# | Polity | Coded Value | Tags | Year(s) | Edit | Desc |
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‘production of metal artifacts that now began in earnest with the cold and hot working of copper’
[1]
copper based tools and weapons appeared in the 5th millenium BC
[2]
[1]: Barbara Helwing, ‘The Chalcolithic of Northern Iran’, In Daniel T. Potts (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Iran, 2013, p. 84 [2]: Abbas Moghaddam, ‘The Later Village (Chalcolithic) Period in Khuzestan’, In Daniel T. Potts (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Iran, 2013, p. 124 |
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‘production of metal artifacts that now began in earnest with the cold and hot working of copper’
[1]
copper based tools and weapons appeared in the 5th millenium BC
[2]
[1]: Barbara Helwing, ‘The Chalcolithic of Northern Iran’, In Daniel T. Potts (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Iran, 2013, p. 84 [2]: Abbas Moghaddam, ‘The Later Village (Chalcolithic) Period in Khuzestan’, In Daniel T. Potts (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Iran, 2013, p. 124 |
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Island South East Asia: ’Bronze and iron metallurgy appear to have arrived together, perhaps after 300 BC’.
[1]
[1]: (Bellwood 2004, 36) Bellwood, Peter. The origins and dispersals of agricultural communities in Southeast Asia. Glover, Ian. Bellwood, Peter. eds. 2004. Southeast Asia: From Prehistory to History. RoutledgeCurzon. London. |
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Island South East Asia: ’Bronze and iron metallurgy appear to have arrived together, perhaps after 300 BC’.
[1]
[1]: (Bellwood 2004, 36) Bellwood, Peter. The origins and dispersals of agricultural communities in Southeast Asia. Glover, Ian. Bellwood, Peter. eds. 2004. Southeast Asia: From Prehistory to History. RoutledgeCurzon. London. |
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required for bronze
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required for bronze
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In bronze
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In bronze
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In bronze
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in bronze
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Used to make bronze.
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we need expert input in order to code this variable
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Required for bronze.
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used in bronze
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In bronze.
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In bronze.
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Required for bronze.
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Military use of copper was documented for the Spanish colonial period: "Salinas, writing in 1571 (second letter), says that the Indians in the vicinity of Santiago have copper axes, ( ) shields made of tapir skin and of wood, and spear throwers."
[1]
Note: Steel’s comments suggest that the acquisition of metal rools was a major factor in transforming Shuar military activities in the Ecuadorian period: "Shuar tsantsa raids intensified in the latter part of the nineteenth century and then declined after about 1915, while intratribal feuding among the interior Shuar increased from about 1915 to 1957. Achuar feuding increased dramatically from 1940-70, then declined in the 1970s. These general changes in Jivaro warfare were shown to correspond to changes in the availability of Western goods. Moreover, evidence was given that the Jivaro had a strong desire to obtain manufactured valuables and that access to these items became an important basis of power for great men. That such motives could incite violence and alter the course of war was supported by analysis of particular cases, informants’ statements to this effect, and an analysis of the process by which would-be assassins sought support for their ventures. Finally, other proposed explanations of Jivaro warfare fail to adequately account for the historical events described in this essay. Although I have only considered the Achuar and the Shuar here, there is reason to think that similar arguments could be developed for the other main Jivaro groups, the Aguaruna and the Huambisa. Beginning around the 1810s, the Aguaruna and the Huambisa initiated a series of devastat- - ing raids on Peruvian frontier towns in their area, obliterating some towns completely and often causing other towns to relocate (Guallart 1990: 139-47). The Aguaruna and the Huambisa were involved in the 1880-1915 rubber boom, and the Aguaruna were engaged in head-hunting raids (ibid.: 163-82; Bennett Ross 1980: 56).The explorer F. W. Up de Graff (1923: 238- go) provides a detailed eye-witness account of an Aguaruna tsantsa raid from this period that illustrates how manufactured valuables (provided by himself in this case) could stimulate violent action. From about 1950 to 1970 many Aguarunas and Huambisas labored for Peruvian patrones, often under exploitative conditions (Brown 1986: 38). In the early 1970s a new Peruvian government passed Indian-friendly laws that ultimately ended the patrones system, which may be related to the fact that the severe Aguaruna feuding of previous decades was a dim memory by 1978 (ibid.: 38-44). Anthropological theorizing about Jivaro warfare, then, would benefit from further inquiry into the influence of manufactured valuables."
[2]
Given how his evidence dates from the Ecuadorian period, we have assumed that the goods in question were not in widespread use prior to the Ecuadorian period. This is open to re-evaluation.
[1]: Stirling, Matthew Williams. 1938. “Historical And Ethnographical Material On The Jivaro Indians.”, 78-79 [2]: Steel, Daniel 1999. "Trade Goods and Jívaro Warfare: The Shuar 1850-1957, and the Achuar, 1940-1978", 772p |
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Inferred from presence of bronze.
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Copper alloy may have had minor role in armour.
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Inferred from presence of bronze.
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Widespread in Europe by this time.
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Bronze sword hilts?
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Bronze sword hilts?
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Europeans traded brass and iron for gold and ivory: "Undaunted by the prohibition of the King of England, these gallant adventurers embarked, and pressing forward, reached Cape Verde on the 5th March, 1482. Bearing up to Rio de Festos on the 8th April, the French ships, at sight of them, fled. At the river St. Andras two big Portuguese warships fired at them, but by superior and skilful seamanship they cleverly slipped between them and Cape Three Points (Atinkin). They eventually defeated the Portuguese near Cape Coast Castle (Ogua), “to the no small joy of the negroes, as well as the security of themselves.” They were then invited to Mowre, the best trading town. Here for their pewter, brass, and iron they carried away two hundred and sixty-seven elephants’ teeth, weighing two thousand seven hundred and fifty-eight pounds, and a very large quantity of gold dust and nuggets; and so profitable was the venture, that, after paying half their profits to the duke their patron, they were able within three years to buy their traffic with Portugal and their peace with England, besides putting up an hundred thousand pounds apiece in their purses."
[1]
Akan rulers and fighters started to acquire firearms and wrap them in brass wire at some point in the colonial period: "Gun barrels were wrapped with brass wire or tightly bound cloth to minimise the risk of bursting, a perpetual problem with ill-maintained poor-quality firearms, charged or overcharged with unreliable gunpowder. The addition of golden ‘cockle’ shells was less obviously functional. The way such shells came to adorn guns and ammunition belts again indicates how the exotic was assimilated into Akan culture."
[2]
It remains to be confirmed when this process started. According to this Wikipedia article, firearms were not in widespread use before the Ashanti period: ’The Ashanti became familiar with firearms in the 18th century, and by the 19th century, the bulk of their best troops were armed with a variety of guns, such as the standard European trade muskets, 6 feet in length, so-called "Long Dane".’
[3]
We have provisionally assumed that iron would have been preferred to copper in the construction of spear-heads etc. This is open to re-evaluation.
