Courses
Courses for Kids
Free study material
Offline Centres
More
Store Icon
Store

What is the Chalcolithic Age?

seo-qna
SearchIcon
Answer
VerifiedVerified
351.3k+ views
Hint: The Chalcolithic, often known as the Copper Age, is an archaeological era that is currently considered part of the Neolithic. It was formerly thought to represent a transitional phase between the Neolithic and Bronze Ages. In Eastern Europe, archaeologists frequently use the word "Eneolithic" rather than "Chalcolithic" or other terms.

Complete answer:
Between the exclusive use of stone tools and the extensive use of bronze tools, a span of time between 3,500 BC and 1,700 BC has been postulated.
The Chalcolithic Period was also known as the Copper Age, Eneolithic Period, and Aeneolithic Period. Copper-based tools are thought to have been used during this time period prior to the discovery of bronze.
There is evidence of early copper smelting as well as copper-based implements. When tin is added to copper during the smelting process, the alloy becomes significantly stronger than pure copper. Most prehistorians in the United Kingdom do not consider the Copper Age to be a distinct period of time between the Stone and Bronze periods.
Because of impurities in copper ore, even the oldest copper tools are likely to include some tin, making them bronze tools. The discovery of the need for tin may have occurred in many places and at different times, making the shift from using native copper mixed with tin to using tin to produce a more usable alloy challenging.
The Chalcolithic Age refers to the shift from the use of natural copper to the purposeful usage of bronze, a tin copper alloy.
One of the key milestones in the history of human civilizations is the formation of states, which are large-scale, populous, politically centralised, and socially stratified polities/societies controlled by powerful rulers. Primary (or pristine) states and secondary states are frequently distinguished by archaeologists. Primary states developed independently, primarily through internal developmental processes, rather than as a result of the impact of any other state.

Note:
From around 5000 BC, the archaeological site of Belovode on Serbia's Rudnik mountain includes the world's earliest securely-dated evidence of copper smelting at high temperatures (7000 BP). Between the late 5th and late 3rd millennia BC, Europe transitioned from the Copper Age to the Bronze Age. The Copper Age in the Ancient Near East lasted around the same amount of time, commencing in the late 5th millennium BC and continuing approximately a millennium before giving way to the Early Bronze Age.