COPPER (CHALCOLITHIC) AGE (4,500 to 3,500 B.C.)

COPPER AGE, BRONZE AGE AND IRON AGE

Treasure of Nahal Mishmar

Archaeologists usually shy away from assigning fixed dates to the Neolithic, Copper, Bronze and Iron Ages because these ages are based on stages of developments in regard to stone, copper, bronze and iron tools and the technology used to make and the development of these tools and technologies developed at different times in different places. The terms the Stone Age, Bronze Age and Iron Age were coined by the Danish historian Christian Jurgen Thomsen in his Guide to Scandinavian Antiquities (1836) as a way of categorizing prehistoric objects. The Copper Age was added latter. In case you forgot, the Stone Age and Copper Age preceded the Bronze Age and the Iron Age came after it. Gold was first fashioned into ornaments about the same time bronze was.

David Silverman of Reed College wrote: “It is important to understand that terms such as Neolithic, Bronze Age, and Iron Age translate into hard dates only with reference to a particular region or peoples. In other words, it makes sense to say that the Greek Bronze Age begins before the Italian Bronze Age. Classifying people according to the stage which they have reached in working with and making tools from hard substances such as stone or metal turns out to be a convenient rubric for antiquity. Of course it is not always the case that every Iron Age people is more than advanced in respects other than metalworking (such as letters or governmental structures) than the Bronze Age folk who preceded them. [Source: David Silverman, Reed College, Classics 373 ~ History 393 Class ^*^]

“If you read in the literature on Italian prehistory, you find that there is a profusion of terms to designate chronological phases: Middle Bronze Age, Late Bronze Age, Middle Bronze Age I, Middle Bronze Age II, and so forth. It can be bewildering, and it is damnably difficult to pin these phases to absolute dates. The reason is not hard to discover: when you are dealing with prehistory, all dates are relative rather than absolute. Pottery does not come out of the ground stamped 1400 B.C. The chart on the screen, synthesized from various sources, represents a consensus of sorts and can serve us as a working model.

Good Websites Archaeology News Report archaeologynewsreport.blogspot.com ; Anthropology.net anthropology.net : archaeologica.org archaeologica.org ; Archaeology in Europe archeurope.com ; Archaeology magazine archaeology.org ; HeritageDaily heritagedaily.com; Livescience livescience.com/ Iceman Photscan iceman.eurac.edu/ ; Otzi Official Site iceman.it

Copper Age

copper dagger

The Chalcolithic Age (chalcos, copper; lithos, stone) extended from the middle of the fifth to near the end of the fourth millennium B.C. It is called Chalcolithic because people were were using stone as well as copper depending on the application. During this period the art of smelting and molding copper was developed, and stone and bone tools were augmented by a limited supply of implements made of this new substance. [Source: Gerald A. Larue, “Old Testament Life and Literature,” 1968, infidels.org ]

The 1,000-year-long Copper Age lasted from about 4500 B.C. to 3500 B.C., overlapping with the early Bronze Age. Some cultures and individuals used Copper Age technology after the Copper Age was over. The word Chalcolithic is derived from the Greek words “chalco” (copper) and “lithos”(stone). The oldest copper ornament dates back to around 8700 B.C. and it was found in present-day northern Iraq. There is evidence for copper smelting and recovery through processing of malachite and azurite in different parts of the world dating back to 5000 B.C.. Copper pipes used to carry water, dating back to around 2700 B.C., were found in one of the Egyptian pyramids. The Latin name for copper is Cuprum (Cu). It is believed that it has originated from the island of Cyprus where the Romans used to mine copper from its rich copper mines.

Copper was being fashioned into implements and gold was being fashioned into ornaments about 6,000 years ago, 3,000 years before the Greeks and Roman empires. Copper was the first metal to be worked by man on a relatively large scale in part because it is found in "large pure ingots in a natural state" in many different locations around the world. Axes, points and armor could be fashioned by simply hammering the metal; melting it wasn't necessary.

