The use of copper had become very apparent to civilizations, such as its properties of elasticity and plasticity that allow it to be hammered into useful shapes, along with its ability to be melted and poured into intricate shapes. Although, the advantages of copper were many, the material was too soft to find large scale usefulness. Through experimentation or by chance, additions to copper lead to increased hardness of a new metal alloy, called bronze. Bronze was originally composed of copper and arsenic, forming arsenic bronze.