Metallurgy during the Copper Age in Europe
Encyclopedia
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. Recent archaeology has found that the metal was not introduced so gradually and that this entailed significant social changes, such as hierarchical
leadership, developments in the type of habitation (larger villages, launching of fortifications), long-distance trade, and copper metallurgy
.
Roughly, the Copper Age could be situated chronologically between the 5th and 6th millennium
BC, in places like the archaeological sites of Majdanpek
, Јarmovac and Pločnik
(a copper axe from 5,500 BC belonging to the Vinča culture
) and Rudna Glava
Mine in Serbia
and Ai Bunar Mine in Bulgaria
(5th Millennium BC) and the from third millennium
BC, in places like Palmela
(Portugal), Cortes de Navarra (Spain), and Stonehenge
(United Kingdom). However, as often happens with the prehistoric times, the limits of the age cannot be clearly defined and vary with different sources.
was exported to Europe from the Near East has been practically ruled out. A second hypothesis, that there were two main points of origin of metallurgy in Europe, in southern Spain and the Balkans, is also doubtful due to the existence of sites outside the centers of diffusion where metallurgy was known simultaneously with, or before, those in the ‘original’ nuclei, such as Brixlegg
(Tyrol, Austria), while sites closer to the supposed origins of metallurgy, such as in the north of Spain, show fewer metal artifacts than sites in the south and practically no evidence of production (Perez Arrondo 1986).
Nowadays the general opinion is that the development of metallurgy took place independently in different places, at different times, with various techniques. One fact that supports this interpretation is that although the final products (beads, rings, sickles, swords, axes, etc.) are quite similar throughout Europe, the method of production is not. Thus the use of crucibles was the technique utilized in the south of Spain, whereas central Europe employed a slagging process, but Cabrierés (France) used a primitive oxidizing non-slagging process (Bourgarit, et al. 2003), while in the British Isles the absence of debris, slag or ceramic suggests another technique (Craddock 1995).
Consequently, the way in which metallurgy was initiated differs considerably depending on the region. There are areas in which copper seems to play a crucial role (i.e., the Balkans), whereas other areas show no interest in it at all. Then there are societies that use copper artifacts but do not practice metallurgy (Mohen 1992; 71), and there are other ones that fully adopt some of the cultural innovations but ignore the rest. One example of the latter is Basque country
in northern Spain, where splendid large dolmen
s are present along the Ebro river, but metal is rather infrequent, and when it does appear between the trapping, it is more often bronze
or arsenical copper
than copper
(Cava 1984).
can be found in over 160 different minerals (Atkinson 1987), but mining activities are entailed to obtain them in large quantities if a reasonable amount of copper is wanted. Some of the most commonly exploited minerals are the cuprite
, malachite
, azurite
, chalcopyrite
, chrysocolla
and tennantite
, e.g. malachite
was extracted in Rudna Glava
(Serbia), Cabrierés (France) or Chinflón (Riotinto, Spain). In fact, one of the possible explanations about what Ötzi the Iceman
, the ancient mummy
found in the Alps who lived around 3300 years BC, was doing at 3210 metres (10,531.5 ft) of altitude is that he could have been prospecting for new ores of minerals (Peroni 1996; 336).
Secondly, the mineral is separated from the gangue
. This is only possible by smelting
or beneficiation
. To do so, using an appropriate furnace that is able to reach at least 1089 °C (1,992 °F) is necessary.
Lastly, a wide range of specific tools and resources have to be available, such as furnaces, moulds, crucible
s, mauls, etc.
and azurite
were powdered and used as make up or decorate ceramic in an early date such as 6000 BC (Mohen 1992).
Therefore, the minerals were not collected looking for the copper but for virtues like those mentioned or simply because of its brightness and colour, but this knowledge of the minerals is critical since they already knew how to recognize them and where to collect, when later started the systematic search for ores.
