Copper Age
Pre-bronze metalworking era
The Copper Age is the period of human prehistory between the Stone Age and the Bronze Age, when copper was first worked into tools and weapons but before the discovery of bronze alloys.
Also called the Chalcolithic or Eneolithic.
The term applies unevenly across regions—some cultures skipped directly from stone to bronze.
Act of unearthing
- artifactsHuman-made historical objects
- prehistoricBefore documented civilization
- burialsPlacing dead underground
- potteryFired clay objects
beads · settlements · stone tools · flint · obsidian · hearth · megaliths · burial mounds
Extracting metal from ore
- oreMetal-bearing rock
- furnaceEnclosed heat-producing structure
- crucibleVessel for extreme heat
- hammeringStriking repeatedly with force
casting · annealing · ingot · copperware · awls · axes · daggers · ornaments
Final Stone Age period
- innovationCreating something original
- agricultureCultivation of land, livestock
- domesticationAdapting species to captivity
- wheelRotating circular frame
plow · irrigation · weaving · trade routes · social stratification · urbanization · surplus · chiefdoms
excavation
Act of unearthing
- artifactsHuman-made historical objects
- prehistoricBefore documented civilization
- burialsPlacing dead underground
pottery · beads · settlements · stone tools · flint · obsidian · hearth · megaliths · burial mounds · stratigraphy
smelting
Extracting metal from ore
hammering · casting · annealing · ingot · copperware · awls · axes · daggers · ornaments · slag
neolithic
Final Stone Age period
- innovationCreating something original
- agricultureCultivation of land, livestock
- domesticationAdapting species to captivity
wheel · plow · irrigation · weaving · trade routes · social stratification · urbanization · surplus · chiefdoms · long-distance trade
Copper AgeIron Age
Post-bronze historical period
Bronze Age · Industrial Age · Stone Age · Digital Age · Neolithic
age, copper, coppers, coppery, coppered, copperish, coppersmith, coppering, cupric