Editing Metal (section)

===Antiquity===
[[File:Netuno19b.jpg|thumb|The [[Artemision Bronze]]{{#tag:ref|[[Bronze]] is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12% tin and often with the addition of other metals (such as aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals or metalloids such as arsenic, phosphorus, or silicon.|group=n}} showing either [[Poseidon]] or [[Zeus]], c.&nbsp;460&nbsp;BCE, [[National Archaeological Museum, Athens|National Archaeological Museum]], [[Athens]]. The figure is more than 2&nbsp;m in height.|alt=Refer to caption]]

The discovery of [[bronze]] (an alloy of copper with arsenic or tin) enabled people to create metal objects which were harder and more durable than previously possible. Bronze tools, weapons, armor, and [[building material]]s such as decorative tiles were harder and more durable than their stone and copper ("[[Chalcolithic]]") predecessors. Initially, bronze was made of copper and [[arsenic]] (forming [[arsenic bronze]]) by smelting naturally or artificially mixed ores of copper and arsenic.<ref>
{{cite book |title=A History of Metallurgy, Second Edition |last=Tylecote |first=R. F. |year=1992 |publisher=Maney Publishing, for the Institute of Materials |location=London |isbn=978-1-902653-79-2 |url=http://m.friendfeed-media.com/450c6f3cdc92be9e19ecd285bd7f809a9ae1d4d5 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402174311/http://m.friendfeed-media.com/450c6f3cdc92be9e19ecd285bd7f809a9ae1d4d5 |archive-date=2015-04-02}}</ref> The earliest [[Artifact (archaeology)|artifacts]] so far known come from the [[Iranian plateau]] in the fifth millennium BCE.<ref name="Thornton, 2002" >{{cite journal |last1=Thornton |first1=C. |last2=Lamberg-Karlovsky |first2=C. C. |last3=Liezers |first3=M. |last4=Young |first4=S. M. M. |year=2002 |title=On pins and needles: tracing the evolution of copper-based alloying at Tepe Yahya, Iran, via ICP-MS analysis of Common-place items. |journal=Journal of Archaeological Science |volume=29 |issue=12 |pages=1451–1460 |ref=Thornton, 2002 |doi=10.1006/jasc.2002.0809|bibcode=2002JArSc..29.1451T }}</ref> It was only later that [[tin]] was used, becoming the major non-copper ingredient of bronze in the late third millennium BCE.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kaufman |first1=Brett |title=Metallurgy and Archaeological Change in the Ancient Near East |journal=Backdirt: Annual Review |volume=2011 |page=86}}</ref> Pure tin itself was first isolated in 1800 BCE by Chinese and Japanese metalworkers.

Mercury was known to ancient Chinese and Indians before 2000 BCE, and found in Egyptian tombs dating from 1500 BCE.

The earliest known production of steel, an iron-carbon alloy, is seen in pieces of ironware excavated from an [[archaeological site]] in [[Anatolia]] ([[Kaman-Kalehöyük]]) which are nearly 4,000 years old, dating from 1800 BCE.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Akanuma |first=H. |title=The significance of the composition of excavated iron fragments taken from Stratum III at the site of Kaman-Kalehöyük, Turkey |journal=Anatolian Archaeological Studies |volume=14 |pages=147–158 |year=2005 |publisher=Japanese Institute of Anatolian Archaeology |place=Tokyo}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Ironware piece unearthed from Turkey found to be oldest steel |url=http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/001200903261611.htm |access-date=2009-03-27 |location=Chennai, India |work=The Hindu |date=2009-03-26 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090329111924/http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/001200903261611.htm |archive-date=2009-03-29}}</ref>

From about 500 BCE sword-makers of [[Toledo, Spain]], were making early forms of [[alloy steel]] by adding a mineral called [[wolframite]], which contained tungsten and manganese, to iron ore (and carbon). The resulting [[Toledo steel]] came to the attention of Rome when used by Hannibal in the [[Punic Wars]]. It soon became the basis for the weaponry of Roman legions; such swords were, "stronger in composition than any existing sword and, because… [they] would not break, provided a psychological advantage to the Roman soldier."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gabriel |first1=RA | date= 1990|title= The Culture of War: Invention and Early Development|location=Westport CT |publisher= Greenwood Publishing Group|page=108 |isbn=978-0-313-26664-5}}</ref>

[[Metallurgy in pre-Columbian America|In pre-Columbian America]], objects made of [[tumbaga]], an alloy of copper and gold, started being produced in Panama and Costa Rica between 300 and 500 CE. Small metal sculptures were common and an extensive range of tumbaga (and gold) ornaments comprised the usual regalia of persons of high status.

At around the same time indigenous Ecuadorians were combining gold with a naturally-occurring platinum alloy containing small amounts of palladium, rhodium, and iridium, to produce miniatures and masks of a white gold-platinum alloy. The metal workers involved heated gold with [[grain (metal)|grains]] of the platinum alloy until the gold melted. After cooling, the resulting conglomeration was hammered and reheated repeatedly until it became homogenous, equivalent to melting all the metals (attaining the melting points of the platinum group metals concerned was beyond the technology of the day).<ref>{{cite book |title=The Metalsmiths, revised edition |last=Knauth |first=P. |year=1976 |publisher=Time-Life International |location=London |pages=133, 137}}</ref>{{#tag:ref|In Damascus, Syria, blade-smiths forged knives and swords with a distinctive surface pattern composed of swirling patterns of light-etched regions on a nearly black background. These blades had legendary cutting abilities. [[Wootz|The iron the smiths were using]] was sourced from India, and contained one or more carbide-forming elements, such as V, Mo, Cr, Mn, and Nb. Modern analysis of these weapons has shown that these elements supported the catalytic formation of carbon nanotubes, which in turn promoted the formation of [[cementite]] (Fe<small>3</small>C) nanowires. The malleability of the carbon nanotubes offset the brittle nature of the cementite, and endowed the resulting steel with a unique combination of strength and flexibility. Knowledge of how to make what came to called [[Damascus steel]] died out in the eighteenth century possibly due to exhausting ore sources with the right combination of impurities. The techniques involved were not rediscovered until 2009.|group=n}}

<gallery widths="165px" heights="165px">
File:Tin-2.jpg|A droplet of solidified molten tin
File:Pouring liquid mercury bionerd.jpg|alt=A silvery molasses-like liquid being poured into a circular container with a height equivalent to a smaller coin on its edge|<div align="center">[[Mercury (element)|Mercury]] being<br />poured into a [[petri dish]]</div>
File:25 litrai en électrum représentant un trépied delphien.jpg|Electrum, a natural alloy of silver and gold, was often used for making coins. Shown is the Greek god [[Apollo]], and on the obverse, a [[Sacrificial tripod#Ancient Greece|Delphi tripod]] ({{circa|310}}–305 BCE).
File:Passover Plate (4047010755).jpg|A plate made of [[pewter]], an alloy of 85–99% tin and (usually) copper. Pewter was first used around the beginning of the Bronze Age in the Near East.
File:Museo del Oro - Tolima pectoral.jpg|A pectoral (ornamental breastplate) made of [[tumbaga]], an alloy of gold and copper
</gallery>