cam” pe © © ca [ated i Ge = RPG SO... AND A10-FOOT POLE’ Designer: Maxwell Bernhardt Project Specific Contributions: Series Editor: John Curis Conten Eto: Coleman Chaston; Cover Photo: Nick Morawitz Cover Photo Concepe: Wendy Fazer ‘Gover Photo Design Jessica Ney Gin Managing Art Drew: Tessica Ney-Grimm; ‘Art Direction: Coleman Charon, “Tason O, Hawkins Pagemaking: Coleman Chart, ‘Shey Robinson, Cover Graphics: Wendy Frazer, TSS symbol: Dow Kovacs. 1.0 Welcome. 2 Using This Book, 2 Abbreviations fe Timine 3 ‘The Common Man's Guide to Prices 3 2.0 Economies, Commerce, and Trading, ...4 2.1 Benois ann nt 22.Commerce and Fading 5 23 The Simple Commerce System 6 214 Purchase and Resale 7 3.0 The Stone Age (Before. 9000 B.C.) 0 Food / Outdoor Survival Mts ‘Tools & Machines nooncnsrsnssnene IS ‘Transport & Tak ween IB ‘Musical Inst. / Cooking & Eating B oth & Clahing/ Medeine. 4 ‘ike / Armor I"ypical Weapons 4 .0 The Copper Age (©9000-3500 B.C) nasa 1S Food / Outdoor Survival enn snn TTB (Contuiners/ Tools & Machines a 18 Animals Tanspor & Tack 19-20 Seriptorim/ Alchemy &eCleizal 20 Musical Inst. / Cooking & Eating on. 20-21 Household / Cloth & Clothing ocsson 21-22 Lodging & Service / Medicine ovr 22 Mise Armor Typial Weapons 2 5.0 The Bronze Age {4000-1000 B.C) Food / Oudoor Survival ‘Container / Tools & Machines ‘Animals /Transpor & Tack ‘Scriptom Alchemy /Religious 29 Muriel Inst /Cooking & Eating 30 Household J Cloth & Clothing women 31-32 Lagging & Service / Medicine 2 ‘Thieves & Spies/ Miscellaneous 3 Armor (Typed! WEAPONS renee 38 6.0 The Iron Age (61200 BC.—€500 AD) wnwmnnn 34 ‘The Age of Empire (153 BC. 476 AD) sennnnnnns 36 Food / Outdoor Survival nnn 38-40 ‘Containers / Tools Machines 41-82 Animals Transport & Tock 343 Seviptorum /Alehemy Religious... 43-45, Copyright 1999 by ion Crown Entries, Tn. Develope ICE Staff: Seles Manager: Deane Begiching: Managing Editor: Coleman Chation; President: Pear Foon; (CEO: Brace Neidlinger, Ealing, Development, & Production Stal John Curis, Donalé Denis, Jason Hawkins, Wendy Frazer, ‘Allyson Moho, Bob Mohney, Jessica Ney-Crinm, Craig O'Brien, Michael Reynolds, Sherry Robinson CONTENTS Masical Inst / Cooking & Eating nn 4-46 Howsshold/ Cloth & Clothing. 46-48 Lging de Service / Meine. 48-49 Thieves & Spies / Miseollaneous 49-50 Armor /Typia! Weapons 0 7.0 The Middle Ages (500-1480 A.D). st Food / Outdoor Survival nnn 85S CContsiners / Tools & Machines 56-57 ‘Animals /Teansport& Tack. 5 Seriptaivm / Alchemy /Raligous 58.60 Musical inst. / Cooking & Eating... 60-61 Howsehold/ Cloth & Clothing 2.88 Loving & Service / Meine -- -65 ‘Thieves Spies/ Miscellaneous 65-66 ‘Anmoc Typical Weapons (6.67 8.0 The Renaissance (1400-1650 A.D.) nvsnnnninnn 68 Food / Outdoor Survival 7043 Containers Tools & Machines 73.75, ‘Aimals/ Transport & Tack 1576 Scriptorium f Alchemy /Religioas.. 76-77 ‘Musical last. / Cooking & Eating 78-79 Household Cloth Clothing. TR Leviging de Service / Meine... 82-83, Thieves de Spies/ Miscellaneous = 83-84 ‘Antoe Typical Weapons seks 9.0 The Age of Reason (1680-1750 A.D). Foca / Oundor Survival CConttners/ Tools & Machines ‘Aims / Transport & Tack. Seriptoram Alchemy & Science Religious / Musial Ioaruments (Cooking & Eating /Howebold Clocking / Lodging & Service Medicine Thieves de Spice 100-101 Mis. Armor? Weapons roV-t02 10.0 The Industrial Revolution (1750-1840 A.D). vos Food f Outdoor Survival 106-109 (Containers / Tools & Machines 108-111 Alals/ Transport & Tack o0 L-L12 Scrpurium /Selence Luis Religious / Musical Instrument Cooking & Pating / Household (Clocking / Lodging & Service Medicine Thieves fe Spies Mis. Armor Weaport jon W. Curtis I Prine Busing: Alyson Mohney: Sales, Customer Service, & Operations Stal ‘Seve Hay, Chal McCully, Ta |McGovem, Daye Mortis, Dave Panick, ‘Monica L. Wilson; ‘Shipping Sto: Daniel Wiles, 11.0 The Age of Steam (1840-1900 A.D). v1 Food / Outdoor Survival cnn 12126 ‘Containers / Tools / Machines 127-129 Animals /Tack Transportation 129-130 Sexiguorium / Science Bost Religious / Musca Tnsrumonig 131-132 Cooking & Eating /Heusehod 132134 Clothing / Lodging & Servie wn 134136 Madicine Thieves Spies He17 Mise Armor/ Weapon no. 137-138 12.0 The Electric Age (1900-1945 AD). 