After the Copper Age, the Bronze Age is the second metal age. In this article, we will get to know the art of bronze working. Stay with Saad News.
Bronze or brass is an alloy of copper and tin, which is used to make various tools and sculptures. Bronze is the oldest alloy that humans have created because copper metal is commonly found naturally mixed with tin in copper mines. For this reason, the first metal tools made by humans in ancient times were often made of bronze.
The Bronze Age is the second part of the Metal Ages, following the Copper Age. This categorization exists because the metallic artifacts of this period were mainly made from a combination of copper and tin. Archaeological excavations have shown that the people of Iran knew about the bronze alloy as early as 5000 BCE and used it to create their metal products. The bronze artifacts found in other parts of the world through excavation are not older than this date. Thus, we can consider the beginning of the Bronze Age from 5000 BCE, marking the start of the Iron Age. Bronze, an alloy of copper and tin, comes in various colors such as red, light red, and orange, melts earlier than copper, and is used in sculpture and other tools.
Iran has a long history in smelting ore and extracting copper metal. Artifacts found from the Dastgerd cemetery hill in Qazvin, dating from the second half of the 5th millennium BCE, the Ali Kesh hill in Dehloran, the Silk Hill, the Abilis hill in the central part of the Kerman mountains, and excavations in Bam and Shadad, confirm this. Over time, metalworkers sought to use elements and combine them, leading to a stronger material made from the alloy of copper and tin, known as bronze. Thus, bronze became one of the most prominent industries of the Iranian plateau.
Old Bronze Age: 2000-3000 BCE
Middle Bronze Age: 1600-2000 BCE
New Bronze Age: 1200-1600 BCE
The Kassite tribes, when they entered Iran via the Caucasus, brought with them a lasting art form. These tribes were among the first to settle in Lorestan. Upon their arrival, they began making tools and objects such as safety pins, mirrors, rings, necklaces, cups, equestrian tools, military weapons, sculptures of animals like deer, gazelle, horse, and ox, water bowls, and daggers. These crafted objects have one major difference from other items of the time: the designs and motifs adorning them. In any fertile soil of Lorestan where excavations are conducted, there will surely be signs of the skilled Iranian artists, whose work continues to amaze and astonish everyone.
One of the key regions in Iran for the bronze industry is Lorestan. Lorestan, located in the center of western Iran, consists of narrow valleys and high mountains. Evidence suggests that metalworking in Lorestan dates back to the 4th millennium BCE. The collection of metal objects attributed to Lorestan has attracted significant attention from researchers and scholars and is displayed in many of the world's largest museums. Scholars consider the bronze art of Lorestan as the result of simple works that represent centuries of material revolution by a farming and warrior nation. This art reached its peak in the 4th millennium BCE. The importance of Lorestan's bronze art lies in the transfer of ancestral traditions, shared religious concepts, and the expression of rules that were admired, cherished, and praised by all the ancient equestrian, warrior, and farming cultures. The artifacts, tools, and implements left behind by the wise craftsmen of the Zagros mountains are numerous, including weapons like daggers, swords, maces, equestrian gear, ornamental items, and various serving dishes.
For thousands of years, bronze has been used to make various goods. Although bronze is a very hard metal and difficult to work with, it is said that the Chinese, Egyptians, Greeks, Iranians, and Romans knew about it and used it to create various items. In Cornwall, England, there were many mines with large reserves of tin, which was used in other parts of Europe to make bronze. Over a thousand years ago, bronze was also used in China, Korea, and Japan.
Bronze was used in three ways: for church items, for daily needs, and in special works. Bronze bowls became common in English churches in the Middle Ages. In England, making bronze plates and cups was very popular, but wealthier people used silverware, and bronze utensils were mainly used by the middle class.
In France, during the 14th century, bronze was used to make drinking vessels, plates, salt shakers, and cooking pots. In the 14th century, a factory was established in Germany to produce bronze items, and during the same period, bronze items were made in Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Russia, and Scandinavia. In the United States, bronze was used in the early years of the discovery of the continent, and some bronze items from the 17th century still exist, but its main production occurred between 1750 and 1850, when bronze was used to make all kitchen utensils.
The mountains of Sahand near Tabriz, the areas around Qara Dagh, the southern slopes of the Zagros near Estarabad and Shahrud, Anarak in Isfahan, Rabat Alikabad near Mashhad, Lorestan, the vicinity of Hamadan, and areas around the Caspian Sea have abundant tin and copper ore mines.
