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Historically, humans have used weapons in warfare, hunting, law enforcement, and criminal activity for thousands of years. Weapons also serve many other purposes in society including use in sports, collections for display, and historical displays and demonstrations. As technology has developed throughout history, weapons have changed with it. Major innovations in the history of weapons have included the adoption of different materials – from stone and wood to different metals, and modern synthetic materials such as plastics – and the developments of different weapon styles either to fit the terrain or to go with or counteract different battlefield tactics and defensive equipment. == Pre-History and the Ancient World == As humans discovered new natural resources beneath the Earth's surface, traditional weapons were replaced as methods for metal-working developed. Copper significantly contributed to the ancient world and helped cultures of Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, Rome, Indus and China flourish. Copper, the only metal known to man for a long period of time, replaced stone in weapons. During the copper age maces were in high demand. The Sumerians were the first people on record to have used copper weapons. Native Americans mostly used flint spears and knives, but used copper for ceremonies and intricate decorations. Ancient artisans soon discovered the drawbacks of copper for producing armaments, as while weapons made of copper could be sharpened easily, they were not able to hold their edge. Along with maces, bows and arrows and slings were used in wars. Bow and arrow was preferred over spears because they were easy to handle, provided greater mobility, were more accurate, and did not require as much raw material. Bow and arrows were a boon for hunters as they could hunt more effectively with a bow and arrow than with a spear, and so the bow enabled ancient man to become the most efficient hunter. After the discovery of pure copper in Anatolia, around 6000 BCE, copper metallurgy spread in Egypt and Mesopotamia. Around 3500 BCE the art of metallurgy spread into India, China and Europe. Bronze, an alloy of copper and tin, has been used as far back as 4500BC, as it is much harder than pure copper. It was used extensively in Asia the Indus Valley Civilization flourished as a result of improved metallurgy. Neolithic communities who lived primarily in the upper Yellow River in China, also used bronze items extensively as a number of artifacts were recovered at the Majiayao site. Bronze was produced on a large scale in China for weapons, including spears, pole-axes, pole-based dagger-axes, composite bows, and bronze or leather helmets.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Military )〕 From the excavations at Zhengzhou, it is evident that the Chinese during the Shang dynasty had well built walls, large buildings, bronze foundries, and bone and pottery workshops.〔(The Golden Chinese Archaeology; Part 2; ''Bronze Age of China'' )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「History of weapons」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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