Bronze refers to a broad range of copper alloys, usually with tin as the main additive, but sometimes with other elements such as phosphorus, manganese, aluminum, or silicon. (See table below.) It is strong and tough, and has myriad uses in industry. It was particularly significant in antiquity, giving its name to the Bronze Age.

History

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The introduction of bronze was significant to any civilization that encountered it. Tools, weapons, armor, and various building materials like decorative tiles made of bronze were harder and more durable than their stone and copper ("Chalcolithic") predecessors. In early use, the natural impurity arsenic sometimes created a superior natural alloy; this is termed arsenical bronze.

The earliest tin-alloy bronzes date to the late 4th millennium BC in Susa (Iran) and some ancient sites in Luristan (Iran) and Mesopotamia (Iraq).

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