Bronze was the preferred material for heavier naval cannons deep into the age of sail due to the consistent quality that you talked about. Though they were monstrously expensive it was considered to be worth it since most ships perform better when your cannons dont blow up when you fire them.

Favorite copper thing has to be copper wires. Couldn’t have modern electrical systems without it

They call today the "internet age" yet here I am still using a stone mortar and pestle to grind my spices.

TRIVIA: The Aztecs did not have iron, but their _predecessors_ did; they relentlessly polished stones of magnetite or hematite, and some were able to make scale armor from sewing the shiny rocks into clothing. For edged weapons, the Aztecs and their predecessors continued to use stone, particularly obsidian.

I didn't think about what brass really was or its origin until now, thanks.

I was walking through an exhibit about Pompeii and noticed that a lot of the metal artifacts there were made of bronze. While I'm sure part of the reason is that iron rusts away far easier, I like the idea that, even a millenia after the bronze age collapse, bronze and brass were just so much easier to make that most smiths would prefer to make cookware and the like out of that rather than steel.

Coins were also made of bronze by the Romans. Ships rams recovered from the Punic War era were made of bronze (used by both Carthage and Rome). As one historian described it the rams were "literally made of money."

One explaination of the king Midas story I've heard is that he was really Mita of Mushki, who sponsored widespread brass production in a time most common people had never heard of the stuff, so they thought it must be gold.

Bronze and brass maces also remained popular. Especially bronze since it's heavy.

The Return of the King. Nice to see a new informative video.

Copper and brass do have such damn good looks!

I love learning about how different metals came into their own in the hands of man. It is a logical progression, you start with the easy-to-work metals, slowly working up until you've figured out all the metals and start specializing them for their function. I had no idea for example that Rome used brass and bronze for helmets for example. It is amazing just how much these elements have impacted human history.

My favourite metal is anything copper because I can take it from work sites and get a nice little cash bonus

Metal lore is fascinating

The main reason why helmets greaves, breastplates and other plate armor was made from bronze rather than steel has to do with the difficulty in forming large, thin sheets of steel. This is why you often seen the same areas of the body covered in iron/steel armor that's made from little pieces of steel, like scale armor helmets (very common in China and the Near East). Cataphract armor is a great example as it is often made from steel scales and mail in all areas. Even the Late Roman spangenhelm and similar designs from the Early Medieval period are made from small sheets of steel riveted together. That was the best they could do. It wasn't until the High Medieval period that armorsmiths were able to produce large sheets of steel, and thus the emergence of plate armor.

I had this lttle brass scale and weights as a kid for playing merchant. The fascination with the look and feel of brass stayed with me, gotta give favorite metal to brass 😊

great video, I'm actually making copper, brass and bronze armor for my video series covering different styles of arms and armor from different time periods and cultures. currently finishing up Scytho-cimerian style scale armor with Brass details (wanted to make full suite but copper and its alloys are very expensive). other than that, I'm making colchian copper cuirass (try saying that fast) using silver horn depictions as reference. fun! I also want to make a linothorax, cant decide on how to stylize yet. should I go full Greek or do something else?!

Epimetheus is back? Yay! 😍

Could you please make more about historical metallurgy videos!?!? I’m taken a metallurgy class now and I hate it, it’s all chemistry. But when u explain case hardening or using carbon from charcoal in a historical context, it becomes so much better!!!! Love ur videos keep up the great work.

I'm glad to see that your uploading schedule has become more frequent 🙏

Great video as always.

You're such an awesome youtuber and historian, you've played an important role in teaching me, and I'm sure many others about antique history!

Forestry and mining are probably the two activities most transformed by the introduction of metal tools.

Incredibly concise while being very informative - another great video man!

I really love copper, more so than gold or silver. I've handcrafted several personal items out of it. It's so easy to work with!

My favorite bronze item in the modern day is cymbals for drum sets. Zildjian has been using the same alloy for 400 years

always a pleasure to watch an Epimetheus video!

Excellent informative video to better understand the different stages of history.

LETS GO A NEW EPIMETHIUS VIDEO DROPPED!!!

Ancient Warfare magazine had an interesting article several years ago about the misconceptions of bronze vs. iron weapons, which touched on some of the points made here. It attributed some of the misconceptions from the 1954 movie "The Egyptian."

bronze looks pretty cool. also you can cast bronze. cast iron by contrast is brittle

Loved this video that actually tackled the materials themselves that we use to divide history. Humanity using nature and brain to advance. Thanks for the explanation and differences between the metals, advantages and disadvantages.

This video is yet another work of art. I love you Epimetheus - unreal history videos!

i've always wondered this, amazed to know how much chemistry and metalurgy was known by these people

Nice to see you back brother

Enlightening work as always, Eps. Great work!

My favorite of these metals has got to be brass. I used to play the trumpet. The timbre of a brass instrument is truly unique

My favorite part was the little ant running around.🤣🤣🤣🤣 Nah but seriously though, this video was very informative and interesting. Good job as aways Epimitheus!!!

God I love your videos so much! This was very informative.

Your video production quality is just like Iron, it keeps getting better and better, looking forward to what you have next and keep the good work 👍

Thank you very much for a new video!

Fantastic video

Would be nice to have a follow up video with the more modern usage of metals / materials, like how the industrial revolution made use of superior steel, the rise of aluminium, or the electronic comeback of copper. Great video btw

I have been WAITING !!!!! My wishes have been fulfilled!

