Historical Uses
Copper is one of the oldest forming materials known to man; historians and archaeologists believe that the only metals used before copper were gold and meteoric iron ore.
Copper metal has been in use since the aptly named Copper Age. Some of the oldest copper artifacts, such as a pendant from northern Iraq, date to around 9000 BC. Between 6000 and 3000 BC, Native Americans living right here in Michigan and Wisconsin cold-worked copper for weaponry, tools and decorative objects. In antiquity, the Greeks and Romans used copper and copper alloys like bronze to make all sorts of things, such as temple roofs, coins, jewelry, sculpture details and swords and spears. Copper was also important in ancient India, Israel, Turkey, Iran and Egypt. The Egyptians were particularly clever with their use of the metal material; they used it to make items such as cookware, dishes, hoes, sickels, saws, chisels, knives, mirrors and razors. They even used copper metal compounds to produce makeup.
In early modern times, people began mining copper ore. One of the oldest copper mines in existence is the Great Copper Mountain, a mine that operated in Sweden from the 10th century until 1992. That very mine accounted for the production of two-thirds of Europe's copper supply through the 17th century. During those years, copper was used largely to make weapons and to form sculptures. In the 18th century, ship makers used copper sheathing and copper plating to protect underwater ship hulls. In 1876, the first modern electroplating plant, the Norddeutsche Affinerie, opened its doors in Hamburg.
In the late 1800s through the 1990s, copper was mined heavily around the world, especially in the USA. Today, many of those mines, which were causing pollution, have closed. Nevertheless, contemporary copper has countless applications, from jewelry to anti-biofouling.
The uses for copper are ever expanding, especially recently within the computer manufacturing, electronics and telecommunications industries. Existing telephone lines are composed of twisted pairs of copper wires, and they are now being used to connect computers as a less expensive high-speed alternative to fiber optics for communications and networking. Also, aluminum computer chips are being replaced by copper chips because of copper's superior conductivity. This enables the conductor channel lengths and widths to be greatly reduced, which means faster operating speeds. Finally, copper is a big player in the up-and-coming electric car market.
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