Metal is widely used almost everywhere. It is used in buildings, houses, skyscrapers, ships, bridges, and other structures. This is how ubiquitous metal is. It would be hard to do away with it. Even if metal looks cold and incapable of being aesthetically appealing, it can still be designed by a master artist. This is when metalwork proves most useful as it gives metal the life that it did not use to have.

The artists that do metalwork are usually those in bridge construction, ship building, intricate jewellery making, and electronics manufacturing. These industries need the work of metal artists to make the resulting work look artistic. Metal does not only need to be dark and looming.

Metal work has quite a history though. It is actually an ancient form of art that has been used by past civilizations thousands of years ago. The great evidence to this claim can be found in historical museums displaying metallic objects that are decorative and functional. These objects were found out to be hundreds and even thousands of years old. Metal tools have significantly increased the way they were used for warfare and even farming. When the ancestors discovered the importance of farming, they needed tools to till the land. Wars in conquering lands and people for slaves seemed to be always on before. The discovery of metals stepped up the use of warfare tools in the past. People became more effective with the use of metals. Moreover, these metals have long been used as personal adornments, the ancestors of jewellery making.

According to studies, metal work is estimated to have started around 6,000 BC. This is how early the human civilization became aware of metal work. This started with copper smelting which was popular back then in the place that is now called the Middle East. Metals are mined from ores. In order to extract the materials out, these ores have to be heated.
Gold is among the exception of not being stuck on ores. It is found in nuggets instead. This made gold more accessible to people. This could be why it was the first metal discovery in civilization. Gold is malleable which makes it too soft to be used as tools. Later on, tin and copper were discovered after being extracted from ores. They are soft too but not enough to be made into weapons and tools. Bronze was invented as an alloy and it was successfully made into sharp and durable tools. This was said to have happened first in Iraq and Iran.

Metal tool making followed in China, Britain and Japan with the founding of bronze. After this period, iron was found, smelted and used into tools. Metal workers continued to work on iron and bronze too. The technology evolved and carbon was added into the mix of iron to make steel.

From then on, metalworking developed. The artists began to produce metals used as finery, decorative pieces and jewellery. This was when metal smiths were acknowledged as people with great expertise and skills with metals.
Metalworking is now constantly done to construct buildings, bridges, ships, tools, vehicles, electronics, and a lot more. Sculptors now find a way to relate their imagination to metal.

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