[1]: Sarbah, John Mensah 1968. “Fanti National Constitution: A Short Treatise On The Constitution And Government Of The Fanti, Asanti, And Other Akan Tribes Of West Africa Together With A Brief Account Of The Discovery Of The Gold Coast By Portuguese Navigators, A Short Narration Of Early English Voyages, And A Study Of The Rise Of British Gold Coast Jurisdiction, Etc., Etc.”, 63 [2]: McLeod, M. D. (Malcolm D.) 1981. “Asante”, 102 [3]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_military_systems_(1800%E2%80%931900)#The_Ashanti_military_system |
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Island South East Asia: ’Bronze and iron metallurgy appear to have arrived together, perhaps after 300 BC’.
[1]
[1]: (Bellwood 2004, 36) Bellwood, Peter. The origins and dispersals of agricultural communities in Southeast Asia. Glover, Ian. Bellwood, Peter. eds. 2004. Southeast Asia: From Prehistory to History. RoutledgeCurzon. London. |
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Expert needed. Inferences from the presence of iron cannot be made. Did they have access to copper ore? Did they external trade?
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Inferred from the presence of higher metals.
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Likely used primarily for ornamental reasons.
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Likely used primarily for ornamental reasons.
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Inferred from the presence of higher metals.
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Inferred from the presence of higher metals. Likely used primarily for ornamental reasons.
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Inferred from the presence of higher metals.
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Assyrians “first to recognise fully” the superiority of iron over bronze, which had been used for weapons, chariots and armour since 1100 BCE.
[1]
If the Assyrians were aware of bronze technology, then they also capable of using copper, since it is needed to make bronze.
[1]: (Dupuy and Dupuy 2007, 10) |
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Present in previous and subsequent polities.
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Required for bronze.
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Technology not found in archaeological evidence until much later
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Confirmed for the Parthians.
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Technology not found in archaeological evidence until much later
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present in preceding Mongol polity
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Technology not found in archaeological evidence until much later
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Present in previous and subsequent periods.
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Required for bronze.
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Inferred present due to inferred presence of bronze.
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Inferred from the presence of bronze.
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Inferred from presence of bronze.
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Inferred from presence of bronze.
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Inferred from presence of bronze.
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Inferred from presence of bronze.
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Copper is used to make bronze.
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required for bronze
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required for bronze
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required for bronze
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required for bronze
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required for bronze
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Bronze present but use in warfare likely minor role.
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required for bronze
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required for bronze
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required for bronze
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Bronze armor have been found and copper is needed to make bronze, so it seems reasonable to assume that copper weapons were probably used too.
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required for bronze
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Required for bronze.
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Required for bronze.
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Required for bronze.
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Metalworking was not widely used in Mesoamerica, with metal products consisting mainly of small beads and ornaments.
[1]
[2]
[1]: Coe, M. D., Koontz, R. (2013) Mexico: From the Olmecs to the Aztecs (7th ed.) Thames and Hudson, London, p157 [2]: Kowalewski, S. A., Feinman, G. M., Finten, L., Blanton, R. E., Nicholas, L. M. (1989) Monte Albán’s Hinterland, Part II: Prehispanic settlement patterns in Tlacolula, Etla, and Ocotlan, The Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico, Volume II. Memoirs of the Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Number 23. Ann Arbor. |
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"Metals were another story. Throughout all these times [before 500 BCE], and even much later, they were essentially unused in Mesoamerica. Teotihuacan’s predecessors [...] and Teotihuacan itself used only stone tools".
[1]
[1]: (Cowgill 2015: 40) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/JRFZPUXU. |
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Tula has yielded no metal of any kind, neither copper nor gold.
[1]
[1]: (Coe 1994: 142) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/5DJ2S5IF. |
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Inferred from the presence of higher metals.
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Inferred from the presence of higher metals.
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Earlier polities used bronze military technology, so this polity probably used copper too.
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required for bronze
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copper is required for bronze
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Copper or bronze siphons used to spray Greek fire.
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copper is required for bronze
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present as used in bronze
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Technology not found in archaeological evidence until much later. Beads and tools carved from copper have been found but no weapons or smelting at this time
[1]
[1]: https://www.tf.uni-kiel.de/matwis/amat/iss/kap_a/advanced/ta_1_2c.html |
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used in bronze
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present as used in bronze
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Inferred from the presence of higher metals.
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Inferred from the presence of higher metals.
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Saka warriors who destroyed the Greco-Bactrian city of Ai Khanoum in 145 BCE (and may have used similar military technology to the Kushan nomads) used bronze arrowheads.
[1]
[1]: (McLaughlin 2016, 76) Raoul McLaughlin. 2016. The Roman Empire and the Silk Routes: The Ancient World Economy and the Empires of Parthia, Central Asia and Han China. Pen and Sword History. Barnsley. |
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Used to make bronze. Knives and weapons were made of copper alloys. Compositional analysis of metal artefacts and slag samples from excavations Erlitou occupation sites reveal a range of compositions from pure copper to tin bronze, leaded tin bronze, arsenic bronze, lead-tin bronze and others.
[1]
[1]: (Reinhart, Katrinka. Personal Communication to Jill Levine, Dan Hoyer, and Peter Turchin. April 2020. Email) |
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We need expert input in order to code this variable. Cannot be inferred from the presence of iron and steel since it depends on access to ores.
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In use in previous Chinese polities
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Bone and stone tools; ceramics.
[1]
[1]: (Liu and Chen 2012: 142: 146: 148) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/DE5TU7HY. |
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Copper Metallurgy present. Tairona goldsmiths used copper-rich alloys, some as high as 10-20% copper in weight. Twelve Tairona objects analyzed show ternary alloys with high copper content. (334-337)
[1]
[1]: Scott, D. and Meyers, P. 1994. Archaeometry of Pre-Columbian Sites and Artifacts: Proceedings of a Symposium organized by the UCLA Institute of Archaeology and the Getty Conservation Institute, Los Angeles, California, March 23–27, 1992. Getty Publications. |
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[NB: Military use of copper was documented several centuries earlier but no mention of this was found in the sources concerning the Ecuadorian time period. See: "Salinas, writing in 1571 (second letter), says that the Indians in the vicinity of Santiago have copper axes, ( ) shields made of tapir skin and of wood, and spear throwers."
[1]
[1]: Stirling, Matthew Williams. 1938. “Historical And Ethnographical Material On The Jivaro Indians.”, 78-79 |
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Copper metallurgy from 2500 BCE.
[1]
[1]: (Adam 1981, 235) Adam, S. 1981. “The Importance of Nubia: A Link between Central Africa and the Mediterranean.” In General History of Africa II: Ancient Civilizations of Africa, edited by G. Mokhtar, II:226-44. General History of Africa. Paris: UNESCO. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/8APQDQV3. |
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Copper metallurgy from 2500 BCE.
