Chronological framework of the Eneolithic. Chalcolithic (Copper-Stone Age)

The Eneolithic is an era in the development of mankind, a transitional period from the Neolithic (Stone Age) to the Bronze Age.

The Copper Age approximately covers the period of the 4th-3rd millennium BC. e., but in some territories it exists longer, and in some it is absent altogether. Most often, the Chalcolithic is attributed to the Bronze Age, but is sometimes considered a separate period. During the Eneolithic, copper tools were common, but stone ones still predominated.

The emergence of ancient metallurgy.

Man's first acquaintance with copper occurred through nuggets, which were mistaken for stones and tried to be processed in the usual way by hitting them with other stones. The pieces did not break off from the nuggets, but were deformed and could be given the required shape (cold forging).

There are four stages in the development of metallurgy:

1) copper is a type of stone and was processed like stone - using the technique of double-sided trimming. This was the beginning of cold forging. Relatively soon they learned the advantage of forging heated metal.

2) melting native copper and casting simple products into open molds.

3) smelting copper from ores. The discovery of smelting dates back to the 6th millennium BC. e. It is believed that it occurred in Western Asia.

4) era – Bronze Age in the narrow sense of the word. At this stage, artificial alloys based on copper, i.e. bronze, are invented.

It has been established that the first to use metal were, as a rule, tribes whose economy was based on agriculture or cattle breeding, i.e. manufacturing industries. This is quite consistent with the active nature of the metallurgist’s activities. Metallurgy, in a certain sense, can be considered as a branch of the producing economy.

The stone one had to be replaced, but the copper one could be sharpened. Therefore, copper was first used to make jewelry and small piercing and cutting tools - knives, awls. Axes and other impact tools were not made also because they did not know the hardening effect of peening (forging).

The discovery of the metal contributed to the development of exchange between distant countries: after all, copper could only be produced where copper ores were available. Thousands of kilometers of trade routes are being formed and economic ties are expanding. Long routes needed reliable means of transportation, and it was in the Eneolithic that one of the most important discoveries of mankind was made - the wheel is invented.

In this era, which opens the Bronze Age, widespread agriculture, which among a number of tribes becomes the main form of economy. It dominates a vast territory from Egypt to China. This farming was mainly hoe farming, but even then slash farming began to develop, impossible without a metal ax. The main content of progress in the Eneolithic is invention of metallurgy, further settlement of humanity and the spread of the productive economy. But this does not mean that agriculture was the only occupation of the Eneolithic tribes. A number of pastoral and even hunting and fishing cultures also belong to the Eneolithic. Invented in the Chalcolithic era Potter's wheel, which meant that humanity had approached the threshold of class formation

The paleometallic era is a qualitatively new period in history. She gave humanity a lot of fundamentally new things in material and spiritual culture. Among the inventions that have become the property of mankind are the beginning of mining and the development of methods for producing metal, that is, a new material for the manufacture of tools and household items. This archaeological era is marked by the advent of the wheel and wheeled transport using animal draft power. It should be noted that in the Eneolithic the bull was the draft animal. Tools are already copper and bronze sickles, celts, arrowheads and spears. Finally, we can talk about contacts and movements noted in archeology, especially along the steppe belt of Eurasia, overcoming a certain isolation of historical and cultural archaeological formations characteristic of the Neolithic.

Monumental stone steles in the steppes, rock carvings, and vessel ornaments bear the imprint of the new worldview of ancient pastoralists and farmers.

From separate, often scattered centers of agriculture and cattle breeding, large economic zones were formed, which included large territories in Europe and Asia. Historically, two forms of producing economy took shape: the old one, based on settled irrigated and floodplain agriculture, and the new one - promisingly developing livestock farming. The territorial limitations of the production economy based on irrigation agriculture were overcome. The livestock-raising focus of the economy allowed for faster reproduction of food products and the production of surplus product at low labor costs. The steppes, foothills and mountain-valley zones, which began to be developed in the Eneolithic, opened up scope in this regard. There was a colossal breakthrough in the productive economy, a qualitative leap in its development - the first major social division of labor was completed.

