[Oatka]

The big advantage of metal pots is they are really hard to break as compared to pottery.
That was an additional advantage, but compare heating rocks and dropping them in the water against setting the pot full on the coals. Ease and durability. BTW, many of the Indian peoples, especially in Central and South America, were well past Stone Age and were civilized by any reasonable standard.

I was talking stone-age in terms of technology. All the darts, wicker shields and obsidian-edged swords were ineffective against Toledo steel, crossbows and arquebuses. It wouldn't have mattered how culturally advanced they were (and in some cases they were over the Spaniards and Portuguese) going against any race that had discovered and used bronze, let alone steel, spelled the end.

[Sherman Logan]

It’s not a big deal, but the pottery made by Indians could be used to cook directly on the fire. I’ve found pot fragments in NM and UT still with layers of smoke residue on them from cooking.

[Sherman Logan]

One can make an excellent case that germs defeated the civilized Indian empires more than the Spanish did. It’s hard to fight a more technologically advanced invader when your 30 to 50% of your population is dying in a short period.

For comparison, consider how well Europe might have resisted a major invasion during the throes of the Black Death, especially if the invaders were largely immune.

The Aztecs were largely overthrown by other Indians they had oppressed, but the Incas are a much more clear case of the lethal combination of Guns, Germs and Steel. (To coin a phrase.) :)