Gerald A. Larue wrote in “Old Testament Life and Literature”: In Palestine: “The Chalcolithic Age extended from the middle of the fifth to near the end of the fourth millennium B.C. During this period the art of smelting and molding copper was developed, and stone and bone tools were now augmented by a limited supply of implements made of this new substance. The skill developed by smiths in the handling of copper is amply illustrated in the several hundred beautifully fashioned cultic items from the end of the Chalcolithic period that were discovered in a cave near the Dead Sea in the spring of 1961. [Source: Gerald A. Larue, “Old Testament Life and Literature,” 1968, infidels.org]

Copper and the Copper and Bronze Ages

Jason Urbanus wrote in Archaeology magazine: Since the nineteenth century, archaeologists have categorized time periods in human history by the most advanced material used for tool-making and hence speak of the Stone Age, the Bronze Age, and the Iron Age. Without copper, which can be alloyed with tin to produce bronze, there would have been no Bronze Age. Bronze was a revelation — it is extremely durable and holds an edge better than other materials available at the time. Beginning in the third millennium B.C., and especially during the second millennium B.C., copper was king and could make those who possessed it extremely wealthy and powerful. [Source: Jason Urbanus, Archaeology magazine, January/February 2024]

Jason Urbanus wrote in Archaeology magazine: It is difficult to pinpoint exactly when people began to exploit copper, but raw copper has been bent and shaped into decorative ornaments or arrowheads for at least 8,500 years. Copper smelting technology, a process in which raw ore is liquified so that it can be purified and poured into molds, dates to around 4500 B.C. This was followed, around 1,000 years later, by the development of the technology to create bronze. When copper is alloyed with tin, at a ratio of nine parts copper to one part tin, it produces bronze. This much harder and more durable metal enabled people to fashion nearly indestructible bronze tools such as axes, chisels, and swords that were instrumental in agriculture, shipbuilding, and warfare.

The search for particular metals has often led to exploration and, throughout history, civilizations have launched daring expeditions to obtain gold, silver, or other precious materials. The Bronze Age was the first great age of sailing, partially due to improved boatbuilding technology — thanks to the advent of bronze tools. Exploration was also fueled by the desire to obtain the copper needed to make more bronze. These circumstances made the island of Cyprus one of the most vital places in the Mediterranean during the Late Bronze Age and beyond. For more than 2,000 years, until the fall of the Roman Empire, Cyprus was the most important producer of copper in the Mediterranean. Cyprus was so synonymous with the metal that the English word “copper” is derived from word cuprum and the phrase aes cyprium, meaning “metal of Cyprus.”

The earliest written reference to Cypriot copper is found on an eighteenth-century B.C. cuneiform tablet from the city-state of Mari in modern Syria that mentions a copper mountain in Alashiya, the Akkadian name for Cyprus. Proof of Cyprus’ near-total dominance of large-scale copper trading during the Late Bronze Age can be found in the Amarna Letters, a collection of fourteenth-century B.C. correspondence between the Egyptian pharaohs Amenhotep III (reigned ca. 1390–1352 B.C.) and Akhenaten (reigned ca. 1349–1336 B.C.) and foreign powers such as the Hittites and Babylonians. There are eight letters between Egypt and an unknown king of Cyprus, five of which mention shipments of copper from the island to Egypt. Each shipment would have totaled thousands of pounds, similar to the cargo of the Ulu Burun ship. Kings and leaders from around the Mediterranean sent their ships to Cyprus, many of which would have arrived at Hala Sultan Tekke.

Making Copper

Some natural copper contains tin. During the forth millennium in present-day Turkey, Iran and Thailand man learned that these metals could be melted and fashioned into a metal — bronze — that was stronger than copper, which had limited use in warfare because copper armor was easily penetrated and copper blades dulled quickly. Bronze shared these limitations to a lesser degree, a problem that was rectified until the utilization of iron which is stronger and keeps a sharp edge better than bronze, but has a much higher melting point. [Source: "History of Warfare" by John Keegan, Vintage Books]

Smelting ore probably began in China or India and made its way westward. Much of the copper in ancient civilization in Mesopotamia, the Middle East, Egypt, Phoenicia, Greece and Rome came from Cyprus, whose name is the source of the word copper.