During the paleometal era, the foundations of civilization were laid: large settlements appeared, and a proto-urban culture emerged.

The Eneolithic is associated with the development of a new material - metal. Copper was the first metal from which they began to make jewelry, and later tools. The places where copper was mined were mountainous areas - Western Asia, the Caucasus, the Balkans, i.e. areas rich in copper.

There are two known methods of processing copper - cold and hot. It is difficult to say which one was mastered first. The tools could be made using the cold method, i.e., by forging. Pieces of native copper fell into people’s hands, and by applying traditional processing to them, people discovered the special properties of the material, its ability to be forged. Along with this, other properties of native copper or pieces of copper ore were learned - the ability to melt in a fire and take any shape.

In the 3rd millennium BC. e. in the foothill regions rich in polymetallic ores, and in the 2nd millennium, bronze products were distributed almost everywhere in Eurasia. Having mastered the production of bronze, people acquired a more advanced material for making tools. Bronze is an alloy of copper and tin. However, it was often obtained from other alloys: lower quality bronze can be obtained from an alloy of copper with arsenic, antimony or even sulfur. Bronze is a harder alloy than copper. The hardness of bronze increases depending on the amount of tin: the more tin in the alloy, the harder the bronze. But when the amount of tin in the alloy begins to exceed 30%, these qualities disappear. Another feature is no less important: bronze melts at a fairly low temperature - 700-900 ° C, and copper - at 1084 ° C.

Apparently, they became acquainted with the beneficial properties of bronze by accident, by smelting copper from pieces of polymetallic ores, due to the characteristics of which bronze was obtained naturally. Later, having learned the reason for the qualitative changes in the metal, bronze was obtained by smelting, adding tin in the required quantities. However, bronze tools were not able to completely displace stone ones. This is explained by a number of reasons, and primarily by the fact that the ores from which bronze was smelted are not widespread everywhere. Therefore, significant development in the Bronze Age was achieved by the peoples living in ore-rich areas. This is how mining and metallurgical regions and individual centers for the extraction of polymetallic ores arose. The mining and metallurgical region is a fairly vast geological and geographical territory with ore resources available for processing. Within such areas, separate centers have historically been identified. The first to stand out were the Caucasus with its ore deposits, the Urals, and in the east - the territory of Kazakhstan, the Altai-Sayan Highlands, Central Asia (mountainous part) and Transbaikalia.

The ancient workings were small and were located in places where ore veins came directly to the surface or lay very shallow. The shapes and sizes of the workings, as a rule, corresponded to the shape of the ore vein. In ancient times, mainly oxidized ores were mined. The ore was crushed with stone hammers. In cases where hard areas were encountered, the method of arson was used. To do this, a section of the ore vein was first heated with a fire, and then cooled with water, after which the cracked rock was selected. They carried ore out of the mines in leather bags. At the mining sites, the ore was prepared for smelting. The metal was smelted from ore, which was first crushed with massive round-shaped stone hammers on special plates, and then ground in special stone mortars.

Metal smelting took place in special pits, and later in ceramic pots and primitive furnaces. The pit was loaded layer by layer with charcoal and ore, then a fire was lit. At the end of the melting, the metal was taken out from the recess, where it flowed, solidifying in the form of a cake. The smelted metal was cleaned by forging. To do this, a piece of metal was cut into smaller pieces, placed in a special thick-walled clay or stone ladle, the so-called crucible, and heated to a liquid state. Then the heated metal was poured into molds.

During the palemetallic era, primitive casting technology developed. Casting molds were made from soft slate, limestone, sandstone and clay, and later from metal. They were different in design, depending on what needed to be cast. Simple knives, sickles, and some jewelry were most often cast in open one-sided molds. To do this, a recess was polished on a stone slab in the shape of the future object and molten metal was poured into it. Objects were cast in this mold several times, lubricating it with fat. More complex and voluminous objects were cast in composite molds, the production of which was difficult. They were also made from ready-made objects or models, sculpted from wax or carved from wood. The composite mold was assembled from split doors; it was hollow inside and accurately conveyed the shape of the object that was going to be cast. The mold flaps were tightly connected, and metal was poured into the hole. Some molds were used repeatedly, others served only once and were then broken up. This was done if a bronze item was cast using the displacement method. The wax model of the object was coated with clay, which, when hardened, turned into a mold. Molten metal was poured inside through the hole. The metal froze, the mold was broken and the finished object was obtained. The objects obtained by casting were further processed: metal deposits were removed and sharpened.