19 Food / Ostooe Suva nnn MLAS CContsiners/Tools/ Machines. 145-147 ‘Animals Tack Transpoation 147-148 Book & Business Science a9 Religious / Musical Instrumests 130 (Cooking & Eating / Household. 151-153 Clothing Lagging & Service wn 153154 Moticine Thieves & Spies 14s Communications / Photography =. 155-156 Mise/ Armor! Weapons 156157 13.0 The Atomic Age (1945-1979 AD) sen 136 Food / Outdoor Suvi nnn nn NOG Containers / Tools / Maciines —— 163-168 Animals Tack / Transportation... 164-165. Bonk & Business / Science on 18S Musical Inst. / Cooking & Eating... 160-167 Household / Cloth & Clothing... 167-169 Lodging & Service / Medicine =. 169-170 “Thieves & Spies! Communicatons 170-171 Photography Miscellaneous im ‘Toys & Games / Armor / Weapons ns 73 140 The Information Age (1980 A.D. — Preseat) m4 Food / Outdoor Survival son (T6178 CContsnes/ Tools Machines. 178-180 ‘Aninala/ Tack / Transportation 180-181 Book & Business / Sense 181 Marieal ns. / Cooking & ating. 181-183, Household / Cloth & Cloting..-- 183185, Lodging Service / Medicine 185-186 Thieves & Spies / Communications. 186-188 Photngraphy Miscellany LBB189 Toys fe Games/ Amor Weapons vow. 189 15.0 Bibliography. 190 All sgh reserve... No reproductions without anos peisson ‘Praduced and isibuted by IRON CROWN ENTERPRISES, Inc, PO. Box 1605, Charlesvill, VA 22902, Printed in Caneda, First U.S, Edition 1999 Stock #5703, ISBN 1-55806.3706LIEPESES SS OE COS OTe Se ore 1.0 Miia WELCOME “How much for the Q-36 explosive space modulator?” Section 10 Welsome worooT TO ‘There's one in every group—the complete adventurer! He packs slong everything, including the kitchen sink, and. is always asking the gamemaster for items that never seem toappearontherulebook’s basic equipment list. course, these jokers expect the GM to figure out how much an item costs and weighs, how much it holds, what effect it will have on the game; you name it. Instead of preparing an interesting adventure, the GM is forced o spendhis limited free time drawing up lists, tables, and descri equipment. ‘Now an alternative exists: this book! Conveniently separated into ages of history, each section contains a brief description ofthe science and technology of the time, along. with suggestions foradapting eacherato acampaign. Lists of equipment for intrepid explorers of the unknown fol- lows each era, While it is by no means possible to include everything, this book attempts to be as complete as possible...but there is always room for one more gadget. Observant readers will notice that there is very litle ‘mention of areas beyond Europe and America, This is not intended to slight the contributions of other cultures to science, technology, or the history of the world. It was decided that the focus of this book would be the western ‘world. Future volumes may focus on other portions of the ‘A warning to players: Just because an item is listed in this book, does not mean the GM must allow itin his game. Arguments of “But it’sin she book!” shall fall on deaf ears, for the GM’ word is law. For example, while gunpowder ‘was known by the 13th century (atthe height of the Middle ‘Ages) and firearms and cannon could be built using the technology ofthe time, this does normean that aplayer can hhave one! Gamemasters