There have been plenty of discussions and even timelines on AH.com (and elsewhere in the online AH community) about Native Americans developing a more active use of bronze metalworking, for tool and weapon use alike. In OTL, only the Incas in South America eventually developed more of a bronze-making industry later on. The majority of cultures throughout the Americas never seemed to have used bronze for anything more than creating decorations, and even in that case, copper seemed to be more popular for decorations (e.g. the metal artworks of the Hopewell culture).
Suppose the native cultures did develop from a Chalcolithic period at best to a full-on Bronze Age, and gradually created more diversified and intensive bronze making, e.g. in North America or Central America. Due to the isolation from the human cultures in the Old World, how would the different natural conditions and different cultural/technological/crafting traditions of the New World cultures influence the appearance and use of their weapons or tools ?
The seemingly obvious answer to the question would be "well, it would be first and foremost practical", which is true, but...
Does that mean bronze tools and weapons would necessarily have to look like the bronze tools and weapons of the Bronze Age in Europe, Asia or North Africa* ?
Would Native American cultures eventually develop bronze daggers from bronze knives, and later on, bronze swords from the bronze daggers ? Would those bronze swords largely resemble the typical "urnfield sword" appearance seen widely throughout the European Bronze Age ? Could there be more unique designs, presuming they're possible with a bendy, finicky metal like bronze ?
What would NA Bronze Age spearheads or arrowheads look like ? Would there be any unusual Bronze Age weapons that would be distinctly Native American, unlike any style of weapon seen in Bronze Age Europe, Asia, etc. ?
And what about metal elements incorporated into armour, and the potential different armour styles of different cultures and regions ?
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(Note: * - I say "North Africa" because much of OTL Africa, especially Subsaharan, seems to have transitioned from the Neolithic straight into the Iron Age.)
Suppose the native cultures did develop from a Chalcolithic period at best to a full-on Bronze Age, and gradually created more diversified and intensive bronze making, e.g. in North America or Central America. Due to the isolation from the human cultures in the Old World, how would the different natural conditions and different cultural/technological/crafting traditions of the New World cultures influence the appearance and use of their weapons or tools ?
The seemingly obvious answer to the question would be "well, it would be first and foremost practical", which is true, but...
Does that mean bronze tools and weapons would necessarily have to look like the bronze tools and weapons of the Bronze Age in Europe, Asia or North Africa* ?
Would Native American cultures eventually develop bronze daggers from bronze knives, and later on, bronze swords from the bronze daggers ? Would those bronze swords largely resemble the typical "urnfield sword" appearance seen widely throughout the European Bronze Age ? Could there be more unique designs, presuming they're possible with a bendy, finicky metal like bronze ?
What would NA Bronze Age spearheads or arrowheads look like ? Would there be any unusual Bronze Age weapons that would be distinctly Native American, unlike any style of weapon seen in Bronze Age Europe, Asia, etc. ?
And what about metal elements incorporated into armour, and the potential different armour styles of different cultures and regions ?
----
(Note: * - I say "North Africa" because much of OTL Africa, especially Subsaharan, seems to have transitioned from the Neolithic straight into the Iron Age.)
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