GENERAL VIEWS ON ARCHAEOLOGY. 287 



part of tin. 1 It melts and moulds well; the molten mass, in cooling;, 

 slowly acquires a tolerable degree of hardness — inferior to that of steel, 

 it is true, but superior to that of very pure iron. We therefore under- 

 stand how bronze would long be used for manufacturing cutting- 

 instruments, weapons, and numerous personal ornaments. The north- 

 ern antiquarians have very properly called this second great phase in 

 the development of European civilization the Bronze-age. 



The bronze articles of this period, with a few trifling exceptions, 

 have not been produced by hammering, but have been cast, often with 

 a considerable degree of skill. Even the sword-blades were cast, and 

 the hammer (of stone) was only used to impart a greater degree of 

 hardness to the edge of the weapon. 



The Bronze-age has, therefore, witnessed a mining industry which 

 was completely wanting during the Stone-age. Now the art of mining 

 is so essential to civilization, that -without it the world would perhaps 

 yet be exclusively inhabited by savages. It is, therefore, worth our 

 while to inquire more closely into the origin of bronze. 



Copper was not very difficult to obtain. In the first place, virgin 

 copper is not exceedingly scaree. Then the different kinds of ore 

 which contain copper, combined with other elements, are either 

 highly colored, or present a marked metallic appearance, and are con- 

 sequently easily known ; they are, besides, not hard to smelt, so as to 

 separate the metal. Finally, copper-ore is not at all scarce, it is met 

 with in the older geological series of most countries. 



Virgin tin is unknown, but tin-ore exists, of a dark color, and very 

 easy to smelt. However abundant copper may be, tin is of rare occur- 

 rence. Thus the only mines in Euroj^e which produce tin at the pres- 

 ent day are of Cornwall, in England, and of the Erzgebirge and Fich- 

 telgebirge, in Germany. 



But the question arises whether, previous to the discovery of bronze, 

 man, owing to the great rarity of tin, may not have begun by using 

 copper in a pure state. If so, there would have been a copper-age be- 

 tween the stone and bronze-ages. 



In America this has really been the case. When they were dis-\ 

 covered by the Spaniards, both the two centres of civilization, Mexico 

 and Peru, had bronze composed of copper and tin, which was used for 

 manufacturing arms and cutting-instruments, in the absence of iron 

 and steel, which were unknown in the New World ; but the admira- 

 ble researches of Messrs. Squier and Davis on the antiquities of the 

 Mississippi valley 2 have brought to light an ancient civilization of a 

 remarkable nature, and distinguished by the use of raw virgin copper, 

 worked in a cold state by hammering without the aid of fire. The 

 reason of its being so worked lies in the nature of pure copper, which, 

 when melted, flows sluggishly, and is not very fit for casting. A 



1 Bronze is still used for casting bells, cannon, and certain parts of machinery. It must 

 not be confounded with common brass, which is a compound of copper and zinc, much less 

 hard, and appearing only in the Iron-age. 



2 Squier and Davis. "Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley." Smithsonian 

 Contributions to Knowledge." Washington, 1848. It is one of the most splendid archaeo- 

 logical works ever published. 



