Blacksmithing I get--I can see how someone 5,000 years ago might be doing something like that. But how on earth did Bronze and Iron Age (or even pre-modern) people make thin wire or metallic thread?

by halfascientist

For the life of me, I just can't imagine how you make any reasonable amount of it without some kind of mechanization. Any sources on how that worked?

catalot

Here you go: History of Gold Wire. Edit, so I'm not just posting a link: Basically, it was hammered into a wire shape. Later, in the medieval period, draw plates were used to gradually pull a wire through smaller and smaller holes.