Copper Age

The Copper Age was a time period between the Neolithic and the Bronze Age. It is also named Chalcolithic (Ancient Greek: χαλκός khalkos "copper" + Ancient Greek: λίθος lithos "stone").

Recreation of the copper age city Los Millares, about 20 km from Almería, Spain

Cauldron, also from Los Millares. It is a reproduction

The Copper Age happened at different times in different places. The earliest evidence we have of copper production is from around 6,500 BC.^[1]

Use of copper

During the Copper Age, people used copper to produced edged weapons (such as knives, swords, spearheads, and axes), brooches, pins, belt boxes, and vessels for food and drink.^[2] However, they still made most of their tools out of stone.^[3]

During this age, people learned to add tin to copper to make bronze, an alloy which is much harder than either tin or copper. However, they did not do this very often because tin was scarce.^[2] Later, during the Bronze Age, people used bronze widely. Its hardness made it more useful than copper, a soft metal, for things like weapons.

It is important to note that not every human or group knew how to use copper. However, a growing number of people were learning about copper and using it during this era.

Timeline

The Vinča culture was the first to develop the knowledge and skills to process copper, in the late 6th millennium BC.^[4]

By the mid-4th millennium, people in Mesopotamia had a rapidly developing copper industry, using copper to cast tools and weapons. This contributed to the growth of cities in the area.^[5] By 3000 BC, people knew about copper in the Middle East, the Mediterranean area, and the Neolithic cultures of Europe.^[5]

The transition from Copper Age to Bronze Age happened from around 5000 BC to the late 3rd millennium BC.