Numerous examples of mines are known all over Europe (Craddock 1980, Mohen 1992 and 1996, Shennan 1999, Bartelheim et al. 2003) from the east: Rudna Glava
(Serbia), Ai Bunar (Bulgaria); to the west: Mount Gabriel
(Ireland), Great Orme
, Alderley Edge
(United Kingdom); crossing Central Europe: Mitterberg
(Salzach, Austria), Neuchâtel (Switzerland), Cabrierés (France); to the south: Riotinto, Mola Alta de Serelles (Spain); and the Mediterranean: Corsica
, Cyprus, and the Cyclades
islands. It is remarkable that usually it is not a single mine but a complex, with a variable, large number of mineshafts, as in Rudna Glava
(30) or Mount Gabriel
(31).
) or far away (Rudna Glava
).
The mines were exploited in extremely efficient and clever ways, according to the technology available (Jovanovic 1980, Craddock 1995, Timberlake 2003). The entire convenient mineral was collected and the abandon shafts carefully refilled with gangue and rocks (Mohen 1992; 85). For example, at Mount Gabriel
, it was estimated that they extracted the astonishing number of 32570.15 tonne of rock, gangue and ore. The usable amount of copper was 162.85 tonnes and the final smelting finished metal was 146.56 tonnes (Jackson 1980; 24). The entire process was thoroughly described in 1744 by Lewis Morris, Crown Mineral Agent for Cardiganshire, and, incidentally, antiquarian
(Timberlake, 2003, 22):
The tools employed are mainly presented in Lewis' observations, but other ones have been recovered in archaeological context:
has not substantially increased along with the number of archaeological sites. Several ideas have been proffered, one of the most followed is that the metal itself did not bring abrupt transformation into the people's life (Cunliffe 1998) or even more that ‘early copper does not produce anything useful at all’ (Renfrew 1986, 146), meaning with this that with the copper, they produced mainly jewellery
and, overall, weapons that obviously were not within reach of the majority of the population but only to privileged individuals. In other words, the real importance of the metal is not utilitarian but social. This is a suitable explanation about the rising of Great Cultures of Metal such as Vinča culture
(Ex-Yugoslavia) Tiszalpogar and Unetice culture
(Central Europe), Remedello
and Rinaldone (Italy), Montagne Noire
(France), El Argar
and Targas (Spain), etc.
As the period moved forward, especially around the Third Millennium, new and complex realities would appear strongly linked to the metal, like the impressive fortified villages of Los Millares
(Spain), Vila Nova de Sao Pedro
(Portugal) or the more modest cairn
next to Copa Hill (United Kingdom) apparently destinated to control the centres of extraction, or the equally stunning and generalized cultural phenomenons of Megalithism, Rock Art
, Bell Beakers Vessels… that are known from Scandinavia to the South of Spain and from Scotland to Turkey.
Copper Age
The Chalcolithic |stone]]") period or Copper Age, also known as the Eneolithic/Æneolithic , is a phase of the Bronze Age in which the addition of tin to copper to form bronze during smelting remained yet unknown by the metallurgists of the times...
, also called the Eneolithic or the Chalcolithic Age, has been traditionally understood as a transitional period between the Neolithic
Neolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
and the Bronze Age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
, in which a gradual introduction of the metal (native copper
Native copper
Copper, as native copper, is one of the few metallic elements to occur in uncombined form as a natural mineral, although most commonly occurs in oxidized states and mixed with other elements...
) took place, while stone was still the main resource utilized. Recent archaeology has found that the metal was not introduced so gradually and that this entailed significant social changes, such as hierarchical
Hierarchy
A hierarchy is an arrangement of items in which the items are represented as being "above," "below," or "at the same level as" one another...
leadership, developments in the type of habitation (larger villages, launching of fortifications), long-distance trade, and copper metallurgy
Metallurgy
Metallurgy is a domain of materials science that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their intermetallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are called alloys. It is also the technology of metals: the way in which science is applied to their practical use...
.
Roughly, the Copper Age could be situated chronologically between the 5th and 6th millennium
Millennium
A millennium is a period of time equal to one thousand years —from the Latin phrase , thousand, and , year—often but not necessarily related numerically to a particular dating system....
