Which property determined the suitability of arsenical bronze axes for felling timber in Mesopotamia before ~3000BCE?

💡 Explanation

Before true bronze, arsenical bronze was work-hardened: Hammering induced dislocations that impede slip within crystalline structure increasing strength by dislocation entanglement. Therefore dislocation density determines suitability, rather than composition alone, quenching which occurred much later, or tin alloy which eliminated arsenic.

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