Metal working (metal working, metalwork, metal processing, working of metals) referred to as metalworking refers to the production activities of humans processing metal elements or materials with metal characteristics mainly composed of metal elements. It is a process technology that processes metal materials into objects, parts, and components, including large parts such as bridges and ships, and even small components of engines, jewelry, and watches. It is widely used in different fields such as science, industry, arts and crafts.
The progress of human society is closely related to the processing and utilization of metal materials. Brass was smelted more than 6,000 years ago, simple bronze tools were made more than 4,000 years ago, and meteorite iron was used to make tools more than 3,000 years ago. For weapons, China already smelted pig iron in the Spring and Autumn Period more than 2,500 years ago, more than 1,800 years earlier than Europe. In the 18th century, the development of the iron and steel industry became an important content and material basis of the Industrial Revolution.
From 1 million years ago, primitive people used stones as tools, which is called the Paleolithic Age. 10,000 years ago, humans processed stone tools to make them into vessels and exquisite tools, thus entering the Neolithic Age. Archaeological excavations have proved that practical pottery was made in my country more than 8,000 years ago, brass was smelted more than 6,000 years ago, simple bronze tools were available more than 4,000 years ago, and used Meteorite makes weapons. Our ancestors were able to smelt pig iron in the Spring and Autumn Period more than 2,500 years ago, more than 1,800 years earlier than Europe.
In the 18th century, the development of the iron and steel industry became an important content and material basis of the industrial revolution. In the middle of the 19th century, the emergence of modern open hearth furnace and converter nickel tube steelmaking technology brought mankind into the steel age. At the same time, copper, lead, and zinc have also been used in large quantities, and metals such as aluminum, magnesium, and titanium have come out and been applied one after another. Metal materials have always occupied a dominant position in the materials industry. Metal materials can be said to be the witnesses of the whole process of the development of human society. The reason for saying that is inseparable from the pivotal role it plays in various transformation periods of human society. As a material that was first discovered and used by humans, metal can be said to have influenced the historical development of humans in all aspects. From the initial use of metals as hunting weapons to today's human life is completely inseparable from metals, it can be seen that metals have long been integrated into the entire human society, so what will the past and future of metals be like in human society.
The role played by metal in the past tense of human society is mostly the epitome of the social nature of a period. Such as the Neolithic Age, the Bronze Age, etc., and the reason why these ages are named in this way, in the final analysis, the main reason is that humans have developed a certain new metal in this stone tool, and this metal almost determines The development of human civilization in this period.
For example, in the Warring States period, due to the invention and use of iron, it not only liberated a large number of productive forces in the countryside, but also greatly shortened the process of the war after it was put into use in war, thus accelerating the unification of the entire country, ending the troubled times, and making our country Civilizations can continue to develop normally after a period of turmoil. Among them, the contribution of metal in weapons is mainly in the casting of cold weapons, and stone weapons and bronze weapons are still the most important. The period of stone weapons lasted about 500,000 to 600,000 years from primitive people learning to make labor tools-stone axes, stone knives, etc., to the advent of bronze weapons in the Xia Dynasty.
Judging from the unearthed stone weapons, the oldest weapons in China were made by the ancient apes who collected quartz stone, sandstone, yellow stone and other raw materials, and then beat and polished them. There are flat, round, square, and various irregular shapes, some with knives, and some in the shape of a school. Our ancestors relied on those tools that were both labor tools and defense weapons, hunted animals, slashed and burned, survived tenaciously, and evolved and developed. By the end of the Paleolithic Age, people had been able to manufacture weapons such as stone spears, javelins, and stone axes that could be equipped with bamboo and wooden barrels, and then invented projectile weapons-bows and arrows. This fully demonstrates the ingenuity and skills of the working people in ancient China, and people bid farewell to ignorance and moved towards civilization. In the Neolithic Age, the manufacturing technology of stone weapons has been greatly improved, and the types are increasing day by day. The Bronze Weapons Period lasted from the Xia Dynasty to the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. During this period, along with the slavery society in our country, it went from prosperity to decline. With the prosperity of the bronze culture in the Shang Dynasty, bronze weapons rose rapidly, and soon became the tools mastered by slave owners, aristocratic scholars and bureaucrats, completely replaced the ancient stone weapons, and became the main weapons equipped in the army in the era of chariot warfare. It can be seen that metal materials played an important role in ancient society. After people realized this, they also increased the range of utilization, which also promoted the development of metal smelting technology to a certain extent. The two are complementary.
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