[1]
[1]: (Adam 1981, 235) Adam, S. 1981. “The Importance of Nubia: A Link between Central Africa and the Mediterranean.” In General History of Africa II: Ancient Civilizations of Africa, edited by G. Mokhtar, II:226-44. General History of Africa. Paris: UNESCO. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/8APQDQV3. |
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Copper metallurgy from 2500 BCE.
[1]
[1]: (Adam 1981, 235) Adam, S. 1981. “The Importance of Nubia: A Link between Central Africa and the Mediterranean.” In General History of Africa II: Ancient Civilizations of Africa, edited by G. Mokhtar, II:226-44. General History of Africa. Paris: UNESCO. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/8APQDQV3. |
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Island South East Asia: ’Bronze and iron metallurgy appear to have arrived together, perhaps after 300 BC’.
[1]
[1]: (Bellwood 2004, 36) Bellwood, Peter. The origins and dispersals of agricultural communities in Southeast Asia. Glover, Ian. Bellwood, Peter. eds. 2004. Southeast Asia: From Prehistory to History. RoutledgeCurzon. London. |
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In bronze
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In bronze
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copper used in bronze. Evidence for bronze arrowheads and spearheads. Bronze arrowheads used may have been imported from Middle East. Production not common in Middle Kingdom.
[1]
Spearheads were made of copper.
[2]
Spearheads and arrowheads initially flintstone and bone, then replaced by bronze.
[3]
[1]: (http://www.reshafim.org.il/ad/egypt/weapons/index.html) [2]: (Fields 2007, 4) [3]: (Gnirs 2001) |
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Copper metallurgy from 2500 BCE.
[1]
Spearheads and arrowheads initially flintstone and bone, later replaced by bronze.
[2]
[1]: (Adam 1981, 235) Adam, S. 1981. “The Importance of Nubia: A Link between Central Africa and the Mediterranean.” In General History of Africa II: Ancient Civilizations of Africa, edited by G. Mokhtar, II:226-44. General History of Africa. Paris: UNESCO. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/8APQDQV3. [2]: (Gnirs 2001) |
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Copper metallurgy from 2500 BCE.
[1]
Spearheads and arrowheads initially flintstone and bone, later replaced by bronze.
[2]
[1]: (Adam 1981, 235) Adam, S. 1981. “The Importance of Nubia: A Link between Central Africa and the Mediterranean.” In General History of Africa II: Ancient Civilizations of Africa, edited by G. Mokhtar, II:226-44. General History of Africa. Paris: UNESCO. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/8APQDQV3. [2]: (Gnirs 2001) |
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Copper metallurgy from 2500 BCE.
[1]
Spearheads and arrowheads initially flintstone and bone, later replaced by bronze.
[2]
[1]: (Adam 1981, 235) Adam, S. 1981. “The Importance of Nubia: A Link between Central Africa and the Mediterranean.” In General History of Africa II: Ancient Civilizations of Africa, edited by G. Mokhtar, II:226-44. General History of Africa. Paris: UNESCO. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/8APQDQV3. [2]: (Gnirs 2001) |
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Evidence of copper metallurgy between 3000-2500 BCE.
[1]
[2]
[1]: (Baines, John. Personal Communication to Jill Levine, Dan Hoyer, and Peter Turchin. April 2020. Email) [2]: (Adam 1981, 235) Adam, S. 1981. “The Importance of Nubia: A Link between Central Africa and the Mediterranean.” In General History of Africa II: Ancient Civilizations of Africa, edited by G. Mokhtar, II:226-44. General History of Africa. Paris: UNESCO. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/8APQDQV3. |
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Evidence of copper metallurgy between 3000-2500 BCE.
[1]
[2]
[1]: (Adam 1981, 235) Adam, S. 1981. “The Importance of Nubia: A Link between Central Africa and the Mediterranean.” In General History of Africa II: Ancient Civilizations of Africa, edited by G. Mokhtar, II:226-44. General History of Africa. Paris: UNESCO. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/8APQDQV3. [2]: (Baines, John. Personal Communication to Jill Levine, Dan Hoyer, and Peter Turchin. April 2020. Email) |
||||||
Copper metallurgy from 2500 BCE.
[1]
[1]: (Adam 1981, 235) Adam, S. 1981. “The Importance of Nubia: A Link between Central Africa and the Mediterranean.” In General History of Africa II: Ancient Civilizations of Africa, edited by G. Mokhtar, II:226-44. General History of Africa. Paris: UNESCO. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/8APQDQV3. |
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LeBar claims early evidence for the use of iron and steel tools acquired through trade with other islands: ’It appears that during this early period, and for some time thereafter, the Trukese were in contact with Guam and other islands in the Marianas due to the fact that atoll islanders to the west of Truk regularly voyaged to Guam and back, taking with them items for trade in return for which they brought back iron and steel implements. The Trukese were thus in possession of iron tools at a very early date.’
[1]
However, it isn’t clear if this metal was used in warfare.
[1]: LeBar, Frank M. {nd}-/. “Material Culture Of Truk", 19 |
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LeBar claims early evidence for the use of iron and steel tools acquired through trade with other islands: ’It appears that during this early period, and for some time thereafter, the Trukese were in contact with Guam and other islands in the Marianas due to the fact that atoll islanders to the west of Truk regularly voyaged to Guam and back, taking with them items for trade in return for which they brought back iron and steel implements. The Trukese were thus in possession of iron tools at a very early date.’
[1]
However, it isn’t clear if this metal was used in warfare.
[1]: LeBar, Frank M. {nd}-/. “Material Culture Of Truk", 19 |
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Bronze weapons have been found and copper is needed to make bronze, so it seems reasonable to assume that copper weapons were probably used too.
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We do not have any good data yet for the early development of metallurgy in the insular realm. We can, however, observe that in both areas the first advances in this new technology came in the form of adornment rather than for tools and weapons."
[1]
[1]: (Miksic and Goh 2016: 86) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/2EZ3CBBS. |
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The first axes made of copper, and then bronze, appeared in the Early Bronze Age. They were not necessarily linked to warfare but could have had a mixed use, including woodworking and indidivual defence. The first daggers and halberds appeared soon after, and there is no doubt that these were used for warfare, even though they could also be ornaments. "Au Bronze ancien apparaissent les premières haches en cuivre puis en bronze (cat. 1 et 2). Celles-ci ne sont pas a priori liées à des activités belliqueuses, mais cela n’exclut pas une utilisation mixte, entre le travail du bois et la défense individuelle. Elles sont rapidement accompagnées de poignards (cat. 11) et de hallebardes dont l’usage ne laisse guère de doute quant à leur utilisation guerrière (même s’il peut s’agir d’armes d’apparat)."
[1]
[1]: (Ghesquière in Macigny et al 2005, 23) |
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"The need for prestige goods probably underlies the widespread adoption of new styles of pottery, particularly Corded Ware and Beakers, which were associated with other distinctive artifacts, such as bat- tle-axes, archery equipment, and ornaments of metal and other exotic materials. Metal artifacts spread to most parts of the continent during the third millennium and copper and gold metallurgy were widely adopted; some Corded Ware groups may have practiced a limited amount of copper metallurgy, but in western Europe the spread of metalworking was often associated with Beaker pottery."