BC, in places like the archaeological sites of Majdanpek
Majdanpek
Majdanpek is a town and municipality in Bor District of Serbia. According to 2011 census, the municipality of Majdanpek has a population of 18,179 people, while the town of Majdanpek has a population of 7,367....
, Јarmovac and Pločnik
Plocnik
Pločnik is a village in the municipality of Prokuplje, Toplica District, Republic of Serbia. According to the 2002 population census, it's populated by 182, all of whom declared Serbs....
(a copper axe from 5,500 BC belonging to the Vinča culture
Vinca culture
The Vinča culture is a Neolithic archaeological culture in Southeastern Europe, dated to the period 5500–4500 BCE. Named for its type site, Vinča-Belo Brdo, a large tell settlement discovered by Serbian archaeologist Miloje Vasić in 1908, it represents the material remains of a prehistoric society...
) and Rudna Glava
Rudna Glava
Rudna Glava is a mining site in present-day eastern Serbia that demonstrates one of the earliest evidences of European copper mining and metallurgy, dating to the 5th millennium BC. Shafts were cut into the hillside, with scaffolding constructed for easy access to the veins of ore. It belongs to...
Mine in Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
and Ai Bunar Mine in Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
(5th Millennium BC) and the from third millennium
Millennium
A millennium is a period of time equal to one thousand years —from the Latin phrase , thousand, and , year—often but not necessarily related numerically to a particular dating system....
BC, in places like Palmela
Palmela
Palmela is a town and a municipality in Portugal with a total area of and a total population of 58,222 inhabitants.The municipality is composed of 5 parishes, and is located in Setúbal District, about south of Lisbon.The municipal holiday is June 1....
(Portugal), Cortes de Navarra (Spain), and Stonehenge
Stonehenge
Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument located in the English county of Wiltshire, about west of Amesbury and north of Salisbury. One of the most famous sites in the world, Stonehenge is composed of a circular setting of large standing stones set within earthworks...
(United Kingdom). However, as often happens with the prehistoric times, the limits of the age cannot be clearly defined and vary with different sources.
Inception of metallurgy in Europe
The theory that metallurgyMetallurgy
Metallurgy is a domain of materials science that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their intermetallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are called alloys. It is also the technology of metals: the way in which science is applied to their practical use...
was exported to Europe from the Near East has been practically ruled out. A second hypothesis, that there were two main points of origin of metallurgy in Europe, in southern Spain and the Balkans, is also doubtful due to the existence of sites outside the centers of diffusion where metallurgy was known simultaneously with, or before, those in the ‘original’ nuclei, such as Brixlegg
Brixlegg
Brixlegg is a market town in the Kufstein district in Tyrol, Austria. The town lies in the Lower Inn Valley and at the entrance of the Alpbachtal...
(Tyrol, Austria), while sites closer to the supposed origins of metallurgy, such as in the north of Spain, show fewer metal artifacts than sites in the south and practically no evidence of production (Perez Arrondo 1986).
Nowadays the general opinion is that the development of metallurgy took place independently in different places, at different times, with various techniques. One fact that supports this interpretation is that although the final products (beads, rings, sickles, swords, axes, etc.) are quite similar throughout Europe, the method of production is not. Thus the use of crucibles was the technique utilized in the south of Spain, whereas central Europe employed a slagging process, but Cabrierés (France) used a primitive oxidizing non-slagging process (Bourgarit, et al. 2003), while in the British Isles the absence of debris, slag or ceramic suggests another technique (Craddock 1995).
Consequently, the way in which metallurgy was initiated differs considerably depending on the region. There are areas in which copper seems to play a crucial role (i.e., the Balkans), whereas other areas show no interest in it at all. Then there are societies that use copper artifacts but do not practice metallurgy (Mohen 1992; 71), and there are other ones that fully adopt some of the cultural innovations but ignore the rest. One example of the latter is Basque country
Basque Country
The Basque Country may refer to one of three areas inhabited by the Basque people:*The Basque Country , an autonomous community of Spain *The Basque Country , the approximate cultural area of...
