such as tin, lead, and copper can be recovered from their ores by simply heating the rocks in a fire or blast furnace in a process known as smelting. The first evidence of copper smelting, dating from the 6th millennium&nbsp;BC,<ref>[https://www.crcpress.com/New-Developments-in-Mining-Engineering-2015-Theoretical-and-Practical-Solutions/Bondarenko-Kovalevska-Pivnyak/9781138028838 H.I. Haiko, V.S. Biletskyi. First metals discovery and development the sacral component phenomenon. // Theoretical and Practical Solutions of Mineral Resources Mining // A Balkema Book, London, 2015, р. 227-233.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208154730/https://www.crcpress.com/New-Developments-in-Mining-Engineering-2015-Theoretical-and-Practical-Solutions/Bondarenko-Kovalevska-Pivnyak/9781138028838 |date=8 December 2015 }}.</ref> has been found at archaeological sites in [[Majdanpek]], [[Jarmovac]] and [[Pločnik (archeological site)|Pločnik]], in present-day [[Serbia]].<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1016/j.jas.2010.06.012|title=On the origins of extractive metallurgy: New evidence from Europe|year=2010|last1=Radivojević|first1=Miljana|last2=Rehren|first2=Thilo|last3=Pernicka|first3=Ernst|last4=Šljivar|first4=Dušan|last5=Brauns|first5=Michael|last6=Borić|first6=Dušan|journal=Journal of Archaeological Science|volume=37|issue=11|pages=2775|bibcode=2010JArSc..37.2775R }}
</ref><ref name=":12"/> The site of Pločnik has produced a smelted copper axe dating from 5,500 BC, belonging to the [[Vinča culture]].<ref>[http://www.stonepages.com/news/archives/002605.html Neolithic Vinca was a metallurgical culture] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170919043337/http://www.stonepages.com/news/archives/002605.html |date=19 September 2017 }} Stonepages from news sources November 2007</ref> The Balkans and adjacent [[Pannonian Basin|Carpathian]] region were the location of major [[Chalcolithic Europe|Chalcolithic]] cultures including [[Vinča culture|Vinča]], [[Varna culture|Varna]], [[Karanovo culture|Karanovo]], [[Gumelnița culture|Gumelnița]] and [[Hamangia culture|Hamangia]], which are often grouped together under the name of '[[Old Europe (archaeology)|Old Europe]]'.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Anthony |first1=David |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gFEARIQ6zYoC |title=The Lost World of Old Europe: The Danube Valley, 5000-3500 BC |date=2010 |publisher=New York University, Institute for the Study of the Ancient World |isbn=9780691143880 |editor-last1=Anthony |editor-first1=David |pages=29 |editor-last2=Chi |editor-first2=Jennifer}}</ref> With the Carpatho-Balkan region described as the 'earliest metallurgical province in Eurasia',<ref name=":2">{{cite journal |url=https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/isijinternational/54/5/54_1002/_html/-char/en |journal=ISIJ International |volume=54 |issue=5 |date=2014 |pages=1002–1009 |title=Metallurgical Provinces of Eurasia in the Early Metal Age: Problems of Interrelation |last=Chernykh  |first=Evgenij |doi=10.2355/isijinternational.54.1002}}</ref> its scale and technical quality of metal production in the 6th–5th millennia BC totally overshadowed that of any other contemporary production centre.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=osQ9CgAAQBAJ |title=By Steppe, Desert and Ocean: The Birth of Eurasia |last=Cunliffe |first=Barry |date=2015 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780199689170 |page=105 |quote=The scale and technical quality of the Carpathian-Balkan copper industry totally overshadows that of any other contemporary production centre. This, together with the late sixth-millennium date for its beginning, gives strong support to the suggestion that the art of copper smelting was first perfected in the Balkans. The region can also claim to be the first to produce gold, beginning in the mid-fifth millennium, five hundred years or more before the earliest gold objects appear in the Near East.}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/isijinternational/54/5/54_1002/_html/-char/en |journal=ISIJ International |volume=54 |issue=5 |date=2014 |pages=1002–1009 |title=Metallurgical Provinces of Eurasia in the Early Metal Age: Problems of Interrelation |last=Chernykh  |first=Evgenij |doi=10.2355/isijinternational.54.1002 |quote=The general area of the Carpatho-Balkan Metallurgical Province (CBMP) equaled approximately 1.5 million sq. km spread from the Danubian basin in the Western flank to the Mid and Lower Volga basin in the Eastern flank of this province. The most characteristic features of the CBMP are 1) casting and hammering of various heavy tools and weapons made from chemically pure copper; 2) a big number of gold decorations and ornaments. Metallurgical revolution and CBMP formation emerged independently from centers of the Proto-Metal area [in the Middle East] where in the 5th millennium BCE there continued a limited production of primitive handmade copper goods.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/294087347 |title=Ex oriente lux? – Ein Diskussionsbeitrag zur Stellung der frühen Kupfermetallurgie Südosteuropas |date=2016 |last1=Rosenstock |first1=Eva |display-authors=etal |publisher=Leidorf |isbn=978-3-86757-010-7 |pages=59–122}}</ref>

