The Ancient Near East: Mesopotamia, Egypt, Phoenicia, Israel 5The advent of metallurgy provides a more dramatic
example of occupational specialization. Pure copper,
which is sometimes found in nature, was used for jew-
elry and personal items before 6000 B.C., but by 4500
B.C. it was being smelted from ores and forged into
tools and weapons. These complex processes appear to
have evolved separately in the Middle East and in the
Balkans, where copper deposits were common. They
were based on the development of ovens that could
achieve both a controlled air flow and temperatures of
more than two thousand degrees Fahrenheit. An analy-
sis of pottery from these areas reveals that such ovens
had already been developed to facilitate glazing. By
3500 B.C., bronze—a mixture of copper and tin—was
in general use throughout the West for the manufacture
of tools and weapons. The Neolithic Age was over, and
the Bronze Age had begun. Because the skills involved
in working bronze were highly specialized, smiths
probably forged their wares almost exclusively for sale
or barter. A sophisticated system of trade and gover-
nance must have been established. Furthermore, the
large-scale production of metal weapons further en-
hanced the power of chiefs.
Chieftainship might also involve religious duties,
though organized priesthoods evolved in some soci-
eties at an early date. Chiefs almost certainly organized
the building of communal burying places in the Aegean
and along the Atlantic and North Sea coasts from Iberia
to Scandinavia. Originally simple dolmens formed of a
giant stone or megalith laid upon other stones, these
tombs gradually evolved into domed chambers that
were entered through long masonry passages.
Graves of this kind are often found in the vicinity
of stone circles. Stonehenge, constructed around 3500
B.C. on England’s Salisbury Plain, is the largest and best
known of these structures (see illustration 1.2). Because
the circles are oriented astronomically, many have as-
sumed that they served as giant calendars, but their pre-
cise function and the beliefs that mandated their
construction are unknown.
The prevalence of these large-scale construction
projects, whatever their purpose, indicates that Neo-
lithic societies could achieve high levels of organization
and technological sophistication. When survival—as
opposed to the demands of ritual—required a major co-
operative effort, some societies evolved into civiliza-
tions. Civilizationis a term loaded with subjective
meanings. In this case, it refers to the establishment of
political and cultural unity over a wide geographic area
and the development of elaborate social, commercial,Illustration 1.
Stonehenge.The greatest of all stone circles, shown here from the north, stands on England’s Salisbury Plain. Some believe that
Stonehenge served as an astronomical calculator, but the real purpose is as obscure as the culture of its builders. The huge stones
were quarried, and perhaps shaped elsewhere, and transported many miles to their present site. The lintels are pegged and fitted into
prepared holes in the standing stones or fitted with mortise-and-tenon joints. The stonemasonry as well as the size of the project is
remarkable.