in northern Spain, where splendid large dolmen
Dolmen
A dolmen—also known as a portal tomb, portal grave, dolmain , cromlech , anta , Hünengrab/Hünenbett , Adamra , Ispun , Hunebed , dös , goindol or quoit—is a type of single-chamber megalithic tomb, usually consisting of...
s are present along the Ebro river, but metal is rather infrequent, and when it does appear between the trapping, it is more often bronze
Bronze
Bronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive. It is hard and brittle, and it was particularly significant in antiquity, so much so that the Bronze Age was named after the metal...
or arsenical copper
Arsenical copper
Arsenical copper contains up to 0.5% arsenic which, at elevated temperatures, imparts higher tensile strength and a reduced tendency to scaling. It is typically specified in boiler work, especially locomotive fireboxes. It also helps prevent embrittlement of oxygen free copper by bismuth, antimony...
than copper
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
(Cava 1984).
Reasons to use copper
Copper is the eighth most abundant metal in the Earth's crust, available all over the world and one of the few that can appear in pure state (Atkinson 1987). It is not complicated to work with, a bare hammering can be enough to transform a nugget into a bead. The eye-catching look of the native copper makes it easy to recognize, and even flashier if converted into jewelry, a possible motivation for humankind to start the metallurgy with it. An evolutive technological process (Coghlan 1975, Mohen 1992; 48) has been described, although there are authors like Javinovic (Mohen 1992; 52) who think that it is not necessary to pass through the first stages to reach the last one.Converting copper
To start with, the raw material must be obtained. CopperCopper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
can be found in over 160 different minerals (Atkinson 1987), but mining activities are entailed to obtain them in large quantities if a reasonable amount of copper is wanted. Some of the most commonly exploited minerals are the cuprite
Cuprite
Cuprite is an oxide mineral composed of copper oxide Cu2O, and is a minor ore of copper.Its dark crystals with red internal reflections are in the isometric system hexoctahedral class, appearing as cubic, octahedral, or dodecahedral forms, or in combinations. Penetration twins frequently occur...
, malachite
Malachite
Malachite is a copper carbonate mineral, with the formula Cu2CO32. This green-colored mineral crystallizes in the monoclinic crystal system, and most often forms botryoidal, fibrous, or stalagmitic masses. Individual crystals are rare but do occur as slender to acicular prisms...
, azurite
Azurite
Azurite is a soft, deep blue copper mineral produced by weathering of copper ore deposits. It is also known as Chessylite after the type locality at Chessy-les-Mines near Lyon, France...
, chalcopyrite
Chalcopyrite
Chalcopyrite is a copper iron sulfide mineral that crystallizes in the tetragonal system. It has the chemical composition CuFeS2. It has a brassy to golden yellow color and a hardness of 3.5 to 4 on the Mohs scale. Its streak is diagnostic as green tinged black.On exposure to air, chalcopyrite...
, chrysocolla
Chrysocolla
Chrysocolla is a hydrated copper silicate mineral with formula 2H2Si2O54·nH2O.-Properties:Chrysocolla has a blue-green color and is a minor ore of copper, having a hardness of 2.5 to 3.5.-Name and discovery:...
and tennantite
Tennantite
Tennantite is a copper arsenic sulfosalt mineral. Its chemical formula is Cu12As4S13. It is grey-black, steel-gray, iron-gray or black in color. A closely related mineral, tetrahedrite has antimony substituting for arsenic and the two form a solid solution series. The two have very similar...
, e.g. malachite
Malachite
Malachite is a copper carbonate mineral, with the formula Cu2CO32. This green-colored mineral crystallizes in the monoclinic crystal system, and most often forms botryoidal, fibrous, or stalagmitic masses. Individual crystals are rare but do occur as slender to acicular prisms...
was extracted in Rudna Glava
Rudna Glava
Rudna Glava is a mining site in present-day eastern Serbia that demonstrates one of the earliest evidences of European copper mining and metallurgy, dating to the 5th millennium BC. Shafts were cut into the hillside, with scaffolding constructed for easy access to the veins of ore. It belongs to...