are final arbiters of what is and is not possible in their world. Depicatioy ‘This book is dedicated to the memory of my father, David W. Bernhardt, who taught me that nothing isimpos- sible,solong as youtry hard enough...and you use the right tools. ‘THANKS ‘To Mom, for putting up with noisy gami the basement for years with very litle complaint, And to Bill, Fred, Sonny, Paul, and all the rest, whose equipment requests over the years would fil several volumes. I only wish I'd kept all of them, as this book would then have written itself. USING THIS BOOK All weights given for equipment listed in this book are in pounds, unless otherwise specified. All measurements, useinches, feet, yards, etc. Wherever there isareference to “im” or “his” or “man” or any other seemingly gender- specific term, the appropriate female termcan justaseasily be substituted by the reader. The male terms were used ‘merely inthe interest of space, and by no means imply that females have made no contribution to science and technol- ogy through the ages. ‘AIL abbreviations herein conform to the Rolemaster Standard Rules. The monetary system used forthe equip- ‘meant list is either the usual tn / copper / bronze / silver / gold / platinum / mithril system used by Rolemaster (see Section 2.1), or the dollars and cents of the United States. Note that actual coins did not begin to appear until the Bronze Age. Before this time, the term “silver ‘meant just that—a piece of silver, weighing approximately ‘one-quarter to one half ofan ounce. Stone Age trade relied on barter, though those shiny rocks might still be highly prized for decoration (see the Treasure Companion for a 1more thorough discussion of monetary systems). Equipment prices will vary depending on where pur- chased. Each item is given an availability code: ou City Town ae Rural A sen AL Items that are expensive and hard to find in a rural area might be more common—andcheaper—inalargecity,and the reverse is true as well. Farming equipment, for ex- ample, was rare in cities until the Industrial Revolution and therise of factories and mass production, and thereforecost more. As arule of thumb, a piece of equipment purchased in the same area as its availability code costs the listed price, and is 90% likely to be available. One area away, i. Rural items purchased in a Town, have a 60% chance of being available, and cost 150% of the listed price. Two areas away, the chance is reduced to 30%, and the cost is 200% of the listed price. ‘Materialsalso change the price. Silk, for instance, might raise the cost of an article of clothing by twenty or thirty times (or more). During the Bronze Age, steel made from meteoric iron was available, rare, and considered to be ‘magical, This raised the cost of a weapon made from it out of the range of all but the wealthiest nobility and royalty. Individual gamemasters can also add whatever variables they desire, depending on how rare or common they determine an item to be. Note: Before the Industrial Revolurion made mass production possible, most items were handcrafted, ‘and took longer to produce. Armor and clothing were typically fitted to the purchaser. Though “off- the-shelf” purchases were possible, they should be considered illfiting and, in the case of armor, uncomfortable as wellABBREVIATIONS ‘The following abbreviations are used in this book: p tin piece —Ib(8).. .- pound(s) p copper piece at. quart bp "bronze piece - pint silver piece ounce gold piece liter pp platinum piece minutes sv bushel pieces "square yards TIMELINE Before €.9000 B.C. Stone Age £9000 B.C. ~¢.3500 B.C. ~~ Copper Age €.4000 B.C. ~c.1000 B.C. Bronze Age €.1200 B.C. ~¢.500 A.D. ww Iron Age (753 B.C. -476 AD. Age of Empire) 500 A.D. ~ 1450 A.D. Middle Ages 1400 A.D. ~ 1650 A.D. 1650 A.D. ~ 1750 A.D.. 1750 A.D. ~ 1840 A.D...n. Industrial Revolution 1840 A.D. — 1900 A.D. Age of Steam. 