Wednesday, 19 August 2020

Copper: The First Metal



Copper, like many aspects of modern civilisation, originated in the Middle East. The earliest known copper items, including needles, hooks and jewellery, date to around 8800BC and were discovered at Çayönü, a settlement around 50 miles from the temple site of Göbekli Tepe and dating in its earliest form to around 10,000BC.
The workable properties of copper, known as firestone in Broken Skies, were discovered by the Anunnaki and its magical properties are a key part of the story.
The copper was found in natural seams which could be worked directly, and was hammered into shape without heat. Later came the use of malachite (copper ore) which was heated and smelted and could be poured into moulds to create a variety of objects. The start of the Copper Age or Chalcolithic Period is dated to around 6000BC in the Middle East, when copper became widely used, and the technology rapidly spread across Europe and the East. The mixing of copper and tin to make the far superior bronze soon began to change the world beyond recognition.


Copper ore (malachite). Rob Lavinsky, Wikicommons,

The first appearance of metal objects, entirely unprecedented in the ancient world, was likely greeted with wonder and reverence for the people producing or owning them. Metal soon became a statement of wealth and power, and then came a new social order based on a few individuals, typically men, who controlled land, people and wealth. This was reinforced by the greater possibilities of metal: swords, daggers, shields, armour, and of course money. The vicious circle – wealth leads to danger and greed and fear, so the wealthy amass more wealth and armies and slaughter their rivals for fear of attack, while the poor grow poorer and become little more than pawns – is one which still governs our world today.
This will be a theme in the next book of the Ouroboros series.


Some of the Hittite-period jewellery and ornaments, found in Turkey dating to c1500BC.



No comments:

Post a Comment