(Serbia), Cabrierés (France) or Chinflón (Riotinto, Spain). In fact, one of the possible explanations about what Ötzi the Iceman
Ötzi the Iceman
Ötzi the Iceman , Similaun Man, and Man from Hauslabjoch are modern names for a well-preserved natural mummy of a man who lived about 5,300 years ago. The mummy was found in September 1991 in the Ötztal Alps, near Hauslabjoch on the border between Austria and Italy. The nickname comes from the...
, the ancient mummy
Mummy
A mummy is a body, human or animal, whose skin and organs have been preserved by either intentional or incidental exposure to chemicals, extreme coldness , very low humidity, or lack of air when bodies are submerged in bogs, so that the recovered body will not decay further if kept in cool and dry...
found in the Alps who lived around 3300 years BC, was doing at 3210 metres (10,531.5 ft) of altitude is that he could have been prospecting for new ores of minerals (Peroni 1996; 336).
Secondly, the mineral is separated from the gangue
Gangue
In mining, gangue is the commercially worthless material that surrounds, or is closely mixed with, a wanted mineral in an ore deposit. The separation of mineral from gangue is known as mineral processing, mineral dressing or ore dressing and it is a necessary and often significant aspect of mining...
. This is only possible by smelting
Smelting
Smelting is a form of extractive metallurgy; its main use is to produce a metal from its ore. This includes iron extraction from iron ore, and copper extraction and other base metals from their ores...
or beneficiation
Beneficiation
In mining, beneficiation is a variety of processes whereby extracted ore from mining is separated into mineral and gangue, the former suitable for further processing or direct use....
. To do so, using an appropriate furnace that is able to reach at least 1089 °C (1,992 °F) is necessary.
Lastly, a wide range of specific tools and resources have to be available, such as furnaces, moulds, crucible
Crucible
A crucible is a container used for metal, glass, and pigment production as well as a number of modern laboratory processes, which can withstand temperatures high enough to melt or otherwise alter its contents...
s, mauls, etc.
- Stage A: Although native copperNative copperCopper, as native copper, is one of the few metallic elements to occur in uncombined form as a natural mineral, although most commonly occurs in oxidized states and mixed with other elements...
nowadays is frequently displayed in museum showcases of mineral collections, it once occurred copiously during prehistoric times. In CyprusCyprusCyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
or CreteCreteCrete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits...
, collecting the mineral was once as easy as simply picking it up from the ground. In fact, native copper is no longer as easy to find in that state these days. The treatment of this native mineral was also uncomplicated through cold-hammering. This permitted the production of only a limited range of artifacts like awls, pins, or beads. In larger objects, the metal cracks when it is cold-hammered.
- Stage B: Annealing the metal on an open fire (200–300 °C or 392–572 °F is hot enough) reduces its hardness considerably and earns in malleability. This permits the confection of slightly more sophisticated objects, like bracelets, but is still a rather limited technique.
- Stage C: In the first two steps, the mineral used was native copperNative copperCopper, as native copper, is one of the few metallic elements to occur in uncombined form as a natural mineral, although most commonly occurs in oxidized states and mixed with other elements...
that does not actually need specialized technology. Probably due to the situation that native copper was increasingly difficult to find, copper ore is used in this third step. This is a very significant development. In fact, this is truly the beginning of the metallurgyMetallurgyMetallurgy is a domain of materials science that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their intermetallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are called alloys. It is also the technology of metals: the way in which science is applied to their practical use...
, as the mineral has to be smelted to separate the copper from the gangueGangueIn mining, gangue is the commercially worthless material that surrounds, or is closely mixed with, a wanted mineral in an ore deposit. The separation of mineral from gangue is known as mineral processing, mineral dressing or ore dressing and it is a necessary and often significant aspect of mining...
, requiring technology.
Early mining in Europe
Minerals of copper were known from ancient times. In Crete, little fragments of malachiteMalachite
Malachite is a copper carbonate mineral, with the formula Cu2CO32. This green-colored mineral crystallizes in the monoclinic crystal system, and most often forms botryoidal, fibrous, or stalagmitic masses. Individual crystals are rare but do occur as slender to acicular prisms...
and azurite
Azurite
Azurite is a soft, deep blue copper mineral produced by weathering of copper ore deposits. It is also known as Chessylite after the type locality at Chessy-les-Mines near Lyon, France...
were powdered and used as make up or decorate ceramic in an early date such as 6000 BC (Mohen 1992).
