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The impact of metals on society part I: Antiquity

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Abstract

Over 5,000 years, our quest for metals has led us to strange lands, on bold adventures, through terrible hardships, and to great riches and devastating failures. Immeasurably, the fates of entire nations and peoples have been shaped by this quest.

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References

  1. M. Cheilik, Encarta 97, The Bronze Age.

  2. E. Lanning, Peru Before the Incas (New York: Prentice Hall, 1967), pp. 145; 165.

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  3. T. Ko, The Development of Metals Technology in Ancient China (Beijing: Beijing University of Iron and Steel Technology, 1986), p. A5.

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  4. Chinese Society of Metals, Publication Committee and Archaeometallurgy Group, Tonglüshan, A Pearl Among Ancient Mines (Beijing: CSM); this publication does not use page or figure numbers.

  5. J. Fu, CSM, private communication (2 August 1997).

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  7. L. Wooley, Ur of the Chaldees (New York: Penguin Books, 1929), pp. 66–67.

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  8. Ibid., pp. 55; 82.

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  9. J. Poss, Stones of Destiny (MI: MI Tech. U. Press, 1975), plate 12.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. P.O. Box 726, 85622, Green Valley, Arizona

    Raymond L. Smith

Authors
  1. Raymond L. Smith
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Additional information

Raymond L. Smith is a past (emeritus) president of Michigan Technological University and a member of the boards of directors for LS&I Railroad and Community Water Company of Green Valley, Arizona.

Editor’s Note: One of 15 parts, this article and the installments that follow revisit the historical record and reference figures of the past to show how mining, minerals, and metals have profoundly influenced conflict, religion, technology, economics, and mass migration on both macro- and microscales. The papers were prepared exclusively for JOM based on a keynote lecture delivered by the author to the International Symposium on Mining, which was held September 1997 in Fairbanks, Alaska.

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Smith, R.L. The impact of metals on society part I: Antiquity. JOM 50, 66–67 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11837-998-0273-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11837-998-0273-y

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