Among archaeological sites in Anatolia, Çatal Höyük (~6000 BC) features native copper artifacts and smelted lead beads, but no smelted copper. By 5000 BC, there are signs of copper smelting, the refining of copper from simple copper compounds such as malachite or azurite. A copper pendant was found in what is now northern Iraq that dates to 8700 BC. Copper was known to some of the oldest civilizations on record, and has a history of use that is at least 10,000 years old. High demand relative to supply has caused a price spike in the 2000s.Ĭopper, as native copper, is one of the few metals to naturally occur as an uncompounded mineral. A number of countries, such as Chile and the United States, still have sizable reserves of the metal which are extracted through large open pit mines. During the Roman Empire, copper was principally mined on Cyprus, hence the origin of the name of the metal as Cyprium, "metal of Cyprus", later shortened to Cuprum. Civilizations in places such as Iraq, China, Egypt, Greece, India and the Sumerian cities all have early evidence of using copper.
However, in sufficient amounts, copper can be poisonous and even fatal to organisms.Ĭopper has played a significant part in the history of mankind, which has used the easily accessible uncompounded metal for thousands of years.
In animals, including humans, it is found primarily in the bloodstream, as a co-factor in various enzymes, and in copper-based pigments. It is a ductile metal with excellent electrical conductivity, and finds extensive use as an electrical conductor, heat conductor, as a building material, and as a component of various alloys.Ĭopper is an essential trace nutrient to all high plants and animals. Copper ( Template:PronEng) is a chemical element with the symbol Cu ( Template:Lang-la) and atomic number 29.
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