Numerous examples of mines are known all over Europe (Craddock 1980, Mohen 1992 and 1996, Shennan 1999, Bartelheim et al. 2003) from the east: Rudna Glava
Rudna Glava
Rudna Glava is a mining site in present-day eastern Serbia that demonstrates one of the earliest evidences of European copper mining and metallurgy, dating to the 5th millennium BC. Shafts were cut into the hillside, with scaffolding constructed for easy access to the veins of ore. It belongs to...
(Serbia), Ai Bunar (Bulgaria); to the west: Mount Gabriel
Mount Gabriel
Mount Gabriel is a mountain on the Mizen Peninsula situated immediately to the north of the town of Schull, in West Cork, Ireland.Mt. Gabriel is 407m high and is the highest eminence in the coastal zone south and east of Bantry Bay. A roadway serving the radar installations on the summit is open...
(Ireland), Great Orme
Great Orme
The Great Orme is a prominent limestone headland on the north coast of Wales situated in Llandudno. It is referred to as Cyngreawdr Fynydd in a poem by the 12th century poet Gwalchmai ap Meilyr...
, Alderley Edge
Alderley Edge
Alderley Edge is a village and civil parish within the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. According to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 4,409....
(United Kingdom); crossing Central Europe: Mitterberg
Mitterberg
Mitterberg is a municipality in the district of Liezen in Styria, Austria....
(Salzach, Austria), Neuchâtel (Switzerland), Cabrierés (France); to the south: Riotinto, Mola Alta de Serelles (Spain); and the Mediterranean: Corsica
Corsica
Corsica is an island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is located west of Italy, southeast of the French mainland, and north of the island of Sardinia....
, Cyprus, and the Cyclades
Cyclades
The Cyclades is a Greek island group in the Aegean Sea, south-east of the mainland of Greece; and a former administrative prefecture of Greece. They are one of the island groups which constitute the Aegean archipelago. The name refers to the islands around the sacred island of Delos...
islands. It is remarkable that usually it is not a single mine but a complex, with a variable, large number of mineshafts, as in Rudna Glava
Rudna Glava
Rudna Glava is a mining site in present-day eastern Serbia that demonstrates one of the earliest evidences of European copper mining and metallurgy, dating to the 5th millennium BC. Shafts were cut into the hillside, with scaffolding constructed for easy access to the veins of ore. It belongs to...
(30) or Mount Gabriel
Mount Gabriel
Mount Gabriel is a mountain on the Mizen Peninsula situated immediately to the north of the town of Schull, in West Cork, Ireland.Mt. Gabriel is 407m high and is the highest eminence in the coastal zone south and east of Bantry Bay. A roadway serving the radar installations on the summit is open...
(31).
Techniques and tools
The techniques observed in all of them are quite similar. Basically they used the thermic alteration or firesetting (Mohen 1992, Craddock 1995, Eiroa et al. 1996, Timberlake 2003). This consists in applying fire over the rock and then pouring water: the rapid changes of temperature will cause cracks within the rocks that can be totally broken with the help of mauls and picks. Then the useful masses were selected, crushed and transported to the production centre that could be in the surrounding area (MitterbergMitterberg
Mitterberg is a municipality in the district of Liezen in Styria, Austria....
) or far away (Rudna Glava
Rudna Glava
Rudna Glava is a mining site in present-day eastern Serbia that demonstrates one of the earliest evidences of European copper mining and metallurgy, dating to the 5th millennium BC. Shafts were cut into the hillside, with scaffolding constructed for easy access to the veins of ore. It belongs to...
).
