- The Metal Ages is a term for the period of human civilization beginning around 6,000 years ago in which metallurgy rapidly advanced and human populations started using metals such as copper, tin, bronze and finally iron, to make tools and weapons. By heating and shaping metals in hot furnaces, people also learned to use precious metals such as gold and silver to make intricate jewellery.
- Bronze Age (Wikipedia)
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second principal period of the three-age system proposed in 1836 by Christian Jürgensen Thomsen for classifying and studying ancient societies and history. It is also considered the second phase, of three, in the Metal Ages.
- Chalcolithic (Wikipedia)
The Chalcolithic (also called the Copper Age and Eneolithic) is an archaeological period characterized by the increasing use of smelted copper. It follows the Neolithic and precedes the Bronze Age. It occurs at different periods in different areas, and is absent in some parts of the world, such as Russia. Stone tools were still predominantly used during this period.
- Iron Age (Wikipedia)
The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Copper and Bronze Ages. It has also been considered as the final Age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progressing to protohistory (before written history). In this usage, it is preceded by the Stone Age (subdivided into the Paleolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic) and Bronze Age. These concepts originated in describing Iron Age Europe and the Ancient Near East, but they now include other parts of the Old World.