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valuable. It occurs in such a pure state and is so
malleable, that it can be fashioned into jewelry
and small sculptures easily. And it does not tarnish.
From the earliest civilizations, gold has been associated
with royalty, gods, and power. It is still a symbol
of wealth today.
In its pure form, gold is very soft—so soft that
jewelry made of pure gold would quickly wear out. To
make gold more useful, it is usually mixed (or alloyed)
with other metals to produce a lighter, harder, and
tougher material. Gold alloys also melt at a lower temperature,
making them easier to cast.
Copper is another metal that can be found naturally
in a pure, useable state. Neolithic humans
created jewelry from lumps of native copper as early
as 8000 BCE. By 7,000 BCE, they had learned to smelt
copper. Smelting is a process of refining and
separating precious metal that involves melting or
fusing a metal-bearing ore to produce a chemical
change.
By 3,000 BCE, humans had learned to mix tin with copper
to create the alloy bronze. As the use of bronze
spread, cultures were said to enter into the Bronze
Age. Bronze was used for jewelry and weapons and
it played an important part in the history of art. Bronze
could be made into larger statues than copper because
the melting temperature of bronze was lower than that
of copper, and bronze could be much more easily cast
in molds. Bronze tools also made woodworking and stone
working easier. Later people learned to alloy copper
with zing to make brass.
The Iron Age refers to that period of history
when tools, weapons, and utensils were more commonly
made of iron than of bronze. This change happened at
different times in different regions, beginning in the
Middle East and southern Europe around 1200 BCE. Although
iron deposits are plentiful, iron exists in nature in
iron ore, which is not useable, so it was not
until people became efficient at smelting that they
could get iron in a useable state. This smelted iron
was then pounded by hammers to make it stronger. This
was the first “wrought iron.” (Wrought means
“worked,” that is, hammered.) Eventually
people learned to make steel, which is the strongest
and most flexible form of iron.
Silver, like gold, iron and copper, is one of the elements.
Pure silver is too soft for every day use, but when
alloyed with copper, it is strengthened. Sterling
silver is an alloy with 925 part of pure silver
in every 1,000. It can be hammered into thin sheets,
drawn into fine wire, or spun into hollow ware by revolving
a flat disc of silver over a piece of wood or steel,
which has been made in the shape the silver is to the
silver is to have. Using a tool, the silversmith spreads
the silver over the rotating form.
The artists in this exhibit have used gold, copper,
brass, iron, steel, and silver to make beautiful objects
from cream pitchers to diving helmets, from delicate
jewelry to sturdy tables. They carry on the age-old
traditions of metal arts.
Vocabulary words:
nuggets, malleable, tarnish, alloy, cast, smelt,
Bronze Age, Iron Age, elements, Sterling silver
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