Image Source: ( Michelle Bebber / Kent State University Eren Laboratory )
According to a recent article from Science, a new study shows that Native Americans were some of the first in the world to mine metal and use it to create tools. The article, written by David Malakoff, states the study also suggests "a regional climate shift might help explain why, after thousands of years, the pioneering metallurgists abruptly stopped making most copper tools and largely returned to stone and bone implements."
The team of researchers studying the "Old Copper Culture" is led by David Pompeani, a geologist at Kansas State University, Manhattan, who studies ancient mining. Last month, the team found "that the most reliable dates, combined with the sediment data, indicate the Old Copper Culture emerged at least 9500 years ago".
Click here to read the full article.
Source: "Ancient Native Americans were among the world’s first coppersmiths" by David Malakoff for Science. 3/19/21.