[1]
[1]: (McIntosh 2006, 55-58) |
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Inferred from the presence of higher metals.
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"Bronze Italo-Celtic helmet with elaborate crest fitting for plumes or feathers, mid-4th century BC."
[1]
"In the Halstatt and early La Tene periods, helmets were made of bronze. Iron helmets first appeared in the 4th century BC and gradually replaced the softer alloy, possibly in response to the development of the long slashing sword."
[2]
[1]: (Allen 2007, 41) [2]: (Allen 2007, 119) |
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Note: Some of the equipment listed here may be ’talismanic’ rather than ’practical’ in the conventional sense of the term. Accordingly, some codes may be in need of reconsideration. In the colonial period, the Iban were in contact with copper coins, but no weaponry is mentioned: "In his quarterly report, the Resident for the Lower Rejang described the Iban’s hoarding of copper coinage."
[1]
We have therefore assumed that copper was absent from Iban military technology prior to Brooke Raj rule as well.
[1]: Sutlive 1973, 377 |
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Island South East Asia: ’Bronze and iron metallurgy appear to have arrived together, perhaps after 300 BC’.
[1]
[1]: (Bellwood 2004, 36) Bellwood, Peter. The origins and dispersals of agricultural communities in Southeast Asia. Glover, Ian. Bellwood, Peter. eds. 2004. Southeast Asia: From Prehistory to History. RoutledgeCurzon. London. |
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Island South East Asia: ’Bronze and iron metallurgy appear to have arrived together, perhaps after 300 BC’.
[1]
[1]: (Bellwood 2004, 36) Bellwood, Peter. The origins and dispersals of agricultural communities in Southeast Asia. Glover, Ian. Bellwood, Peter. eds. 2004. Southeast Asia: From Prehistory to History. RoutledgeCurzon. London. |
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Island South East Asia: ’Bronze and iron metallurgy appear to have arrived together, perhaps after 300 BC’.
[1]
[1]: (Bellwood 2004, 36) Bellwood, Peter. The origins and dispersals of agricultural communities in Southeast Asia. Glover, Ian. Bellwood, Peter. eds. 2004. Southeast Asia: From Prehistory to History. RoutledgeCurzon. London. |
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In the Levant, in Israel iron replaced bronze for utilitarian objects by 900 BCE
[1]
and data from this time shows both bronze and iron weapons were being used.
[2]
[1]: (McNutt 1999, 163) Paula M McNutt. 1999. Reconstructing the Society of Ancient Israel. Westminister John Knox Press. Louisville. [2]: (Gabriel 2003, 117) Gabriel, Richard. 2003. The Military History of Ancient Israel. Westport: Praeger Publishers |
||||||
‘Before 600 BC, warfare in India consisted of duels among the Kshatriya aristocrats in chariots and cow lifting raids carried out by tribal militias’. Kshatriya charioteers wore helmets made of metal
[1]
, presumably of copper.
[1]: (Roy 2013) Kaushik Roy. 2013 Military Manpower, Armies and Warfare in South Asia. Number 8. Routledge. Abingdon. |
||||||
‘Before 600 BC, warfare in India consisted of duels among the Kshatriya aristocrats in chariots and cow lifting raids carried out by tribal militias’. Kshatriya charioteers wore helmets made of metal
[1]
, presumably of copper.
[1]: (Roy 2013) Kaushik Roy. 2013 Military Manpower, Armies and Warfare in South Asia. Number 8. Routledge. Abingdon. |
||||||
"It was not until iron came into widespread use in the early first millennium that swords in particular and iron weapons in general began to replace the more expensive bronze spears, arrowheads, axes, and daggers of earlier times."
[1]
[1]: (McIntosh 2005: 190) McIntosh, J. 2005. Ancient Mesopotamia: New Perspective. Santa Barbara: ABC Clio. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/KK2E3KMD. |
||||||
"A copper spearhead, the oldest yet discovered, was found in Mesopotamia dating to the early fifth millennium".
[1]
[1]: (Hamblin 2006: 34) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/4WM3RBTD. |
||||||
"The people of the South Indian Neolithic Culture (1700-1100 BCE) "used polish stone celts and axes on a larger scale than was the case in the Deccan Chalcolithic. ... produced slender chalcedony blades ... The use of copper was on a restricted scale."
[1]
Copper swords associated with the Chalcolithic culture of the Karnataka region "with the time when ’Jorwe’ influences were reaching there from the north. This we suggested dated from 1400-1500 BC.’"
[2]
Reference for Vedic-period India (mostly Ganges valley but may also be relevant further south) mentions copper armour: "No material evidence exists to prove the use of body-armour, helmets and shields by the people of the Indus valley. It has been suggested, however, that domed pieces of copper, each pierced by two holes, were stitched on to a piece of cloth and used as a coat of mail."
[3]
[1]: (Shinde and Deshpande 2002, 345) Vasant Shinde. Shweta Sinha Deshpande. South Indian Chalcolithic. Deccan Chalcolithic, South Indian Neolithic. Peter N. Peregrine. Melvin Ember. eds. 2002. Encyclopedia of Prehistory. Volume 8: South and Southwest Asia. Springer. Boston. pp 344-360. [2]: (Allchin 1979, 114) F R Allchin. A South Indian Copper Sword and Its Significance. J E Van Lohuizen-De Leeuw. 1979. South Asian Archaeology 1975. From the third international conference of the Association of South Asian Archaeologists in Western Europe held in Paris. E J BRILL. Leiden. [3]: (Singh 1997, 91) Sarva Daman Singh. 1997 (1965). Ancient Indian Warfare: With Special Reference to the Vedic Period. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Private Limited. Delhi. |
||||||
Inferred from the presence of higher metals.
|
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"Over eighty copper hoards consisting of rings, celts, hatchets, swords, harpoons, spearheads, and human-like figures have been found in a wide area ranging from West Bengal and Orissa in the east to Gujarat and Haryana in the west, and from AP in the south to UP in the north."
[1]
[1]: (Sharma 2007: 71) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/NBZAVZ3U. |
||||||
"Of 138 sites, only fourteen sites in UP and Bihar have been excavated so far and these show little use of copper."
[1]
[1]: (Sharma 2007: 71) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/NBZAVZ3U. |
||||||
Inferred from the presence of higher metals.
|
||||||
Probably more often used for ornamental features or for handles.
|
||||||
Inferred from the presence of higher metals.
|
||||||
Armor included iron and copper mail (mighfar), and elephant armor could be made of high iron or brass plates. In addition, guns were made of bronze and brass.
[1]
[2]
[1]: Gommans, J. J. L. 2002. Mughal Warfare: Indian frontiers and high roads to Empire, 1500-1700. London: Routledge, p199, 125, 133. [2]: William Irvine, The army of the Indian Moghuls: its organization and administration (1903),pp. 90-102 |
||||||
A military historian suggests metal armour was not widely used before the Macedonian invasion of Alexander the Great in the late fourth century BCE
[1]
- do ancient Indian specialists agree? Copper weapons did exist but by this time probably replaced by iron, steel or bronze.