The earliest documented use of lead (possibly native or smelted) in the Near East dates from the 6th millennium BC, is from the late [[Neolithic]] settlements of [[Yarim Tepe]] and [[Arpachiyah]] in [[Iraq]]. The artifacts suggest that lead smelting may have predated copper smelting.<ref name="Potts 2012 p. 302">{{cite book | last=Potts | first=D.T. | title=A Companion to the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East | publisher=Wiley | series=Blackwell Companions to the Ancient World | year=2012 | isbn=978-1444360776 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P5q7DDqMbF0C&pg=PA302 | access-date=2022-03-19 | pages=302–303 | archive-date=21 September 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200921233111/https://books.google.com/books?id=P5q7DDqMbF0C&pg=PA302 | url-status=live }}</ref> Metallurgy of lead has also been found in the Balkans during the same period.<ref name=":12"/>

Copper smelting is documented at sites in [[Prehistory of Anatolia|Anatolia]] and at the site of Tal-i Iblis in southeastern [[Prehistory of Iran|Iran]] from {{circa|5000 BC}}.<ref name=":0" />

Copper smelting is first documented in the [[Nile Delta|Delta]] region of northern [[Egypt]] in {{circa|4000 BC}}, associated with the [[Maadi culture]]. This represents the earliest evidence for smelting in Africa.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/303522764 |title=Metals in Past Societies |date=2015 |doi=10.1007/978-3-319-11641-9 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-3-319-11640-2 |last=Chirikure |first=Shadreck |series=SpringerBriefs in Archaeology |pages=17–19 |quote=Egypt and adjacent regions closely mimic the metallurgical trajectories of the nearby Middle East. Egyptian metallurgy started with the working of copper around 4000 BC. (p.17) The earliest evidence for metallurgy in Africa comes from the Nile Delta in Egypt and is associated with the Maadi culture dating between 4000 and 3200 BC. (p.19)}}</ref>

