Prehistoric India to 1000 B.C. c10.22

c10.22

Copper may occur in the form of ores (such as malachite) or it may appear as the native metal on top of the veins or lodes, and by weathering be exposed on the surface. It must soon have been discovered that this native metal could be hammered into shape, and as it is widely distributed in the upland areas of Northern Mesopotamia and Persia, it is not surprising that the earliest copper objects found at, for instance, Sialk, are little pins, awls and bits of wire hammered from the unmelted metal which had been picked up from the surface.