ritual vessels were then cast by using piece-mold technology
during the following Shang and Zhou dynasties (ca. 1500–
256 b.c.e.). Th ese vessels were mainly used to hold food and
drink in ancestral rites, the way that the Shang kings or
elite communicated with their ancestors. Th e production of
bronze ritual objects reached a scale that was unparalleled
anywhere else in the world at the time.
Outstanding new developments in bronze metallurgy can
be seen in the growth of several regional bronze-working tra-
ditions in the border areas of the Shang cultural sphere during
the late second millennium b.c.e. Among these regional tra-
ditions, the bronzes found at Sanxingdui, Sichuan, Southwest
China are most spectacular. With an astonishing emphasis
on the human form and adoration for gold, the Sanxingdui
tradition shows unique and mysterious characters, which
have attracted considerable research interest worldwide. To
the north of the Shang cultural sphere stretched the so-called
Northern Bronze Complex, which is well known for its weap-
ons and implements decorated in animal style. Th ese bronzes
had a close connection with bronze working in the Eurasian
steppes or were even imported from the steppes. Th ey played
an important role in bridging the transmission of metallur-
gical technologies between the central plains of China and
Eurasia. To the south of the Shang cultural sphere, along the
Yangtze River valley, developed a regional tradition of bronze
production that may be called “southern.” Th e southern tradi-
tion is characterized by a prominent stress on musical instru-
ments (bells) and vessels in the designs of animal shape. While
strong connections with the Shang bronze technology can be
observed, the southern tradition preserves a great variety of
local tastes and preferences in bronze design and production.
Th e emergence and development of ironworking was the
major technological advance in eastern Asia during the fi rst
millennium b.c.e. Although archaeological evidence for the
use of meteoritic iron in China can be traced back to the late
Shang Dynasty, from about the 13th century b.c.e., it was
not until the eighth century b.c.e. that iron made from the
ore came into use in the central plains of China. More than
a dozen knives or swords made from the smelted iron have
been excavated at various sites in Henan, Shanxi, Shaanxi,
and Gansu, all dating to the eighth to sixth centuries b.c.e.
Some are swords made with two kinds of metals, for example,
an iron blade with a gold handle. Th is may indicate the rarity
and high value of iron at the very early stage when it came
to be used. Of great importance is the invention of cast iron,
which actually defi ned the track of the development of Chi-
nese iron metallurgy in the following two millennia. To use
cast iron on a large scale changed the Chinese society pro-
foundly with the introduction of iron tools in agriculture.
Under the cultural infl uence of China and the Eurasian
steppes, Korea entered the Bronze Age in the beginning of the
fi rst millennium b.c.e. Bronze metallurgy appeared in Japan
even later, in the Yoyoi Period, probably around the fi ft h cen-
tury b.c.e. Iron technology diff used from China into Korea
and Japan during the third century b.c.e.
Th e beginning of bronze metallurgy in Southeast Asia
was a hotly debated topic in the 1980s. Some scholars believed
that metallurgy began there as early as the early third mil-
lennium b.c.e. In other words, Southeast Asia could be an
independent center for the beginnings of bronze metallurgy.
However, an increasing number of scholars take a conserva-
tive view on the dating of early bronzes found in Th ailand
and Vietnam. Th e earliest bronzes have been redated to about
1700 b.c.e., making it possible for some scholars to suggest
the possible infl uence from China or India in the emergence
of metallurgy in Southeast Asia. Bronze metallurgy in South-
east Asia is widely known now for its small-scale production,
which was most likely organized at the village level.EUROPE
BY KIRK H. BEETZ
Metallurgy is the art of working metals. Metal is fi rst smelted
from its ore (though some metals can also be found in a pure
form) and then is worked through hammering, casting, alloy-
ing, forging, annealing, riveting, and welding to produce fi n-
ished products. Metalsmiths in the ancient world developed
innovative ways to decorate metal products to create objects
that even today are astonishing in their beauty.
Th e fi rst evidence for metallurgy in Europe dates from
before 5000 b.c.e. in southeastern Europe, where copper was
smelted from ores such as malachite. Copper is a soft metal
by itself and must be a lloyed, or combined w it h ot her meta ls,
to be hardened. Th e earliest copper was used for relatively
simple ornaments such as beads, pendants, and bracelets,
but around 4000 b.c.e. it became possible to cast it into tools
such as axes. Ötzi, the famous naturally preserved human
found in an Alpine glacier, was carrying an ax made from
pure copper when he died around 3300 b.c.e. Copper metal-
lurgy spread to other parts of Europe, reaching the Iberian
Peninsula around 3000 b.c.e. and the British Isles late in the
third millennium b.c.e.
In the Near East arsenic sometimes occurs naturally with
copper ore, which may be how ancient smiths learned that
copper hardens and holds its edge better when mixed with
arsenic. In central Europe the copper occasionally occurs
naturally with tin, which may have been how early smiths
learned that mixing tin with copper created true bronze, a
very durable and tough alloy that holds its edge better than
copper or tin alone. Th e possibility that Europeans may have
discovered true bronze on their own has led some archaeolo-
g ist s to spec u late t hat t r ue bron z e ma k i ng occ u r red i n ea ster n
Europe before it occurred in the Near East. In southeastern
and central Europe the period known as the Bronze Age be-
gan around 2500 b.c.e., and in northern and western Europe
it began around 2000 b.c.e.
Th e ancient smiths had two principal problems to over-
come in making true bronze. One was that tin was scarce. In
ancient Europe the best sources were in Iberia and Cornwall
(southwestern England), far from the best sources of copper682 metallurgy: Europe