The mines were exploited in extremely efficient and clever ways, according to the technology available (Jovanovic 1980, Craddock 1995, Timberlake 2003). The entire convenient mineral was collected and the abandon shafts carefully refilled with gangue and rocks (Mohen 1992; 85). For example, at Mount Gabriel
Mount Gabriel
Mount Gabriel is a mountain on the Mizen Peninsula situated immediately to the north of the town of Schull, in West Cork, Ireland.Mt. Gabriel is 407m high and is the highest eminence in the coastal zone south and east of Bantry Bay. A roadway serving the radar installations on the summit is open...
, it was estimated that they extracted the astonishing number of 32570.15 tonne of rock, gangue and ore. The usable amount of copper was 162.85 tonnes and the final smelting finished metal was 146.56 tonnes (Jackson 1980; 24). The entire process was thoroughly described in 1744 by Lewis Morris, Crown Mineral Agent for Cardiganshire, and, incidentally, antiquarian
Antiquarian
An antiquarian or antiquary is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient objects of art or science, archaeological and historic sites, or historic archives and manuscripts...
(Timberlake, 2003, 22):
The tools employed are mainly presented in Lewis' observations, but other ones have been recovered in archaeological context:
- Stone tools: The most frequent find are the stone hammers, normally made of hard rocks accessible to the mine, beach or river pebbles (Jovanovic 1980, Craddock 1995). There is no standardization of these mauls but is common a system of hafting, usually a groove carved in the middle for where a rope was tied to the handle, like the twisted hazel recovered in Copa Hill (Timberlake 2003; 32-33).
- Antler and bone tools: Picks and scrapes made of bone and antlerAntlerAntlers are the usually large, branching bony appendages on the heads of most deer species.-Etymology:Antler originally meant the lowest tine, the "brow tine"...
s have been found in the majority of the mines (Craddock 1995). - Wood: Evidence of wooden tools are more infrequent. Nevertheless in places like Ai Bunar or Mount GabrielMount GabrielMount Gabriel is a mountain on the Mizen Peninsula situated immediately to the north of the town of Schull, in West Cork, Ireland.Mt. Gabriel is 407m high and is the highest eminence in the coastal zone south and east of Bantry Bay. A roadway serving the radar installations on the summit is open...
were recovered shovelShovelA shovel is a tool for digging, lifting, and moving bulk materials, such as soil, coal, gravel, snow, sand, or ore. Shovels are extremely common tools that are used extensively in agriculture, construction, and gardening....
s and wedges. A rudimentary system of stairs or scaffoldingScaffoldingScaffolding is a temporary structure used to support people and material in the construction or repair of buildings and other large structures. It is usually a modular system of metal pipes or tubes, although it can be from other materials...
s can be supposed (Mohen 1992). - Metal: The use of any metallic tool is rather strange and extraordinary. It seems that the copper was not used for the miners' tools. However copper chiselChiselA chisel is a tool with a characteristically shaped cutting edge of blade on its end, for carving or cutting a hard material such as wood, stone, or metal. The handle and blade of some types of chisel are made of metal or wood with a sharp edge in it.In use, the chisel is forced into the material...
s and discarded axes could be utilized as wedges. (Craddock 1995; 97) - Other evidence: The presence of coalCoalCoal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
and charcoalCharcoalCharcoal is the dark grey residue consisting of carbon, and any remaining ash, obtained by removing water and other volatile constituents from animal and vegetation substances. Charcoal is usually produced by slow pyrolysis, the heating of wood or other substances in the absence of oxygen...
, crucial for the firing (fire-setting) and furnace (fuel), is habitual. Leather sacks (at Ai Bunar) and shoulder baskets (at Copa Hill) were used to transport the crushed mineral.
