IV.

The End of the Stone Age

Humans produced metal tools and ornaments from beaten copper as early as 12,000 years ago in some parts of the world. By about 6,000 years ago, early experiments in metallurgy, particularly extracting metals from copper ore (smelting), were being conducted in some parts of Eurasia, notably in Eastern Europe and the Near East. By 5,000 years ago, copper and tin ores were being smelted and alloyed in some regions, marking the dawn of the Bronze Age. Casting of bronze tools—such as axes, knives, swords, spearheads, and arrowheads—became increasingly common over time. At first, copper and bronze tools were rare and stone tools were still very common, but as time went on, metal tools gradually replaced stone as the principal raw material for edged tools and weapons.

In Eurasia and parts of Africa, the rise of metallurgical societies appears to coincide with the rise of the earliest state societies and civilizations, such as ancient Egypt, Sumer, Minoan Culture, Mycenae, and China. In the Americas, parts of sub-Saharan Africa, Australia, and the Pacific Islands, societies continued to use stone and other nonmetal materials as the principal raw materials for tools up to the time of European contact, starting in the 15th century ad. Although, technically, populations in these areas could have been said to be Stone Age groups, many had become agricultural societies and had formed flourishing civilizations.

Stone technology enjoyed a brief resurgence within iron-using societies with the advent of flintlock firearms, beginning in the 17th century. Carefully shaped flints—reminiscent of the geometric microliths of the Mesolithic and early Neolithic—were struck against steel to create a spark to ignite the firearm. By the end of the 20th century few human groups had a traditional stone technology, although a few groups on the island of New Guinea still relied on the use of stone adzes. Tools of metal, plastic, and other materials had replaced stone technologies virtually everywhere.