To melt copper out the rock it is necessary to keep a fire at least 1981̊F (1083̊C). This was most likely done in ancient Copper Age sites by continuously blowing a fire through tubes made from wood, bamboo or reeds. Archaeologists recreating the process need about an hour of constant blowing to produced several copper pellets the size of BBs. Producing copper for an ax using this method would take several weeks.

Copper Age in Europe

Andrew Curry wrote in Archaeology magazine, “Once largely ignored by the scholarly community, the Copper Age has become a hot topic. Since the collapse of communism in 1989 opened doors for western scholars in countries including Bulgaria, Romania, and Ukraine, a new appreciation for the region's prehistory is taking hold. The centuries between 5000 and 3500 B.C. are now seen as a crucial transition period during which early Europeans began to use metal tools, developed complex social structures, and established far-flung cultural and trading networks. [Source: Andrew Curry, Archaeology, March/April 2011]

"Far from being a historical footnote, Copper Age Europe was a technological and social proving ground. Archaeologists have found the earliest evidence of distinctions between rich and poor, rulers and the ruled. There is no evidence of social hierarchy prior to this period, in the Neolithic, or Stone Age. Until recently, scholars assumed the Copper Age was no more advanced. "Copper Age and Neolithic societies are always described as egalitarian, or as less complex," says German Archaeological Institute researcher Svend Hansen. The latest discoveries, however, suggest that humanity's first hesitant steps out of the Neolithic were probably taken as a result of the development of metalworking and the changes in society that came along with this technological breakthrough."

Recent digs at Copper Age sites across Europe are overturning long-held beliefs about the continent's earliest cultures Beginning in the early 1970s, archaeologists excavating the Copper Age site of Varna, Bulgaria, uncovered evidence of the emergence of a class system in prehistoric Europe. In one grave , the remains of a man buried with more than two pounds of gold pointed to his economically and socially superior position in society."

Rudna Glava and Ai Bunar: World’s Oldest Copper Mines

Rudna Glava in Serbia and Mechikladenets-Ai Bunar near Stara Zagora, Bulgaria are regarded as Europe’s — and perhaps the world’s — oldest copper mines. William A. Parkinson wrote in “Ancient Europe, 8000 B.C. to A.D. 1000 :Encyclopedia of the Barbarian World”: “Extensive research by eastern European scholars has reshaped our understanding of early copper ore mining techniques that were used during the Late Neolithic and Early Copper Age in the Balkans. Since the late 1960s, archaeological investigations at two copper mines—Rudna Glava and Ai Bunar—have revealed the complexity of early copper metallurgical techniques and revised our understanding of early copper exploitation strategies and their relationship to other socioeconomic processes. One of the most well-known prehistoric copper mines is the site of Rudna Glava in eastern Serbia. The site, located 140 kilometers east of Belgrade on the Romanian border, was a magnetite mine until the late 1960s. Archaeological excavations by Borislav Jovanović in the 1970s revealed over twenty prehistoric mine shafts that followed veins of copper ore throughout the limestone massif. [Source: William A. Parkinson, "Early Copper Mines at Rudna Glava and Ai Bunar." “Ancient Europe, 8000 B.C. to A.D. 1000: Encyclopedia of the Barbarian World.” Encyclopedia.com /~]

“The mine was excavated in antiquity using techniques that had been employed for thousands of years to exploit lithic resources, such as chert. Armed with stone mauls and antler picks, the prehistoric miners followed the vertical veins of copper ore into the hillside. They employed a method of heating and cooling to break up the ore and facilitate quarrying. First they would light fires along the wall face. Then they would throw water onto the hot rock, causing it to crack and thus making it easier to chip apart. Some of the veins were followed 15 to 20 meters into the center of the hill, with small horizontal access platforms extending off the main shaft. In those cases where the shaft appeared to be in danger of collapsing the miners built stone supporting walls out of the debris they excavated. /~\

