Out of the Fiery Furnace - Episode 2 - Swords and Plough Shares

From the Stone Age to the era of the silicon chip — metals and minerals have marked the milestones of our civilization. OUT OF THE FIERY FURNACE traces the story of civilization through the exploitation of metals, minerals and energy resources. Renowned radio and BBC television commentator Michael Charlton hosts seven, one-hour programs filmed in more than 50 different parts of the world. This very unusual public television series combines the disciplines of history, science, archeology and economics in order to explore the relationship between technology and society.

The development of iron brings about the collapse of the Bronze Age and mankind shifts from agriculture to industry. From this point, mastery over metals forms the basis of history's greatest civilizations. This episode highlights the value of metal in ancient China and Greece.

You'll tour ruins of mining operations in Spain and are invited to ponder the world's first technological empire — Rome. (60-minutes)

Download full video (MP4), subtitles and original VHS cover art (857MB): https://tinyurl.com/outoffieryfurnace...

Disclaimer: This video series, produced in 1986 by Opus Films is shown here for Educational Purposes. It includes footage of cultures in India, China, Near East, etc. and ancient methods of manufacturing metals. It is hoped that this information is useful for archival and educational purposes to viewers all across the world. The video is provided here under the Fair Use policy.