[1]: (Gabriel 2002, 219) Gabriel, Richard A. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Greenwood Publishing Group. |
||||||
[1]
Helmets could be made of copper.
[2]
"The majority of metal weaponry was likely made of arsenical copper in the first half of the 3rd millennium BCE.Tin bronzes, along with arsenical bronze alloys with a higher percentage of arsenic, are more common towards the middle of the 3rd millennium, which corresponds to the EDIII. (Moorey 1985: 250–54; Malfoy and Menu 1987: 356–59; Potts 1997: 167; De Ryck et al. 2005: 263–66)."
[3]
[1]: Hamblin 2006, 77 [2]: (Foster 2016, 167) Foster, Benjamin R. 2016. The Age of Agade. Inventing Empire In Ancient Mesopotamia. Routledge. London. [3]: (Stefanski, Arthur. 2008. “The Material Culture of Early Dynastic Akkadian Period Conflict: Copper and Bronze Melee Weapons from Khafajah.” The Canadian Society for Mesopotamian Studies. 13: 15) |
||||||
used to make bronze “Odrysian Cavalry javelins were 1.5 to 1.8 metres in length, and tipped with iron or bronze heads. They could be thrown immediately before contact or used as a thrusting weapon.”
[1]
[1]: Webber, C. (2003) Odrysian Cavalry, Army, Equipment and Tactics. Bar International Series 1139, pp. 529-554. p549 |
||||||
"It was not until iron came into widespread use in the early first millennium that swords in particular and iron weapons in general began to replace the more expensive bronze spears, arrowheads, axes, and daggers of earlier times."
[1]
[1]: (McIntosh 2005: 190) McIntosh, J. 2005. Ancient Mesopotamia: New Perspective. Santa Barbara: ABC Clio. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/KK2E3KMD. |
||||||
"It was not until iron came into widespread use in the early first millennium that swords in particular and iron weapons in general began to replace the more expensive bronze spears, arrowheads, axes, and daggers of earlier times."
[1]
[1]: (McIntosh 2005: 190) McIntosh, J. 2005. Ancient Mesopotamia: New Perspective. Santa Barbara: ABC Clio. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/KK2E3KMD. |
||||||
"It was not until iron came into widespread use in the early first millennium that swords in particular and iron weapons in general began to replace the more expensive bronze spears, arrowheads, axes, and daggers of earlier times."
[1]
[1]: (McIntosh 2005: 190) McIntosh, J. 2005. Ancient Mesopotamia: New Perspective. Santa Barbara: ABC Clio. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/KK2E3KMD. |
||||||
Copper used to make bronze. Greek mercenaries under Cyrus had "helmets, greaves and shields of bronze"
[1]
"Of the Medes and Persians as a whole, only a few wore armour. Some had body armour of iron scales ... and only some of the cavalry wore helmets of bronze or iron."
[2]
[1]: (Sekunda 1992, 10) Sekunda, N. 1992. The Persian Army 560-330 BC. Osprey Publishing. [2]: (Robinson 1967) Robinson, H. Russell. 1967. Oriental Armour. Walker and Co. New York. |
||||||
Copper/bronze arrowheads, daggers and knives in tombs at Susa.
[1]
"The majority of metal weaponry was likely made of arsenical copper in the first half of the 3rd millennium BCE. Tin bronzes, along with arsenical bronze alloys with a higher percentage of arsenic, are more common towards the middle of the 3rd millennium, which corresponds to the EDIII (Moorey 1985: 250–54; Malfoy and Menu 1987: 356–59; Potts 1997: 167; De Ryck et al. 2005: 263–66)."
[2]
[1]: (Potts 2016, 89) Potts, D T. 2016. The Archaeology of Elam Formation and Transformation of an Ancient Iranian State. 2nd Edition. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. [2]: (Stefanski, Arthur. 2008. “The Material Culture of Early Dynastic Akkadian Period Conflict: Copper and Bronze Melee Weapons from Khafajah.” The Canadian Society for Mesopotamian Studies. 13: 16) |
||||||
Coded as present as the following has been found for a time frame in the region covering this polity: copper and bronze weapons found in graves
[1]
[1]: Michael D. Danti, ‘The Late Bronze and Early Iron Age in Northwestern Iran’, In Daniel T. Potts (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Iran, 2013, p. 347 |
||||||
‘Major categories are pear-shaped stone maceheads, copper/bronze spiked and star maces, shortswords, knives/daggers with upturned ends, iron socketed spears, and arrowheads’
[1]
[1]: Michael D. Danti, ‘The Late Bronze and Early Iron Age in Northwestern Iran’, In Daniel T. Potts (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Iran, 2013, p. 359 |
||||||
bronze is made with copper: Heavy cavalry armour made from "rawhide, horn, iron, and bronze cut into scales."
[1]
"The standard turn-out would have included helmets of bronze or iron, sometimes with a neck guard and/or an aventail of lamellar, scale or mail, sometimes sporting a small plume of horsehair, either dyed or left natural; and a corselet of lamellar, mail or scale for the torso"
[1]
[1]: (Penrose 2008, 223) Penrose, Jane. 2008. Rome and Her Enemies: An Empire Created and Destroyed by War. Osprey Publishing. |
||||||
Inferred from presence of bronze.
|
||||||
Inferred from presence of bronze.
|
||||||
Inferred from presence of bronze.
|
||||||
According to a military historian, Japanese ’kuni’ warriors mentioned by early Han annals "fought with iron and bronze weapons against other kuni and other less advanced peoples, the emishi or ’toad barbarians.’ on their frontiers"
[1]
- are these early Han annals considered a reliable source by polity/region specialists?
[1]: (Gabriel 2002, 316) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. |
||||||
Bronze armor have been found and copper is needed to make bronze, so it seems reasonable to assume that copper weapons were probably used too.
|
||||||
Bronze armor has been found and copper is needed to make bronze, so it seems reasonable to assume that copper weapons were probably used too.
|
||||||
Bronze armor have been found and copper is needed to make bronze, so it seems reasonable to assume that copper weapons were probably used too.
|
||||||
Bronze weapons have been found and copper is needed to make bronze, so it seems reasonable to assume that copper weapons were probably used too.
|
||||||
Their mortuary ritual was considerably more complex than that of the preceding Neolithic 2. Burial 569, for example, was cut deeply into the substrate, and the young woman was interred in a wooden coffin with a pointed end resembling that of a boat. Fourteen finely-made pots had been placed within and outside the coffin. She wore a shell bangle, and over 2000 shell disc beads were found as belts and necklaces. She was also interred with several probably symbolic bivalve shells, two positioned beside the hands. A socketed copper-base axe had been placed beside her head.
[1]
[1]: (higham 2012: 271) |
||||||
Evidence of bronze, gold, silver and iron.