“The mine at Rudna Glava is well dated to the Late Neolithic and Early Copper Age, a period also known as the Chalcolithic, which took place during the second half of the fifth and the first half of the fourth millennium B.C.. This dating is based on pottery from the Vinča culture that was found in the mine shafts. Jovanović recorded three different accumulations of pottery in the shafts. The oldest, which was found on an access platform in the mine along with a damaged antler tool and a large stone maul, dates to the transitional phase, known as the Gradac phase, between Early and Late Vinča, during the fifth millennium B.C. The two other pottery concentrations are characteristic of Late Vinča culture and date to the early fourth millennium B.C. /~\

“Another early copper mine was excavated at the site of Ai Bunar in northern Bulgaria in the Sredna Gora Mountains of central Bulgaria. The mine at Ai Bunar is roughly contemporary with the mine at Rudna Glava, and the miners used similar techniques. They excavated narrow open trenches to follow the veins of copper carbonates into the hills. As at Rudna Glava, archaeologists found antler picks and stone mauls in the mine shafts, in addition to two shaft-hole copper tools and the remains of three human individuals. /~\

“The ceramics found at Ai Bunar are characteristic of the ceramics found in the sixth layer at the Karanovo tell (Karanovo VI) and date to the late fifth millennium B.C. While this discovery demonstrates that the mines at Ai Bunar were in use during the later fifth millennium B.C., other evidence suggests the mines probably were in use somewhat earlier, possibly as early as the end of the sixth millennium B.C. Copper objects and ore that have been demonstrated chemically to have derived from the sources at Ai Bunar were found at several sites in south-central Bulgaria that are contemporary with Karanovo V, a phase that dates to the beginning of the fifth millennium B.C. /~\

Copper Age stone and bone tools

“Chemical analyses, primarily lead isotope analyses, carried out by E. N. Chernykh, Noël H. Gale, and several Bulgarian specialists have demonstrated that Ai Bunar and Rudna Glava were not the only sources for copper ore in prehistory. The analysis of copper artifacts from several sites in south-central Bulgaria suggests that at least four other copper sources were exploited, though they remain unidentified. /~\

“A handful of other copper mines have been located in northern Thrace, one of which contained Karanovo V and VI pottery, and another prehistoric mine also is known to have existed at Mali Sturac, a site in the Rudnik mountain range in central Serbia. Unfortunately, none of these sites has been extensively explored, and little has been published about them.” /~\

Copper Age in the Middle East

Chalcolithic Age lasted in Palestine roughly from 4,500 to 3,300 B.C. Gerald A. Larue wrote in “Old Testament Life and Literature”: “Villages and towns of varying size were now spread throughout Palestine and permanent houses were built of stone, mud-brick and wood, although cave living was still common, and near Beer-sheba there was a whole village with underground living and storage quarters. A rich variety of stone, pottery and copper artifacts, fine flint work, paintings and carvings mark cultural growth in this period. New burial patterns were developed. Often the dead were interred in large storage jars, and at other times bodies were cremated and the remains placed in specially made pottery urns and interred in caves. [Source: Gerald A. Larue, “Old Testament Life and Literature,” 1968, infidels.org]

Exposed rocks in western Jordan, in the Wadi Faynan region, contain bluish copper ore that can easily be removed my hand. Around 4500 B.C. people discovered that the copper ore, when heated to temperatures yields a metal strong enough to make tools as well as religious objects and other items. [Source: Katherine Oziment, National Geographic, April 1999]

The copper found in Wadi Faynan was moved along ancient trading routes from Jordan to Israel, mostly likely on foot and by donkey, to places like the Basheba Valley, where fertile alluvial soils along stream beds supported increasingly large populations.

A Copper Age village, with more than a thousand people and dated to 4200 B.C., was found in Shiquim in the Besheeba Valley in Israel in the 1970s. The people lived in mud brick and stone houses and built an extensive network of underground rooms used to store grain. Large structures used for religious, economic and social purposes were built.

Cyprus—Island of Copper

Roman-era copper slag from Cyprus

Covering 3,570 square miles, Cyprus is situated in the northeastern corner of the Mediterranean Sea, south or present-day Turkey and west of present-day Syria. It is the third largest island in the region after Sicily and Sardinia.

