Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive. It is hard and tough, and it was so significant in antiquity that the Bronze Age was named after the metal. However, historical pieces were often made interchangeably of brasses (copper and zinc), and bronzes with different compositions, so modern museum and scholarly descriptions of older objects increasingly use the more inclusive term "copper alloy" instead. Historically the term latten was used for such alloys.The discovery of bronze enabled people to create metal objects which were better than previously possible. Tools, weapons, armor, and various building materials, like decorative tiles, made of bronze were harder and more durable than their stone and copper predecessors. Initially bronze was made out of copper and arsenic to form arsenic bronze, or directly from naturally or artificially mixed ores of those. It was only later that tin was used, becoming the sole type of major non-copper ingredient of bronze in the late 3rd millennium BC. Tin bronze was superior to arsenic bronze in that the alloying process itself could more easily be controlled and the alloy was stronger and easier to cast. Also, unlike arsenic, tin is not toxic.

Bell metal is a hard alloy used for making bells and related instruments, such as cymbals. It is a form of bronze, usually approximately 4:1 ratio of copper to tin (78% copper, 22% tin).In India, in the states of Assam, West Bengal and Odisha, it is called kanh and kansa and is used for cooking and eating utensils, with Sarthebari in Assam. Places like Belaguntha in Ganjam district, Kantilo in Nayagarh and Balakati near Bhubaneswar most famous for this craft in Odisha.