[1]
[1]: (Miksic and Goh 2016: 106) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/2EZ3CBBS. |
||||||
long been in use in the region. Majemir culture from 900 BCE is an example of one of the first iron-using cultures in the Altai region.
[1]
and by 300 BCE in the Ordos region of Mongolia iron was becoming much more frequently used for weapons and horse fittings.
[2]
[1]: (Baumer 2012) Baumer, Christoph. 2012. The History of Central Asia: The Age of the Steppe Warriors. I.B.Tauris. London. [2]: (Di Cosmo 2002, 84) Nicola Di Cosmo. 2002. Ancient China and Its Enemies: The Rise of Nomadic Power in East Asian History. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. |
||||||
Majemir culture from 900 BCE is an example of one of the first iron-using cultures in the Altai region.
[1]
and by 300 BCE in the Ordos region of Mongolia iron was becoming much more frequently used for weapons and horse fittings.
[2]
[1]: (Baumer 2012) Baumer, Christoph. 2012. The History of Central Asia: The Age of the Steppe Warriors. I.B.Tauris. London. [2]: (Di Cosmo 2002, 84) Nicola Di Cosmo. 2002. Ancient China and Its Enemies: The Rise of Nomadic Power in East Asian History. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. |
||||||
long been in use in the region. Majemir culture from 900 BCE is an example of one of the first iron-using cultures in the Altai region.
[1]
and by 300 BCE in the Ordos region of Mongolia iron was becoming much more frequently used for weapons and horse fittings.
[2]
[1]: (Baumer 2012) Baumer, Christoph. 2012. The History of Central Asia: The Age of the Steppe Warriors. I.B.Tauris. London. [2]: (Di Cosmo 2002, 84) Nicola Di Cosmo. 2002. Ancient China and Its Enemies: The Rise of Nomadic Power in East Asian History. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. |
||||||
long been in use in the region. Majemir culture from 900 BCE is an example of one of the first iron-using cultures in the Altai region.
[1]
and by 300 BCE in the Ordos region of Mongolia iron was becoming much more frequently used for weapons and horse fittings.
[2]
[1]: (Baumer 2012) Baumer, Christoph. 2012. The History of Central Asia: The Age of the Steppe Warriors. I.B.Tauris. London. [2]: (Di Cosmo 2002, 84) Nicola Di Cosmo. 2002. Ancient China and Its Enemies: The Rise of Nomadic Power in East Asian History. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. |
||||||
long been in use in the region. Majemir culture from 900 BCE is an example of one of the first iron-using cultures in the Altai region.
[1]
and by 300 BCE in the Ordos region of Mongolia iron was becoming much more frequently used for weapons and horse fittings.
[2]
[1]: (Baumer 2012) Baumer, Christoph. 2012. The History of Central Asia: The Age of the Steppe Warriors. I.B.Tauris. London. [2]: (Di Cosmo 2002, 84) Nicola Di Cosmo. 2002. Ancient China and Its Enemies: The Rise of Nomadic Power in East Asian History. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. |
||||||
long been in use in the region. Majemir culture from 900 BCE is an example of one of the first iron-using cultures in the Altai region.
[1]
and by 300 BCE in the Ordos region of Mongolia iron was becoming much more frequently used for weapons and horse fittings.
[2]
[1]: (Baumer 2012) Baumer, Christoph. 2012. The History of Central Asia: The Age of the Steppe Warriors. I.B.Tauris. London. [2]: (Di Cosmo 2002, 84) Nicola Di Cosmo. 2002. Ancient China and Its Enemies: The Rise of Nomadic Power in East Asian History. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. |
||||||
long been in use in the region. Majemir culture from 900 BCE is an example of one of the first iron-using cultures in the Altai region.
[1]
and by 300 BCE in the Ordos region of Mongolia iron was becoming much more frequently used for weapons and horse fittings.
[2]
[1]: (Baumer 2012) Baumer, Christoph. 2012. The History of Central Asia: The Age of the Steppe Warriors. I.B.Tauris. London. [2]: (Di Cosmo 2002, 84) Nicola Di Cosmo. 2002. Ancient China and Its Enemies: The Rise of Nomadic Power in East Asian History. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. |
||||||
long been in use in the region. Majemir culture from 900 BCE is an example of one of the first iron-using cultures in the Altai region.
[1]
and by 300 BCE in the Ordos region of Mongolia iron was becoming much more frequently used for weapons and horse fittings.
[2]
[1]: (Baumer 2012) Baumer, Christoph. 2012. The History of Central Asia: The Age of the Steppe Warriors. I.B.Tauris. London. [2]: (Di Cosmo 2002, 84) Nicola Di Cosmo. 2002. Ancient China and Its Enemies: The Rise of Nomadic Power in East Asian History. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. |
||||||
"The Ch’i-chia culture was broadly distributed, extending north and east into Inner Mongolia, the upper Yellow River Valley, and the upper Wei-he and Huang-shui River Valleys. Connected with earlier Neolithic cultures, such as the Ma-chia-yao, during the first half of the first millennium b.c., the Ch’i-chia people displayed cultural traits that were among the most advanced in China. Their bronze production was extensive, and they progressed from forging copper tools (knives, awls, chisels) to casting objects (knives and axes) in open molds to more complex casting using composite molds (mirrors and socketed axes)."
[1]
[1]: Nicola Di Cosmo. 2002. Ancient China and Its Enemies: The Rise of Nomadic Power in East Asian History. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge, p. 46 |
||||||
Metalworking was not widely used in Mesoamerica, with metal products consisting mainly of small beads and ornaments.
[1]
[2]
[1]: Coe, M. D., Koontz, R. (2013) Mexico: From the Olmecs to the Aztecs (7th ed.) Thames and Hudson, London, p157 [2]: Kowalewski, S. A., Feinman, G. M., Finten, L., Blanton, R. E., Nicholas, L. M. (1989) Monte Albán’s Hinterland, Part II: Prehispanic settlement patterns in Tlacolula, Etla, and Ocotlan, The Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico, Volume II. Memoirs of the Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Number 23. Ann Arbor. |
||||||
Metalworking was not widely used in Mesoamerica, with metal products consisting mainly of small beads and ornaments.
[1]
[2]
[1]: Coe, M. D., Koontz, R. (2013) Mexico: From the Olmecs to the Aztecs (7th ed.) Thames and Hudson, London, p157 [2]: Kowalewski, S. A., Feinman, G. M., Finten, L., Blanton, R. E., Nicholas, L. M. (1989) Monte Albán’s Hinterland, Part II: Prehispanic settlement patterns in Tlacolula, Etla, and Ocotlan, The Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico, Volume II. Memoirs of the Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Number 23. Ann Arbor. |
||||||
-
|
||||||
Metalworking was not widely used in Mesoamerica, with metal products consisting mainly of small beads and ornaments.
