THE AGE OF BRONZE 
The first metal workers used shallow open stone molds 
for the reception of the molten metal; but, with improve- 
ment in the technic cf casting and the development of 
better alloys, they employed molds of earthenware and 
even of bronze itself, the forms and designs at the same 
time becoming much more elaborate. The “lost wax” 
process represents one of the later improvements in cast- 
ing. An exact model of the desired object was made in 
wax, and coated thickly with clay. After the latter had 
dried and hardened, it was heated until the wax melted 
and ran out. Molten bronze was then poured in, and 
naturally took the shape of the wax, down to the smallest 
detail. This method obtained some very beautiful and 
striking effects. 
Simple triangular daggers and axes and the halberd 
characterized the earlier part of the Bronze Age. The 
halberd consisted of a dagger blade mounted crosswise 
at the end of a wooden handle, and was essentially a sort 
of tomahawk with a pointed blade. In certain regions it 
came to be made of bronze throughout, handle and all, 
and sometimes with elaborate decorations. But more 
efiicient weapons, the bronze battle-ax and sword and 
spear, eventually replaced it. 
Out of the primitive flint-bladed dagger (Fig. 85), about 
as ugiy and ineffective a weapon in a fight as the neck of a 
broken bottle, there evolved, first, the simple and short- 
bladed triangular copper dagger. With the invention of 
bronze this was lengthened and in time became a short, 
straight, double-edged thrusting and stabbing sword, 
ornamented in various ways characteristic of different 
localities. Also, the method of hafting—of joining blade 
and hilt—improved, until finally the ancient armorers cast 
the entire sword, including the hilt, in one piece. The 
earlier bronze swords were used only for thrusting and not 
for chopping, a stroke reserved for the ax.. In time, how- 
ever, the blade was widened toward its point to make a 
“leaf-shaped” sword, which could be used for slashing as 
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