From the Publisher: Metalworking Through History provides a comprehensive, historic overview of the subject of metalworking while exploring it within its cultural context. It is written from the perspective that the crafting of objects in metal is a unique way of understanding a particular time and culture. As a broad encyclopedia of metalworking, it allows the reader to view the different societies and periods that produced work in this medium as part of a global, interrelated practice. Comprised of over sixty entries on relevant time periods, cultures, makers and processes, the book is a much-needed general reference text in the survey of this craft. The subjects span all the major metalworking periods and peoples, from the rituals of African iron smelting to the twentieth century studio movement. Outstanding individual makers are highlighted to give additional insight into the times at which they were active.