[1]
[2]
[1]: Coe, M. D., Koontz, R. (2013) Mexico: From the Olmecs to the Aztecs (7th ed.) Thames and Hudson, London, p157 [2]: Kowalewski, S. A., Feinman, G. M., Finten, L., Blanton, R. E., Nicholas, L. M. (1989) Monte Albán’s Hinterland, Part II: Prehispanic settlement patterns in Tlacolula, Etla, and Ocotlan, The Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico, Volume II. Memoirs of the Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Number 23. Ann Arbor. |
||||||
Metalworking was not widely used in Mesoamerica, with metal products consisting mainly of small beads and ornaments.
[1]
[2]
[1]: Coe, M. D., Koontz, R. (2013) Mexico: From the Olmecs to the Aztecs (7th ed.) Thames and Hudson, London, p157 [2]: Kowalewski, S. A., Feinman, G. M., Finten, L., Blanton, R. E., Nicholas, L. M. (1989) Monte Albán’s Hinterland, Part II: Prehispanic settlement patterns in Tlacolula, Etla, and Ocotlan, The Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico, Volume II. Memoirs of the Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Number 23. Ann Arbor. |
||||||
"Metals were another story. Throughout all these times [before 500 BCE], and even much later, they were essentially unused in Mesoamerica. Teotihuacan’s predecessors [...] and Teotihuacan itself used only stone tools".
[1]
[1]: (Cowgill 2015: 40) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/JRFZPUXU. |
||||||
"Metals were another story. Throughout all these times [before 500 BCE], and even much later, they were essentially unused in Mesoamerica. Teotihuacan’s predecessors [...] and Teotihuacan itself used only stone tools".
[1]
[1]: (Cowgill 2015: 40) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/JRFZPUXU. |
||||||
"Metals were another story. Throughout all these times [before 500 BCE], and even much later, they were essentially unused in Mesoamerica. Teotihuacan’s predecessors [...] and Teotihuacan itself used only stone tools".
[1]
[1]: (Cowgill 2015: 40) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/JRFZPUXU. |
||||||
"Metals were another story. Throughout all these times [before 500 BCE], and even much later, they were essentially unused in Mesoamerica. Teotihuacan’s predecessors [...] and Teotihuacan itself used only stone tools".
[1]
[1]: (Cowgill 2015: 40) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/JRFZPUXU. |
||||||
The first evidence for the introduction of indigenously produced (copper-based) metallurgy in Mesoamerica is c.600 CE for ornamental valuables,
[1]
and the system closest to coinage ever practiced in Mesoamerica was the widespread use of cacao beans and copper axes as media of exchange during the Postclassic.
[2]
[1]: Shugar, Aaron N. and Scott E. Simmons. (2013) Archaeometallurgy in Mesoamerica: Current Approaches and New Perspectives. Boulder: University Press of Colorado, pg. 1-4. [2]: Berdan, Frances F., Marilyn A. Masson, Janine Gasco, and Michael E. Smith. (2003) "An International Economy." In Michael E. Smith and Frances F. Berdan (eds.) The Postclassic Mesoamerican World. Salt Lake City: The University of Utah Press, pg. 102. |
||||||
"Metals were another story. Throughout all these times [before 500 BCE], and even much later, they were essentially unused in Mesoamerica. Teotihuacan’s predecessors [...] and Teotihuacan itself used only stone tools".
[1]
[1]: (Cowgill 2015: 40) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/JRFZPUXU. |
||||||
The first evidence for the introduction of indigenously produced (copper-based) metallurgy in Mesoamerica is c.600 CE for ornamental valuables,
[1]
and the system closest to coinage ever practiced in Mesoamerica was the widespread use of cacao beans and copper axes as media of exchange during the Postclassic.
[2]
[1]: Shugar, Aaron N. and Scott E. Simmons. (2013) Archaeometallurgy in Mesoamerica: Current Approaches and New Perspectives. Boulder: University Press of Colorado, pg. 1-4. [2]: Berdan, Frances F., Marilyn A. Masson, Janine Gasco, and Michael E. Smith. (2003) "An International Economy." In Michael E. Smith and Frances F. Berdan (eds.) The Postclassic Mesoamerican World. Salt Lake City: The University of Utah Press, pg. 102. |
||||||
"Metals were another story. Throughout all these times [before 500 BCE], and even much later, they were essentially unused in Mesoamerica. Teotihuacan’s predecessors [...] and Teotihuacan itself used only stone tools".
[1]
[1]: (Cowgill 2015: 40) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/JRFZPUXU. |
||||||
"Metals were another story. Throughout all these times [before 500 BCE], and even much later, they were essentially unused in Mesoamerica. Teotihuacan’s predecessors [...] and Teotihuacan itself used only stone tools".
[1]
[1]: (Cowgill 2015: 40) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/JRFZPUXU. |
||||||
Metalworking was not widely used in Mesoamerica, with metal products consisting mainly of small beads and ornaments.
[1]
[2]
[1]: Coe, M. D., Koontz, R. (2013) Mexico: From the Olmecs to the Aztecs (7th ed.) Thames and Hudson, London, p157 [2]: Kowalewski, S. A., Feinman, G. M., Finten, L., Blanton, R. E., Nicholas, L. M. (1989) Monte Albán’s Hinterland, Part II: Prehispanic settlement patterns in Tlacolula, Etla, and Ocotlan, The Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico, Volume II. Memoirs of the Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Number 23. Ann Arbor. |
||||||
Metalworking was not widely used in Mesoamerica, with metal products consisting mainly of small beads and ornaments.
[1]
[2]
[1]: Coe, M. D., Koontz, R. (2013) Mexico: From the Olmecs to the Aztecs (7th ed.) Thames and Hudson, London, p157 [2]: Kowalewski, S. A., Feinman, G. M., Finten, L., Blanton, R. E., Nicholas, L. M. (1989) Monte Albán’s Hinterland, Part II: Prehispanic settlement patterns in Tlacolula, Etla, and Ocotlan, The Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico, Volume II. Memoirs of the Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Number 23. Ann Arbor. |
||||||
Metalworking was not widely used in Mesoamerica, with metal products consisting mainly of small beads and ornaments.
[1]
[2]
[1]: Coe, M. D., Koontz, R. (2013) Mexico: From the Olmecs to the Aztecs (7th ed.) Thames and Hudson, London, p157 [2]: Kowalewski, S. A., Feinman, G. M., Finten, L., Blanton, R. E., Nicholas, L. M. (1989) Monte Albán’s Hinterland, Part II: Prehispanic settlement patterns in Tlacolula, Etla, and Ocotlan, The Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico, Volume II. Memoirs of the Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Number 23. Ann Arbor. |
||||||
"Copper-tin bronze alloys were developed by metalworkers in the cassiterite-rich southern Andean highlands of Bolivia, Peru, and northwest Argentina. Both bronze alloys were in use by about 850 A.D."
[1]
[1]: (Holder and Streeser-Pean 1992: 1215) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/CTK5MTBV. |
||||||
"Copper-tin bronze alloys were developed by metalworkers in the cassiterite-rich southern Andean highlands of Bolivia, Peru, and northwest Argentina. Both bronze alloys were in use by about 850 A.D."