The entire process of the emerging metallurgical production consisted of a number of sequential operations - ore mining and its preparation, metal smelting, foundry, pouring metal into molds and obtaining product blanks and processing the resulting products - and required knowledge, skills and professional training.

The main objects were made from metal: knives, sickles, spearheads, arrowheads and so-called celts. The celt is a hollow wedge with a sharp blade, quite heavy, with a hole or eyes on the sides with which it was attached to the handle. The use of this universal tool depended on how it was put on the handle - it could be an ax, it could be used to chop, it could be a spade, adze or hoe tip.

The beginning of the metal era is closely associated with the expansion of cultural contacts between peoples distant from each other. At this time, an exchange occurred between the tribes that owned bronze and the rest of the population, between pastoral and agricultural tribes.

The invention of the wheel was a kind of revolution in the field of technology; it influenced material production, human ideas, and his spiritual culture. The wheel, the circle, the movement, the circumference of the perceived world, the circle of the sun and its movement - all this acquired a new meaning and found an explanation. There are two periods in the evolution of the wheel in archeology. The oldest wheels were solid, circles without a hub or spokes, or circles connected from two halves. They were tightly attached to the axle. Later, in the Bronze Age, lightweight wheels with a hub and spokes appear.

The history of Eurasia must be considered in the context of those processes that are the subject of studying the history of the Ancient World. The Chalcolithic and Bronze Age in the context of world history is the time of the formation of the ancient, primary civilizations of Mesopotamia and Iran, the Harappan civilization of Mahenjo-Daro in India, the heyday of Uruk, the early dynastic period of Sumer and the predynastic period, and then the Ancient and Middle Kingdoms in Ancient Egypt. In South-Eastern Europe this is the period of Crete-Mycenaean Greece, Troy, palace complexes in Mycenae and Clos. In the East, on the territory of the Central Chinese Plain, on the basis of the tribes of the so-called painted ceramics of the Yanshao culture, the early state associations of Xia, Shang-Yin and Zhou, known as the period of the “three kingdoms,” took shape. On another continent, in Mesoamerica, at the end of the 2nd millennium BC. e. the oldest Olmec civilization in those places is created.

These civilizational processes were not isolated, especially in Eurasia. The civilizational processes marked by the now known archaeological cultures constituted a characteristic phenomenon of the Chalcolithic and Bronze Ages of the late IV-II millennium BC. e.

Historical periodization identifies several stages in the development of man and human society. Until recently, historians assumed that the Stone Age and the Bronze Age followed one after the other. But not so long ago it was established that there was a time period between them, which was classified as the “Copper Age”. What caused historians to change their opinions about the gradual transition of humanity from the Stone Age to the Bronze Age? What distinguished this time period from others and what features are inherent in this period in the development of mankind? Read about all this below.

Copper Age time frame

The Copper-Stone Age, also known as the Chalcolithic, dates back to the 6th millennium BC and lasts for almost 2 thousand years. The time frame of this period had different meaning depending on the region: in the east and in America it began somewhat earlier than in Europe. It is worth noting that he began his first acquaintance with copper approximately 3 thousand years before the beginning of the period in question. This happened on the territory of the Ancient East. Initially, nuggets were mistaken for a soft stone that was susceptible to the action of harder rocks, that is, cold forging. And only many centuries later did people learn to melt copper and cast it into many useful items: needles, jewelry, spearheads and arrows.

The further development of the metal marked the beginning of such a period as the Copper-Bronze Age, when people became aware of methods and technologies for producing alloys that were better in their characteristics than pure copper. In a word, this period is very significant in the historical development of humanity and civilization as a whole.

