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Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin cuprum) and atomic number 29. ... The history of copper metallurgy is thought to follow this sequence: ...
Reconstruction of Ötzi's copper axe (c. 3300 BCE). The Copper Age, also called the Eneolithic or the Chalcolithic Age, has been traditionally understood as a transitional period between the Neolithic and the Bronze Age, in which a gradual introduction of the metal (native copper) took place, while stone was still the main resource utilized.
The Copper Age features the use of copper, excluding bronze; moreover, stone continued to be used throughout both the Bronze Age and the Iron Age. The part -litica simply names the Stone Age as the point from which the transition began and is not another -lithic age.
The Old Copper Complex of the Western Great Lakes is the best known, and can be dated as far back as 9,500 years ago. [4] [1] Great Lakes natives of the Archaic period located 99% pure copper near Lake Superior, in veins touching the surface and in nuggets from gravel beds.
Painting of a Copper Age walled settlement, Los Millares, Spain The Chalcolithic or Copper Age is the transitional period between the Neolithic and the Bronze Age. [1] It is taken to begin around the mid-5th millennium BC, and ends with the beginning of the Bronze Age proper, in the late 4th to 3rd millennium BC, depending on the region.
The Copper, Bronze, and Iron Ages are also known collectively as the Metal Ages. [3] [4] In history, archaeology and physical anthropology, the three-age system is a methodological concept adopted during the 19th century according to which artefacts and events of late prehistory and early history could be broadly ordered into a recognizable ...
Peak copper is the point in time at which the maximum global copper production rate is reached. Since copper is a finite resource, at some point in the future new production from mining will diminish, and at some earlier time production will reach a maximum. When this will occur is a matter of dispute.
Copper was probably the first metal mined and crafted by humans. [8] It was originally obtained as a native metal and later from the smelting of ores. Earliest estimates of the discovery of copper suggest around 9000 BC in the Middle East. It was one of the most important materials to humans throughout the Chalcolithic and Bronze Ages.