[1]
[1]: (Holder and Streeser-Pean 1992: 1215) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/CTK5MTBV. |
||||||
"The battles were noisy, colorful affairs. The soldiers from each etnía were clothed in their distinctive martial vestments. Cobo (1990: 216) wrote that the warriors adorned themselves with finery: “Over this defensive gear, they would usually wear their most attractive and rich adornments and jewels; this included wearing fine plumes of many colors on their heads and large gold and silver plates on their chests and backs; however, the plates worn by poorer soldiers were copper.” "
[1]
[1]: (D’Altroy 2014, 345) |
||||||
On same level as Pirak III iron weapons, bronze and copper arrowheads.
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Copper arrowheads, though it is not clear whether these were used in warfare. These had been found at Harappan, Lothal and Banawali. Neighbouring communities, such as the so-called Ganeshwar and Jodhpura Cultural Complex (GJCC) seem to have used similar types of arrowheads
[1]
.
[1]: (Ceccarelli, pers. comm. to E. Cioni, Feb 2017) |
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Copper arrowheads, though it is not clear whether these were used in warfare. These had been found at Harappan, Lothal and Banawali. Neighbouring communities, such as the so-called Ganeshwar and Jodhpura Cultural Complex (GJCC) seem to have used similar types of arrowheads
[1]
.
[1]: (Ceccarelli, pers. comm. to E. Cioni, Feb 2017) |
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Copper was worked but no mention was found of its use for military purposes: "On the other hand, the majority of Yakut smiths are excellent copper and silver-workers. Besides small objects, like buckles, rings, earrings, crosses, seals, chains, pendants, and all the complicated decorations which they cleanly and delicately cast from both these metals, many cast and forge from copper fragments large kettles holding from ten to twelve vedros, and pot-belliedtea kettles weighing several pounds. I even wrote down a legend in the Namsk Ulus which mentions that one of the bells of the Namsk Uprava church was cast by a Yakut (Namsk Ulus, 1891). Yakut skill in casting is certainly equal to and, I think, even surpasses their knowledge of the smith’s art.’
[1]
[1]: Sieroszewski, Wacław. 1993. “Yakut: An Experiment In Ethnographic Research.”, 624 |
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Copper was worked but no mention was found of its use in for military purposes, e.g.: "On the other hand, the majority of Yakut smiths are excellent copper and silver-workers. Besides small objects, like buckles, rings, earrings, crosses, seals, chains, pendants, and all the complicated decorations which they cleanly and delicately cast from both these metals, many cast and forge from copper fragments large kettles holding from ten to twelve vedros, and pot-belliedtea kettles weighing several pounds. I even wrote down a legend in the Namsk Ulus which mentions that one of the bells of the Namsk Uprava church was cast by a Yakut (Namsk Ulus, 1891). Yakut skill in casting is certainly equal to and, I think, even surpasses their knowledge of the smith’s art.
[1]
"
[1]: Sieroszewski, Wacław. 1993. “Yakut: An Experiment In Ethnographic Research.”, 624 |
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Earlier polities used bronze military technology, so this polity probably used copper too.
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however, iron and steel primarily used in military matters
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Technology not found in archaeological evidence until much later. Beads and tools carved from copper have been found but no weapons or smelting at this time
[1]
[1]: https://www.tf.uni-kiel.de/matwis/amat/iss/kap_a/advanced/ta_1_2c.html |
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Anatolia well known at the time for copper deposits
[1]
Copper or bronze mace-head from Can Hasan
[2]
and items found made from smelted copper have been dated to around 5000 BC
[3]
‘There is some evidence for substantial subterranean copper ore mining (e.g., at Kozlu in central Anatolia). The use of arsenical copper appears to be a hallmark of the time’
[4]
[1]: (Leverani 2014, 55) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London. [2]: Excavations at Can Hasan: First Preliminary Report, 1961 Author(s): D. H. French Source: Anatolian Studies, Vol. 12 1962, British Institute at Ankara, pp.34 [3]: https://www.tf.uni-kiel.de/matwis/amat/iss/kap_a/advanced/ta_1_2j.html [4]: Ulf-Dietrich Schoop, ‘The Chalcolithic on the Plateau’, The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Anatolia: (10,000-323 BCE), Edited by Gregory McMahon and Sharon Steadman, 2011, p. 165 |
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Technology not found in archaeological evidence until much later. Beads and tools carved from copper have been found but no weapons or smelting at this time
[1]
[1]: https://www.tf.uni-kiel.de/matwis/amat/iss/kap_a/advanced/ta_1_2c.html |
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Technology not found in archaeological evidence until much later. Beads and tools carved from copper have been found but no weapons or smelting at this time
[1]
[1]: https://www.tf.uni-kiel.de/matwis/amat/iss/kap_a/advanced/ta_1_2c.html |
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"The Illinois made tools and utensils out of many different materials obtained from nature, including wood, bone, antler, shell, and stone."
[1]
[1]: Illinois State Museum, The Illinois, Technology: Tools and Utensils (2000), http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/post/htmls/te_tools.html |
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Ornaments were usually made from bones and shells, and stonework was present in this period. Weapons were made of stone, wood, and bone. Not till after contact with Europeans and trade with them did Iroquois begin to use metals heavily in their weapons and ornaments.
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]
[1]: (Hasenstab 2001: 453) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/EQZYAI2R. [2]: (Snow 1996: 36) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/TQ4KR3AE. [3]: (Beauchamp 1968: 16) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/KJQLGMR6 [4]: Personal Communication with Peter Peregrine 2019. |
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Not mentioned by sources; it seems most Oneota technology derived from wood and stone
[1]
.
[1]: Illinois State Museum, Late Prehistoric, Technology: Weapons (2000), http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/pre/htmls/lp_weapons.html |
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"Between 1510 and 1540, the Ottomans aided the Uzbeks in manufacturing hand-held firearms that shot copper and iron balls. The Ottomans’ strategy was to arm the Uzbeks as a counterweight to the Safavids."
[1]
[1]: (Roy 2014, 47) Kaushik Roy. 2014. Military Transition in Early Modern Asia, 1400-1750: Cavalry, Guns, Government and Ships. Bloomsbury Academic. London. |
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Copper is needed to make bronze which is present.
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Metalworking was not widely used in Mesoamerica, with metal products consisting mainly of small beads and ornaments.
[1]
[2]
[1]: Coe, M. D., Koontz, R. (2013) Mexico: From the Olmecs to the Aztecs (7th ed.) Thames and Hudson, London, p157 [2]: Kowalewski, S. A., Feinman, G. M., Finten, L., Blanton, R. E., Nicholas, L. M. (1989) Monte Albán’s Hinterland, Part II: Prehispanic settlement patterns in Tlacolula, Etla, and Ocotlan, The Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico, Volume II. Memoirs of the Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Number 23. Ann Arbor. |
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