Colette and Seán Hemingway of the Metropolitan Museum of Art wrote: “Cyprus was famous in antiquity for its copper resources. In fact the very word copper is derived from the Greek name for the island, Kupros. Cypriots first worked copper in the fourth millennium B.C., fashioning tools from native deposits of pure copper, which at that time could still be found in places on the surface of the earth. The discovery of rich copper-bearing ores on the north slope of the Troodos Mountains led to the mining of Cyprus' rich mineral resources in the Bronze Age at sites such as Ambelikou-Aletri. Tin, which is mixed together with copper to make bronze, typically at a ratio of 1:10, had to be imported. [Source: Colette Hemingway and Seán Hemingway, Metropolitan Museum of Art, October 2004, metmuseum.org \^/]

“True tin bronzes appear to have been made on Cyprus as early as the beginning of the second millennium B.C. In the nineteenth century B.C., the island is mentioned for the first time in Near Eastern records as a copper-producing country, under the name "Alasia," and it continued to be an important source of copper for the Near East and Egypt throughout most of the second millennium B.C. Scholars, however, are in disagreement as to the exact meaning of "Alasia": whether it refers to a specific site on Cyprus, such Enkomi or Alassa, or to the island itself, or, less probably, to another geographic location. \^/

“Cypriot copper and bronze working was relatively modest in the Early and Middle Bronze Ages, and metalsmiths manufactured a limited range of types, including tools, weapons, and personal objects such as pins and razors. Excavations have revealed increasing metallurgical activity at settlement sites in the Late Bronze Age. Nearly all of the major centers, including Enkomi, Kition, Hala Sultan Tekke, Palaeopaphos, and Maroni, provide evidence of copper smelting, as do smaller settlements, including Alassa and Kalavasos-Ayios Dhimitrios. \^/

Otzi the Iceman

Otzi

Otzi the Iceman is the name given to a 5,300-year-old mummified body of a man that was found in a glacier near the border of Italy and Austria. He is the best-preserved prehistoric man ever discovered with his own equipment and clothing. Most ancient human remains are found in burial chambers with carefully selected objects rather than what they use in everyday life. A Viennese journalist coined Ötzi’s name which rhymes with Tootsie and is derived from the Ötzal Alps where he was found and the neighboring Ötzal Valley. [Source: Stephen Hall, National Geographic, July 2007; Bob Cullem Smithsonian, February 2003; David Roberts, National Geographic, June 1993 ]

Some have called the discovery of Otzi one of the most spectacular archaeological discoveries of the 20th century. He is oldest intact human ever found. With the exception of missing toenails, all but one fingernail and an outer layer of skin the Iceman is otherwise perfectly reserved. His body and the tools and clothes found with him have given great insight into a people and age of which little is known in details never preciously imagined.

Each year, thousands view Otzi's mummified remains, which are on display at the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology in Bolzano, Italy. After Otzi was discovered the world became caught up in Iceman mania. He appeared on the cover of Time magazine and other major publications. T-shirts and jewelry were sold with his sunken eyed beaming out. Pop songs were written about him. A German astrologer announced she was writing a book about her seánces with the Iceman. Other women clamored to be the first to be impregnated with sperm from Ötzi's testicles. Mitochondrial DNA was extracted from Otzi’s bones. A company called Oxford Ancestors, for a fee, will compare your DNA with Otzi’s to see if you are related.

Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons except last picture from star-of-david, the-red-thread.net map by Betmatrho

Text Sources: National Geographic, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Smithsonian magazine, Nature, Scientific American. Live Science, Discover magazine, Discovery News, Ancient Foods ancientfoods.wordpress.com ; Times of London, Natural History magazine, Archaeology magazine, The New Yorker, Time, Newsweek, BBC, The Guardian, Reuters, AP, AFP, Lonely Planet Guides, “World Religions” edited by Geoffrey Parrinder (Facts on File Publications, New York); “History of Warfare” by John Keegan (Vintage Books); “History of Art” by H.W. Janson (Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.), Compton’s Encyclopedia and various books and other publications.

Last updated June 2024