Bronze Age, third phase in the development of material culture among the ancient peoples of Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East, following the Paleolithic and Neolithic periods (Old Stone Age and New Stone Age, respectively). The term also denotes the first period in which metal was used. The date at which the age began varied with regions; in Greece and China, for instance, the Bronze Age began before 3000 BCE, whereas in Britain it did not start until about 1900 BCE.

The beginning of the period is sometimes called the Chalcolithic (Copper-Stone) Age, referring to the initial use of pure copper (along with its predecessor toolmaking material, stone). Scarce at first, copper was initially used only for small or precious objects. Its use was known in eastern Anatolia by 6500 BCE, and it soon became widespread. By the middle of the 4th millennium, a rapidly developing copper metallurgy, with cast tools and weapons, was a factor leading to urbanization in Mesopotamia. By 3000 the use of copper was well known in the Middle East, had extended westward into the Mediterranean area, and was beginning to infiltrate the Neolithic cultures of Europe.

This early copper phase is commonly thought of as part of the Bronze Age, though true bronze, an alloy of copper and tin, was used only rarely at first. During the 2nd millennium the use of true bronze greatly increased; the tin deposits at Cornwall, England, were much used and were responsible for a considerable part of the large production of bronze objects at that time. The age was also marked by increased specialization and the invention of the wheel and the ox-drawn plow. From about 1000 BCE the ability to heat and forge another metal, iron, brought the Bronze Age to an end, and the Iron Age began.

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  • Abstraction [he/him]
    ·
    1 year ago

    Remember when Mass Effect had an alien species that was all hot alien babes looking to reproduce with you, and people took it seriously like they weren't straight from a low budget Star Trek porn parody?

    • Goblinmancer [any]
      cake
      ·
      edit-2
      1 year ago

      They need to reproduce with you otherwise their children become evil sexy vampires! :awooga:

    • TerminalEncounter [she/her]
      ·
      1 year ago

      I think the designers knew exactly what they were doing in ME1 with the Asari, I swear I remember reading articles and stuff with them about it and they acknowledged they had to have some kind of version of sexy green alien space babes and just made them into a species. I guess they tried to turn it on its head a little by also making them the most powerful, most technologically advanced, and psychically strongest species in the galaxy - and explicitly by legal fiat they had the largest navy. I do think they kind of lost the plot with the subversion part and yeah, Asari just became fuck toys. Well, except the one vampire-Asari your Shepherd can mate with and literally die in game that was kinda funny.

    • FALGSConaut [comrade/them]
      ·
      1 year ago

      Mass effect in general has some fucky politics, starting with the premise that you play as a black-ops special agent with zero accountability that enforces the will of the council using extreme violence. The same agents are commonly deeply involved with organized crime and mercenary groups.

      Huh now that I think about it Specters are kinda like Seals

    • Frank [he/him, he/him]
      ·
      1 year ago

      The OG Mass Effect was pretty deliberately a Star Trek Porn Parody. That's explicitly what they were going for having so many rubber forehead aliens and the (fash) Federation and stuff. I hate that series. The "ontologically evil robots" plot was so cliched. I only finished the game out of spite and a general curiosity as to how cliched it could get.