At Delta Scientific, we’ve been looking back over 6,000 years to when the first metal alloy was created in our new Alloy Timeline.
The aim of our ‘Alloy Timeline’ infographic, is to delve into the past to help the community learn more about humanity’s relationship to metal and metal alloys. Early artefacts discovered, including ancient weaponry, consisting of copper and tin date back to around 8700 BCE. However, it wasn’t until around 4500 BCE that the first alloy was made, copper and tin were used together to make bronze.
The timeline highlights the clever experimentation and innovation of ancient civilisation, from China’s Bronze Age and Spartan Steel to horse hooves and bone meal being key elements of the hardening process. Alloys are made from at least two metals, plus other materials, to form a material that takes strengths from each. There are at least nine common alloys, including rose gold, bronze, brass, pewter, German silver, duralumin, amalgam, wood’s metal, and stainless steel.
Ted McGuinness, our Operations Manager, commented, “Metallurgy has enabled humanity to advance to the place we are at now and will probably continue to catapult us forward. At Delta, we believe that sometimes you need to look to the past in order to inspire the future. Our Alloy infographic hopes to shed light and celebrate how far we’ve come over the millennia and inspire the next generation to explore the possibilities that lie within alloys.”
