1. The Key Stages

2.  Discovered 9000 BCE in the Middle East  Earliest evidence: hammers and axes  Tempering and malleability discovered by accident  Used  tubing or pipes  Plating ship hulls  art  money  South America near Peru Ancient copper cup and bell in China.

3.  Bronze is an alloy  Copper + Tin = Bronze  Mesopotamia (3000 BCE), then China (2000 BCE)  Better cutting edge than copper  Eastern technology was foundation for Europe Daibutsusan (within Daibutsuden) is the world's largest bronze Buddha. Originally constructed between 735 and 749, the colossal sitting Buddha statue is 72 feet high, weighs over 550 tons and is covered with almost 300 pounds of gold.

4.  After first civs  Around 1,000 BCE  Used first in Asia Minor  Must be subject to high heat  Gave groups a military edge  Changed agriculture  Very slow to move to other parts of the world  Transformed woodworking