Man i realy love this channel it should get much much more attention

my man you drop 1 video per year but man its always best

Welcome back, always good to see your videos. May I ask your view points on Arsenic Bronze? As I understand it, before Tin was alloyed to Copper, Arsenic was the popular admixture, is this accurate? Did it see a revival when the trade routes were interrupted during the Bronze Age collapse?

Please make more extended videos we love them So much. Youre one of my favorite creator out there!

This is completely wrong. The transition to the iron age occured very quickly and everything instantly became made of iron. This is very well portrayed in age of empires 1.

My fav of these metals? Chrissy Hind and the Pretenders: "Brass in pocket"

I read somewhere that the quality of bronze metallurgy dropped precipitously by the days of the early Roman Empire and that our current capabilities are lesser than that of the ancients.

Excellent!

I'm just going to guess that Copper and Bronze, being softer than Iron, was easier to work with.

Always look forward to your videos

Amazing video, very informative. Many thanks man!

You've really illuminated some things for me. Questions I may have asked myself in passing, but didn't know how to ask online exactly. Like for example why spears would have steel/iron heads and bronze bottom spikes. Why Royal navy cups were made of copper unlike the usual tin or pewter cups of the time. Just little things like that were suddenly revealed and explained unexpectantly. So thank you. Fascinating stuff sir.

Very informative❤

he's back

North Americzn proples used copper a lot. A large copper plate with carvings on it was a sign of great wealth.

Dig the set-up!

Babe wake up new Epimetheus upload just dropped

I'd say my favorite (reply to final question) would be bronze: it does not just last like forever but it's heavy enough to produce excellent blunt stuff and does a decent job with points and edges (stab and slash). Definitely I wouldn't trust my defense if possible to brass whose best modern use is to make cans.

Thank you for sharing this info my friend 🙏

Great Video. I had long deduced why it took Iron so long to gain ground but you managed to explain all the tecical details in a way a troglodyte like myself can easily understand.

thank you for your efforts!

It's wild to me that steel was possible in the iron age, even if they could not mass produce it

It is incredible how rare tin is even in today's world. Wikipedia rates it as a 'rare' mineral with demand constantly outstripping production.

art quality is so good

amazing videos! every time!

My favorite copper things are copper caps and wire because they make excelpent flintknapping tools.

This is an interesting question? The Iron man cometh

One thing people tend to forget is that the ages refer to peak technology and not the most abundantly used material. For instance, even in the middle ages iron was used incredibly sparingly. Only military applications really heavily utilised it. Meanwhile, nails were made of wood, barrels bound with rope, etc. wherever possible... Then one day in WWII, a single naval engagement resulted in so much iron being sunk that it corresponded to all iron mined worldwide since the dawn of iron age to the frigging industrial revolution!

Good to hear more about the ancient near east

Very interesting video, thank you!

I always thought it was the same reason as why Horses were still used during WW2: progression goes slow. Especially in millitairy replacements.

My favorite brass item is my trumpet

I see your minis. Now you need to tell us which game system you use so we can judge you accordingly!

"Meteorite Iron" is about 5-25% nickel, which makes it a very strong and durable alloy.

Arsenic can also be used to make bronze but for obvious reasons is less ideal than tin

Wow he is back 🎉

Nice video. Just for clarification: some stones CAN be recycled! This should be true for quartz and obsidian, but the question is when people became able to melt these things. Glass required additives to lower the melting point.

My personal preferred explanation for the Dark Age is specifically the spread of useful iron working. In my understanding early iron was lower quality and harder to work than late bronze but it was plentiful. You can find it on virtually any hillside. If you have a bellows and a competent blacksmith you can make virtually anything out of iron, even if it is of lesser quality than bronze. I personally thing think the cause of the dark age is that all the little tribes and lesser kings adopted iron weaponry and tools making them able to resist the bronze armed great kings by being able to mobilize their entire village as soldiers, as opposed to only 1/10 before, making it impossible for the great kings to extort tribute and when the great kings adopted iron working that made the trade routs and diplomacy much less useful since the need for bronze in maintaining power had disappeared.

Hi epimethius, I love the content you make, but could you elaborate on why you do not include sources in the description of your videos?

great subject

Love your videos

Yay! Cool video

I ❤ your artwork & animation style Big E. Thanks for another enjoyable presentation 👍

You need to start a podcast

It would have been a lot cooler if they called it the Blue Steel Age.

Well another I guess most trivial reason that's understood by default is that a bronze sword is better than nothing. Like its not as good as a steel sword but you always want to have a bronze sword in that fight against someone.

Bright copper kettles

Very nice

Very good

Before the Metal Age the Stone Age occurred and before that the Wood Age occurred.

Please make a video on Sedentary Hunter-gatherers and on the Dungan Revolt

Could you also cover the kingdoms of Tibet?

Eu espero ansioso por novos vídeos neste canal! Não tem igual no KZfaq

What is better than perfect is standardised.

I work on MRI magnets and need non-magnetic wrenches, screw drivers, and wire cutters. You can buy these really expensive titanium tools which are rather soft and get damaged easily. I've found brass tools to be very hard and durable for the work I do and I prefer them to Ti. Can't say I have a use for bronze in every day life, but brass shows up everywhere, including plumbing.

Brass horns are my pick for the best use of the alloy