As Florian Neukirchen demonstrates in this book, metals have played a prominent role in the history of humanity. Even individual eras, such as the Bronze Age and the Iron Age, were named after them. Archaeologists are trying to decipher the early history of metallurgy through artifacts, ancient mines, and excavated furnaces. This involves not only technology (mining, smelting, and metalworking, weapons and tools) but also trade routes and cultural peculiarities. The findings of archaeometallurgy and mining archaeology have led to the realization that some fundamental hypotheses have proven to be incorrect: Is there really a linear technological development where certain metals follow one another step by step? Where did technological innovation occur? Did the new materials lead to sudden societal changes?.