Ancient Artifacts from the Bronze Age
Ancient Artifacts from the Bronze Age
Black Copper The Daggers That Should Not Rust Among the most deceptive objects in any collection of ancient metalwork are daggers that appear, at first glance, to be iron — or at least some awkward hybrid of iron and copper.…
Bronze metallurgy as cultural engine. From the copper mines of the Balkans to the ritual vessels of Shang China, bronze metallurgy arose independently — and sometimes interdependently — across an astonishing range of civilizations. This article surveys the full scope…
Sharpness at hand. The dagger is where it all begins. Before the sword, before the spear received a metal head, before the axe was cast in bronze, the dagger was the first bladed metal object in human hands. It is…
Sharpened stick The spear is the oldest purpose-built weapon in the human arsenal. Long before the sword, before the axe was adapted from tool to weapon, before the bow reached its mature form, the spear — a pointed object at…
Ancient artifacts: modern responsibility The acquisition of ancient artifacts carries responsibilities that extend well beyond the transaction itself. Every bronze spearhead, every copper dagger, every Luristan axe-adze exists at the intersection of competing claims — the desire of collectors and…
At the point of an arrow Of all the categories of ancient bronze artifacts, arrowheads present the greatest challenge to the classifier — and the greatest reward to the careful observer. No other class of object displays such extraordinary diversity…
Here comes metal The history of human toolmaking is not a neat, linear progression. It is a story of overlapping technologies, regional peculiarities, conservative habits carried forward into new materials, and the stubborn persistence of older forms long after they…
Understanding bronze aging After handling hundreds of ancient bronze weapons, tools, and ritual objects spanning from the Chalcolithic through the Classical periods, one learns to read patina the way a geologist reads strata. Every layer tells a story — of…
Is it a spearhead or a dagger blade? Is it a halberd blade or a knife? Attribution of un-hafted ancient blades is sometimes close to impossible.
When we excavate a beautifully crafted Late Bronze Age flange-hilted sword, the first question is always: Was this the weapon of a seasoned warrior, or a pristine status symbol meant only for display or burial? To answer this, we look…