8 1.The First Materials (Stone Age and Copper-Stone Age) oxide,for example,yield a blue color,chromium oxide gives green, antimony salts yield yellow,and iron yields pink hues after a sec- ond firing of these "glazes."Could it have been that the overfiring of glazed pots accidentally produced small droplets of metals,that is,caused some smelting of metal ores in the glazed areas? Another question remains to be answered.Was copper smelt- ing conceived of independently in different parts of the world,or was this technology transferred from neighboring regions through trading contacts?Possibly both happened.Among the first civilizations to utilize copper smelting were probably the in- habitants of Anatolia(Catal Huyuk)and of the Sinai peninsula (Timna Valley),both blessed with rich and abundant copper ores on or near the surface.On the other hand,copper(and gold)ob- jects have been found in graves at Varna on the Black Sea dat- ing back to about 4300 B.C.(Plate 1.4). Naturally,raw copper needed to be transported to other places where goods were produced from it.For standardization,copper ingots were cast in a peculiar form that resembled the shape of an ox hide,as shown in Figure 1.3.A vivid depiction of ancient copper smelting and casting has been found on a mural in the tomb of an Egyptian nobleman;see Figure 1.4. Seemingly independent from this development,Europeans had turned,out of necessity,to underground copper mining even be- fore 4000 B.C.(for example,at Rudna Glava in Yugoslavia).One mine in Bulgaria was found to have shafts about 10 meters deep. The copper mines on the Balkans are the earliest so far discov- ered in the world.Other indigenous copper workings were dis- covered in southern Spain (Iberia)and northern Italy.The dis- lodging of rocks in mines was accomplished by burning wood at the end of a tunnel and then quenching the hot rock with water. This caused the rock to crack so that small pieces could be loos- ened with a pick.Underground mining must have been a large- FiGURE 1.3.Copper ingots were traded in the Mediterranean region in an ox-hide shape hav- ing a length of about 30 cm.Specimens have been found in shipwrecks off the south coast of Turkey and in palace storerooms in Crete. (See also Figure 4.1.)Incidentally,raw gold was traded in the form of large rings.oxide, for example, yield a blue color, chromium oxide gives green, antimony salts yield yellow, and iron yields pink hues after a sec￾ond firing of these “glazes.” Could it have been that the overfiring of glazed pots accidentally produced small droplets of metals, that is, caused some smelting of metal ores in the glazed areas? Another question remains to be answered. Was copper smelt￾ing conceived of independently in different parts of the world, or was this technology transferred from neighboring regions through trading contacts? Possibly both happened. Among the first civilizations to utilize copper smelting were probably the in￾habitants of Anatolia (Catal Hüyük) and of the Sinai peninsula (Timna Valley), both blessed with rich and abundant copper ores on or near the surface. On the other hand, copper (and gold) ob￾jects have been found in graves at Varna on the Black Sea dat￾ing back to about 4300 B.C. (Plate 1.4). Naturally, raw copper needed to be transported to other places where goods were produced from it. For standardization, copper ingots were cast in a peculiar form that resembled the shape of an ox hide, as shown in Figure 1.3. A vivid depiction of ancient copper smelting and casting has been found on a mural in the tomb of an Egyptian nobleman; see Figure 1.4. Seemingly independent from this development, Europeans had turned, out of necessity, to underground copper mining even be￾fore 4000 B.C. (for example, at Rudna Glava in Yugoslavia). One mine in Bulgaria was found to have shafts about 10 meters deep. The copper mines on the Balkans are the earliest so far discov￾ered in the world. Other indigenous copper workings were dis￾covered in southern Spain (Iberia) and northern Italy. The dis￾lodging of rocks in mines was accomplished by burning wood at the end of a tunnel and then quenching the hot rock with water. This caused the rock to crack so that small pieces could be loos￾ened with a pick. Underground mining must have been a large- 8 1 • The First Materials (Stone Age and Copper–Stone Age) FIGURE 1.3. Copper ingots were traded in the Mediterranean region in an ox-hide shape hav￾ing a length of about 30 cm. Specimens have been found in shipwrecks off the south coast of Turkey and in palace storerooms in Crete. (See also Figure 4.1.) Incidentally, raw gold was traded in the form of large rings