1900 A.D. ~ 1945 A.D. . Electric Age 1945 A.D, - 1979 AD. Atomic Age 1980 A.D, ~ Present. formation Age THE COMMON MAN’ "5 GUIDE TO PRICES How much money did the “common man’ have in his pockets? How much money did he have to spend on that new axe he wants? On.a wheel of cheese, amug of ale, and loaf of bread? Historically speaking, not very much, During the Stone and Copper Ages, of course, there was no money. All trade ‘was done by barter. The equipment lists for these sections lista price merely to show the relative value of one item to another. It is not until the Bronze Age that money (in the form of coins) came into use. Even then, barter and money ‘were used about equally in trade. It is not until the late Iron Age—at the height of the Roman Empire—that coinage became the most common form of transaction. After the fall of Rome and the collapse of the Empire, much of westem Europe once again reverted to barter. Coins were still available, but for the most part the “common man” didn’t have two coins to rub together in his pockets. ‘The following chart shows the minimum, maximum, and average daily wage for each era. Wages listed for the ‘Stone and Copper Ages show the relative value of a man’s ‘work, while those of the Bronze , Iron, and Middle Ages represent both monetary and bartered earnings. Note from the editor: The Treasure Companion shows the average peasant’s daily wage as dep. That should be clarified as “coinage” paid. The wages listed here include “bartered” worth as well. DAILY WAGES & WORTH CHART Era ‘Normal Minimum Stone Age lop (young hunter) Sep ‘farm laborer) Copper Age Average ‘Normal Maximum Sep (unter) bbe (craftsman) 3H (chief or shaman) Vgp (noble) Bronze Age 23 bp (aborer) 3p (abotes) Iron Age Bop (craftsman) Lsp (erafisman) Le (noble) 1-100 gp (noble or wealthy merchant) Middle Ages 2bp (peasant) 3hp (peasant) Renaissance (yeoman or craftsman) 6-15 bp 1-100 gp (noble or wealthy merchant) 1-100 gp (noble or wealthy merchant) 129 (crafisman) ‘Age of Reason bp (farmer) 35 bp (farmer or factory works) Industrial Revolution 4sp (craftsman) 46 (craftman) 1-100 gp (noble or wealthy merchant) 1-100 ep (ooble or wealthy merchant) ‘Age of Steam $0.10 (farmer or factory worker) $1.50 farmer or factory worker) Electric Age $0.75 (shopkeeper) $3.00 (shopkeeper) 51,0000 (wealthy merchant) 1,000.00 (wealthy industrialist) Atomic Age $6.00 (laborer) $30.00 (inimam wage) Information Age (union factory worker) (union factory worker) $15.00 1,000.00 (tock broker) $20,000.00 (CEO of large corporation) 90.00 iiio T eet eee esos 2.0 aes Sections 2421 ECONOMICS, COMMERCE, os AND TRADING 218 Very few nations of the medieval era used “paper” money or notes, However itshould not be presided from ECONOMICS a given fantasy seting. Ic is posable that a given noble Each world usually has one or more of its own coinage _ Would be so highly regarded that he could issue “notes” systems. Some are based on the worth ofthe coins com th could be exchanged for hard ash ponent material or craftsmanship; eters are ted tothe Final. tere snoreasonthatamonetary sytem should tocitysfaihinthecoin" producer or guarantor. the be limited to metal coins. ts perfect reasonable tohave soverncet backstroke niches). tsoctety where people use molded jade, obsidian, or some ‘Obviously, aworldichin varying poiicalenties and olher mattial as their money. In a desert word. ii cultural grove rarely relies on oly one coinage sync. possible that wateris used as mney, or perhaps wood, Ot Silver might be worth more than gold in cern regions, some oler rare hem, The only guideline that