Society
The information available about the people of the Copper AgeCopper Age
The Chalcolithic |stone]]") period or Copper Age, also known as the Eneolithic/Æneolithic , is a phase of the Bronze Age in which the addition of tin to copper to form bronze during smelting remained yet unknown by the metallurgists of the times...
has not substantially increased along with the number of archaeological sites. Several ideas have been proffered, one of the most followed is that the metal itself did not bring abrupt transformation into the people's life (Cunliffe 1998) or even more that ‘early copper does not produce anything useful at all’ (Renfrew 1986, 146), meaning with this that with the copper, they produced mainly jewellery
Jewellery
Jewellery or jewelry is a form of personal adornment, such as brooches, rings, necklaces, earrings, and bracelets.With some exceptions, such as medical alert bracelets or military dog tags, jewellery normally differs from other items of personal adornment in that it has no other purpose than to...
and, overall, weapons that obviously were not within reach of the majority of the population but only to privileged individuals. In other words, the real importance of the metal is not utilitarian but social. This is a suitable explanation about the rising of Great Cultures of Metal such as Vinča culture
Vinca culture
The Vinča culture is a Neolithic archaeological culture in Southeastern Europe, dated to the period 5500–4500 BCE. Named for its type site, Vinča-Belo Brdo, a large tell settlement discovered by Serbian archaeologist Miloje Vasić in 1908, it represents the material remains of a prehistoric society...
(Ex-Yugoslavia) Tiszalpogar and Unetice culture
Unetice culture
Unetice; or more properly Únětice culture ; is the name given to an early Bronze Age culture, preceded by the Beaker culture and followed by the Tumulus culture. It was named after finds at site in Únětice, northwest of Prague. It is focused around the Czech Republic, southern and central Germany,...
(Central Europe), Remedello
Remedello
Remedello is a comune in the province of Brescia, in Lombardy....
and Rinaldone (Italy), Montagne Noire
Montagne Noire
* Not to be confused with the Montagnes Noires in Brittany.The Montagne Noire is a mountain range in central southern France. It is located at the southwestern end of the Massif Central in the border area of the Tarn, Hérault and Aude departments...
(France), El Argar
El Argar
El Argar is the type site of an Early Bronze Age culture called the Argaric culture, which flourished from the town of Antas, in what is now the province of Almería, south-east of Spain, between c. 1800 BC and 1300 BC....
and Targas (Spain), etc.
Los Millares
Los Millares is the name of a Chalcolithic occupation site 17 km north of Almería, in the municipality of Santa Fe de Mondújar, Andalusia, Spain. The complex was in use from the end of the fourth millennium to the end of the second millennium BC and probably supported somewhere around 1000...
(Spain), Vila Nova de Sao Pedro
Vila Nova de São Pedro
The Castro of Vila Nova de São Pedro is a Chalcolithic archaeological site in the civil parish of Vila Nova de São Pedro, municipality of Azambuja, in the Portuguese Estremadura area of Lezíria do Tejo. It is important for the discovery of thousands of arrowheads within its fortified settlement,...
(Portugal) or the more modest cairn
Cairn
Cairn is a term used mainly in the English-speaking world for a man-made pile of stones. It comes from the or . Cairns are found all over the world in uplands, on moorland, on mountaintops, near waterways and on sea cliffs, and also in barren desert and tundra areas...
next to Copa Hill (United Kingdom) apparently destinated to control the centres of extraction, or the equally stunning and generalized cultural phenomenons of Megalithism, Rock Art
Rock art
Rock art is a term used in archaeology for any human-made markings made on natural stone. They can be divided into:*Petroglyphs - carvings into stone surfaces*Pictographs - rock and cave paintings...
, Bell Beakers Vessels… that are known from Scandinavia to the South of Spain and from Scotland to Turkey.
See also
- CopperCopperCopper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
- Copper AgeCopper AgeThe Chalcolithic |stone]]") period or Copper Age, also known as the Eneolithic/Æneolithic , is a phase of the Bronze Age in which the addition of tin to copper to form bronze during smelting remained yet unknown by the metallurgists of the times...
- Copper metallurgy in AfricaCopper metallurgy in AfricaCopper metallurgy in Africa encompasses the study of copper production across the continent and an understanding of how it influenced aspects of African archaeology.- Origins :...
- MetallurgyMetallurgyMetallurgy is a domain of materials science that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their intermetallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are called alloys. It is also the technology of metals: the way in which science is applied to their practical use...
- Native copperNative copperCopper, as native copper, is one of the few metallic elements to occur in uncombined form as a natural mineral, although most commonly occurs in oxidized states and mixed with other elements...