Why "copper"?

The Copper Age in archaeological and historical periodization is characterized by the beginning of the use of tools made of metal, namely copper, by primitive man. This led to the gradual replacement of stone and bone tools with softer, but at the same time easy-to-use axes, knives, and scrapers made from it. In addition, mastering the methods of processing this metal allowed man to make, albeit simple, but at the same time more original and sophisticated jewelry and figurines. The Copper Age marked the beginning of a new round of stratification based on wealth: the more copper a person had, the higher status in society he had.

Economic in the Copper Age

Awareness of the value of copper as a means of exchange between tribes and as the main material for the manufacture of many devices contributed to the active development of early craft industries. It was the Copper Age that marked the beginning of the emergence of such crafts as ore mining, metalworking and metallurgy. At the same time, the phenomenon of specialized farming and animal husbandry spread. Pottery production also acquired new features during this period.

Trade also developed actively during this period. At the same time, the tribes that mined copper and produced various products from it could exchange with those located far beyond the borders of their settlement. This is evidenced by the fact that products made from copper mined in the Western Asian region and the Middle East have been found in Europe.

Archaeological finds from the Copper Age

The most characteristic and striking finds that date back to the Copper Age are figurines of women. This is primarily due to the worldview of the people who lived in the Eneolithic. The greatest value for them was harvest and fertility, which symbolized such products. Moreover, a large number of them are made of clay, not metal.

Paintings on pottery also depicted women and the world around them. According to the ideas of people who lived in the Copper Age, the world was divided into three components: the Earth with plants, animals and people, the Middle Sky, emitting the sun's rays, and the Upper Sky, filled with rains that fill the rivers and nourish the earth.

In addition to products endowed with the sacred meaning of existence, archaeologists find knives made of pure copper or bone, tips, needles and much more.

The first era of metal is called the Chalcolithic (Greek enus - “copper”, lithos - “stone”). During this period, copper items appeared, but stone items predominated. Two theories about the spread of copper: 1) arose in the region from Anatolia to Khuzistan (8-7 thousand BC) and spread to neighboring territories; 2) arose in several foci at once. Four stages of development of non-ferrous metallurgy: 1) native copper as a type of stone; 2) melting of native copper and casting forms; 3) smelting copper from ores, i.e. metallurgy; 4) copper-based alloys - for example, bronze. Copper deposits were discovered by external signs (green oxide spots). Stone hammers were used to extract ore. The boundaries of the Chalcolithic are determined by the level of development of metallurgy (third stage). The beginnings of agriculture and cattle breeding were further developed thanks to the expansion of cultivated cereals. The horn hoe is replaced by an arable tool that requires the use of draft animals. A wheel appears in different areas almost simultaneously. Thus, cattle breeding develops, and the separation of pastoral tribes occurs.
Chalcolithic – the beginning of the dominance of patriarchal-tribal relations, the primacy of men in pastoral groups. Instead of graves, mounds appear. The study of ceramics shows that they were made by specialists who had mastered the technique of pottery production (craft). Exchange of raw materials - flint. The Chalcolithic was a time of the emergence of class societies in several regions of the Mediterranean. The agricultural Eneolithic of the USSR had three centers - Central Asia, the Caucasus and the Northern Black Sea region.

General characteristic. The first metal age is called Chalcolithic(Greek enus - “copper”, litos - “stone”). During this period there appear copper things, but stone ones predominate.

Bronze century. General characteristic. Bronze century corresponds to a dry and relatively warm subboreal climate, in which
Also in Chalcolithic carts and a wheel appeared.

General characteristic. Bronze century corresponds to a dry and relatively warm subboreal climate, in which Chalcolithic Central Asia.

General characteristic. The basis for the archaeological periodization of primitive history are differences in stone processing techniques.

Chalcolithic. General characteristic.

General characteristic. The Neolithic (5.5-3 thousand BC) covers the warm and humid Atlantic climatic period.
Chalcolithic. General characteristic.