GM must hile other loales may value sone pieces or have no follow when choosing a materia for his monetary system coinage at all. Barter, after all, is the norm in most places _ is that the material must be rare enough that only powerful Tacking a central authority. We do sugges. however. that (ie, Wealhy) people would have i. the Gh establish a compuraive standard inorder fogu- late exchange. This enables folk to compare the value of 21.2 EFFECTS OF WEALTH their goods, even if they are simply trying to trade six ferret ‘The term wealth should be defined as all wealth, not just ‘kins for a'shorp hide. I also males it easy to weave a coins, Thisincludes property, jewelry and other tens tat Iocalizdjadebased economy intoanimperialsystemthat havea valu eat ships et) tis posable o have aaubeace lier tn anda large quantity of wealth witout having chin tho way fea ‘AGM must he very conslous of ho amount of wealth the player characters have If any given PC has 1,000 gold coins Bs pocket pin some fay jowerytaling ors than 1,000 goldin worth what does the average duke have? ‘A.GM should figure that ess the PCS are nobility themeelves, the average NPC love nobility Cineluding, weal mvichanls) should have ot last 10 ies more wealth than the PCs, Wealthy nobility could haves much 35 100 or 1,000 times more. 2.1.1 CHOOSING A SYSTEM. "Vea selecting « moaciny ste fo we thes ee te things 2, GM mist consider. The fist is “Mavor” and bellevabilty The second i ease of use in ply. itis interesting when diferent societies have diferent types of coins and coinage systems, Tris slo very believ- atte when this happens. Historical there Were nations tera Eiwope that sch used ic cn pe a ce However, when more than one coinage system i sed, the GM mst create a believable system for coinage ex change. Unless the twonutionshavesbeolaelynodedlings sviheach other, there wil already bean exchange ae set pin th worl For example a old coin in Neon Ait forth 3 aver ainsi Nation B Taos cases al cots wll probbly be made fier meals, For example, there wil probably be silver coins veavg, tedogh tos cosa Thee sng bo Mes a Une wiorroue nations have access to more of a given type of metal. This ‘would result in that metal becoming the standard for the coinage system. There isalso the issue of banks. Public banking was rare ina medieval society. However, private institutions were known to exist. These individuals usually had access to superior methods of storing hard cash and always charged ‘healthy fee for doing so (10% was very common).(IREDESS OST OS SSeS Peo ‘As can be seen, the more wealth the PCs have, the more serious the question becomes. With a lot of wealth in a ‘given country, the economics of the world comes to be ‘questioned. If this nation has this much wealth, wouldn't they constantly be under attack of other less wealthy nations? Or are the other nations even more wealthy? ‘There is also the matter ofthe number of physical coins available. If the PCs have 1,000 gold coins, then the nobility around them will have 10 to 1,000 times that in their weasury. Looking al the most extreme example in history, the Spanish empire minted around 1,000,000 sil- ver coins and several hundred thousand gold coins. This was TOTAL coins in circulation! With our example (1,000 {gold coins), the PCs might have as much 1% of the total Wealth of an average historical nation! It might be possible that for a short time, the PCs are ‘more wealthy than the local nobles. But this should only occur when the characters have unearthed a vast fortune from some forgotten society (of course, that fortune wasn't always lost...) Note: The price lists throughout the RM system assume a relatively wealthy nation with a large number of coins in circulation. If there are fewer coins in circulation, the prices shown should be used as guide to relative worth of the object. 