The [[Varna Necropolis]], [[Bulgaria]], is a burial site located in the western industrial zone of [[Varna, Bulgaria|Varna]], approximately 4&nbsp;km from the city centre, internationally considered one of the key archaeological sites in world prehistory. The oldest [[gold]] treasure in the world, dating from 4,600 BC to 4,200 BC, was discovered at the site.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=RnE9Fa4pbn0C&dq=varna+necropolis+oldest&pg=PA290] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200212191629/https://books.google.com/books?id=RnE9Fa4pbn0C&pg=PA290&dq=varna+necropolis+oldest&hl=en#v=onepage&q=varna%20necropolis%20oldest&f=false|date=12 February 2020}} Gems and Gemstones: Timeless Natural Beauty of the Mineral World, By Lance Grande</ref> The gold piece dating from 4,500 BC, found in 2019 in [[Durankulak]], near [[Varna, Bulgaria|Varna]] is another important example.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://europost.eu/en/a/view/world-s-oldest-gold-24581|title=World's oldest gold|access-date=28 September 2019|archive-date=28 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190928002450/https://europost.eu/en/a/view/world-s-oldest-gold-24581|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/oldest-gold-object-unearthed-bulgaria-180960093/|title=World's Oldest Gold Object May Have Just Been Unearthed in Bulgaria|first1=Smithsonian|last1=Magazine|first2=Jason|last2=Daley|website=Smithsonian Magazine|access-date=28 September 2019|archive-date=28 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190928002452/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/oldest-gold-object-unearthed-bulgaria-180960093/|url-status=live}}</ref>  Other signs of early metals are found from the third millennium&nbsp;BC in [[Palmela]], Portugal, [[Los Millares]], Spain, and [[Stonehenge]], United Kingdom. The precise beginnings, however, have not be clearly ascertained and new discoveries are both continuous and ongoing.

In approximately 1900 BC, ancient iron smelting sites existed in [[Tamil Nadu]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/tamil-nadu-iron-usage-carbon-dating-cultural-significance-explained-7916375/|title=Ancient Smelting in Tamil Nadu India|website=www.indianexpress.com|date=14 May 2022 |access-date=27 October 2023|archive-date=4 October 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221004181810/https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/tamil-nadu-iron-usage-carbon-dating-cultural-significance-explained-7916375/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://currentscience.ac.in/Volumes/121/02/0239.pdf|title=Ancient high-carbon steel from southern Tamil Nadu India microstructural and elemental analysis|website=www.currentscience.ac.in|access-date=27 October 2023|archive-date=20 June 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230620230643/https://currentscience.ac.in/Volumes/121/02/0239.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

In the [[Ancient Near East|Near East]], about 3,500 BC, it was discovered that by combining copper and tin, a superior metal could be made, an [[alloy]] called [[bronze]]. This represented a major technological shift known as the [[Bronze Age]].

The extraction of [[iron]] from its ore into a workable metal is much more difficult than for copper or tin. The process appears to have been invented by the [[Hittites]] in about 1200&nbsp;BC, beginning the [[Iron Age]]. The secret of extracting and working iron was a key factor in the success of the [[Philistines]].<ref name=keller>W. Keller (1963) ''The Bible as History''. p. 156. {{ISBN|034000312X}}</ref><ref>B. W. Anderson (1975) ''The Living World of the Old Testament'', p. 154, {{ISBN|0582485983}}</ref>

Historical developments in ferrous metallurgy can be found in a wide variety of past cultures and civilizations. This includes the ancient and medieval kingdoms and empires of the [[Middle East]] and [[Near East]], ancient [[Iran]], ancient [[Egypt]], ancient [[Nubia]], and [[Anatolia]] in present-day [[Turkey]], [[Nok culture|Ancient Nok]], [[Carthage]], the [[Celts]], [[Greeks]] and [[ancient Rome|Romans]] of ancient [[Europe]], medieval Europe, ancient and medieval [[China]], ancient and medieval [[India]], ancient and medieval [[Japan]], amongst others.

A 16th century book by [[Georg Agricola]], ''[[De re metallica]]'', describes the highly developed and complex processes of mining metal ores, metal extraction, and metallurgy of the time. Agricola has been described as the "father of metallurgy".<ref>{{cite book|author=Karl Alfred von Zittel|year=1901|title=HISTORY of Geology and Palaeontology|page=15|url=http://www.geology.19thcenturyscience.org/books/1901-Zittel-HistGeol/htm/doc.html|doi=10.5962/bhl.title.33301|author-link=Karl Alfred von Zittel|access-date=1 January 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304030840/http://www.geology.19thcenturyscience.org/books/1901-Zittel-HistGeol/htm/doc.html|archive-date=4 March 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>