Copper
Cobre (Cu, Z=29)
- Date
- c. 8000 BCE · confidence low
- Place
- Eastern Anatolia (Çayönü)
- Credited to
- Unknown (Neolithic)
- Field
- Matter & energy
What was discovered
Native copper was the first metal hammered by humans; smelting it and alloying it with tin gave rise to the Bronze Age.
An element known since prehistory; the date is approximate.
What it led to
- The Copper and Bronze Ages
- Electrical conductors and telegraphy
- Coinage
Built on
- Stone-working
- Control of fire
Made possible
- Copper mining and smelting at Phu Lonc. 1000 BCE
- Bronze
- Electric cable