2.1.3 COINAGE STANDARDS We suggest the following comparative exchange sys- tem, using coins of a uniform one quarter ounce weight. Coin Abbreviation Breakdown. 1 mithril piece mp 1 platinum piece pp. 1 gold piece =p 1 silver piece sp L bronze piece bp 1 copper piece © Itin piece p 0 iron pieces ‘This system revolves around a gold standard, assuming, that a gold piece is the most valuable commonly used ‘currency, although Mithril is more precious and coins are in much wider circulation. The GM may wish to tinker with the coin weights (e.g., using half-ounce or tenth-ounce currency), or add his own material standards (eg. a jade piece [jp] = 2 sp). He might wish to remove bronze, tin, and iron pieces from general use, leaving copper coinage as the effective floor. Whatever the GM desires, this system works as a suggested guide and is employed in the price charts found throughout RM. 5B 2.2, COMMERCE AND TRADING ‘When a GM begins to handle trading and commerce in his world, there are two things he must understand. The firstis whether or not the player characters are going to be trading alot c.g, are they going tobecome “merchants” in their own right). The secondisthat he must have some kind of understanding of resource allocation around his world ( “Time shows average time 10 cach “Tae shows average ime to gather Fruits & Grains Apples Berries, wild CCrabapples Dates Figs Grapes Nat wild oliver ‘Time shows average ime to harvest, Pears Plums Dried rat acley, wild >| >el>eoe[>or> Costs two times normal east Price varies by region Vegetables Bests, fresh Lents Leeks Cares Raises Tumips Bes Cabbage, wild Parsnips Onions Wild Roots All are wild plate =. Herbs, Spices, & Mi Honey Mint Parsley Salt Field Rations Fish (aroused Meat, fceredred Best jerkedSTONE AGE EQUIPMENT ‘OUTDOOR SURVIVAL Avail, oret Backpack, small later Backpack, medium leather Backpack, large Feather Frestaring bow Shp Tent maa eater 1 15s 120 Ibs. S105" Fishhook & line 20 = ishing not, small Sip SSIbe Fishing net. large 4 Tihs Fish Tap 3b 11 Sleping urs light soeps 10 Ths. ‘Sleeping ur, heavy TSerr IS ibe Bucket, lear 3p 1b, Bucket, ener bp 2m ‘Waterskin (ull) 3b Sis. ‘Watersin (ull) Top SOs. TOOLS & MACHINES Cost we dae Dep hs Bow dei ae 1b ‘Burin (chisel) 4p Hammer (tone) 3bp “Hatbet Re Lamp Sb ‘Animal fa (oi) Lop Malet, wood sep Paint Sip Pick axe Rope. light (per 5) Rope, standard (pes 50) Skin sleeker Spindle Trident Wood axe "TRANSPORT & TACK Dugout canoe Dep Sea’ canoe Corse Pade Mast sil Sib. Dog sled 130 Skit 20Ibs. Notes Last 1 nour eesleiieiiii £ poopo|ppen|>peel>ee> Made of stone; requires ol Lasts one day lraifsiislatiis peoel>opr|aooelppee ‘Notes porl>ooe Ed ‘MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS, we Drum 38s. Hunting orn 13s. Ocean Tih Pan pipes Ub. ate 05M. ‘COOKING & EATING we Leather pot 25s Leathe pot, 35 ihe, Burk pot 13s Bask pot! quart 23th, url sell po, 3 bs. “Hearthsone baking) 10-15 bs Ladle, wooden = Spoon, wooden = Kaif obsidian st Bow, smal oathor 0.5 bs. Bow, large leuter Tike, Morr & pestle Mug, leather Drinking hom, plain Drinking hor, mate uifireiiferic $l 111 Eleaah ese >>>pol>peoe|peee>STONE AGE EQUIPMI CLOTH & CLOTHING — Cost Wearable Cis Bane Sa Bet eater too Setocon iter 33 Sin tr ae Con leer ietp hres eter Tay hres frie {by Har ianer ty Ha fr ty Moses ear Tay Sie ee ties Pan aes ode Son ete bie Fura lds tienes tp ER A tet EEE retards yes 32 Gime eA atk Bee Reciaye pe anes tgs ie RR Beets oe hal I ‘Seving & Talon Neds 6 ee 8 ly fee ne) 2 eee 3} i fee Tircoxcoms) 7 Ee A ley ee en MEDICINE Cot We Ske An Time | Rae Nar angi fs toe HSM. toy fee Coan ait te eres i, 0 ll) — cane ef ce ee eral ened Se Ee A ste ge ce erhyvieitcms Ke srl SE A sue ee Tesh 2p site Ad EERE —Appeocimanly SD cs Moret 32 eee A scan (eee Sung ede if Gee fo, ee Secon Gye) = 2 EO A Lon” (eee eee se MISCELLANEOUS Cot Wk Sava Time BF MARIE F Now 10 pe ssp SG ie eee . Arie ome wee hy sym he = Be Bes ae ee 5 Sc” . Wig Sick 12 em A ik eee ARMOR Cot AT We Avail Tine Rar FN ———e ll ce ear it ee oo ee Tester jin ao. a gitar = 12 Ree A fey fee Teal ee ee TYPICAL WEAPONS Cot) ype WE) Avail Time eG hee ae Bas spear ei cis ve the Sale A ois TR Sa) Ot Cadet 53 hwy ats A 2b SR) m9 Dagger, san 3p Ahi O78 AI day P1008 ies sk lay stm os Ii ce le A ley 18 0) OF tie 22 eee foe ae ee ex taing Tiel $8ilg ACs Sieben ao re Sing a Sm 2 wh ae ty stn) 08 Weapon Accsodes tay eae >> léey ees Made of eater olds twenty arowsPUEDES SESS S SI 4.0 THE COPPER AGE Copper Age or Late Stone Age? Actually, either term cean be applied to the period when man was making the transition from nomadic hunter-gatherer to setled farmer. The tools of his ancestors were still used, made from the same stone, wood, antler, horn, and bone. But metal was being discovered as well. The earliest metal artifacts found so far were made of copper, hammered into various shapes such as rings and other small omaments. Man was setting down, either raising crops, herding animals, or both. These early farmers settled in upland areas, where the soil was light, easily worked, and also casily exhausted. Unlike later farmers, they were not rooted to one spot, but moved on as needed f0 open new fields. By 5,000 B.C., they had spread into theriver valleys of central and southern Europe, the Middle East, north ‘Africa, and India. It is here, in these valleys, that the ‘greatest technological changes began. The rivers acted as roadways, connecting the isolated farmsand communities, Annual floods replenished the fields with mineralsand rich soil, allowing settlers to crop the same fields year after year. Because no two rivers flood at the same time, how- ever, exch area was forced to develop different techniques to cope with the rising water. In Egypt, the Nile floods in early spring were easily predictable within a period of afew days by the Egyptians. ‘They simply waited for the waterto recede before planting, andused asystem of canals.and ditches to carry waterto the fields forirrigation. In Mesopotamia, on the otherhand, the ‘Tigris and Euphrates rivers flood in the summer—far too late for planting as unprotected crops would wash away. ‘The solution wasa complex system of dikes and canals that protected the fields from the worst of the flooding, while still reaping the benefits ‘Once the rivers were conquered and controlled, man settled down to farming in earnest, Various grains were grown, such as millet, barley, and, later, wheat. Grapes, olives, figs, and dates were cultivated as well. With fields thateould be planted year after year, more long-term crops, such as orchards, became feasible. Communities began to grow with their expanding fields. A village that once housed a few hundred, could now support a few thousand people. Butas moreand more land was given overto agriculture, Jess was available for the herds ofcatle, sheep, and other animals Cultivated land could notte used for grazing. The herds would quickly tum carefully planted and tended fields into a wasteland. Villages that had once been com- ‘ortably far apar might, astheir populations grew, develop conflicts over remaining lands for grazing. Ths ultimately resulted in several things: almost all the land between Villages being devoted to crops large, dense population the river valleys; and a breach between the farmers and the herdsmen, with the two groups. becoming separate,