Copper was first extracted by humans from malachite. The main reason for this was its vibrant color

Welcome to SEETHE.

[gogogomes]

Discovering something useful just because you thrown some pretty rocks at the fire is such a human move

[gotstrpk]

It's not hard to believe at all. Bronze is a lot easier to melt than iron.

[ScottysHaze]

Makes you wonder who the very first person to figure it out was, and why, and then how long it took to spread that bit of knowledge around... Kinda melts your brain.

[nengthao]

Now this explains why we see the oxidation of copper turn green like malachite

[timothy-bf]

There are also several parts of the world where pure copper metal was found in its metal form (like gold or silver is found in veins and nuggets). That’s the first use of copper for tools. Refining it from malachite ore came later.

[mitchell]

It took us more time to go from copper swords to steel swords, than to go from steel swords to nuclear weapons.

[Oldclipsfromwhengamin]

The one thing that should be mentioned is that bronze is one of those antibacterial metals. It cleans itself like over the course of six months, but still.

[scottpearson]

They probably were making ink or dye, and tried to dry it fast back to a powder inside an oven. The resulting molten copper was a surprise

[ralphmourik]

As a hobbyist metal caster I love making bronze and casting stuff from it, easily my favorite alloy next to Nordic Gold

[RaccoonRecluse]

This man just casually breathing in burning malachite dust like it isn't some of the most toxic material to work with

[larunaaxthemischievous]

There’s so many reasons why bronze was used for so long, firstly its relatively easy to get extracted metals for it, secondly it was an easy alloy to make, lastly bronze is both wear resistant but also easy to melt or even hammer into shapes for tools, lastly bronze is able to be hardened by hammering the edges while cold to produce sharp tools that could be repaired easily too

[scottschiess]

This kind of content is excellent to show students about pre industrial living

[MTyler]

“they used the simplest process” *does something i wouldn’t think to do in 100, 000 years*

[bl]

Bronze still rules human civilisation. It is essential in bearings, valves, propellers, screws and other fixings, musical instruments, coins etc.

[Valcadus]

The sheer amount of work just to get a small bit, really shows how dedicated people were and are about getting stuff done

[sandhantzer]

Chemical engineering student here ✋

The copper in the ore is bonded to oxygen. The oxygen would rather be bonded to a carbon so the carbon in the charcoal steals the oxygen away to form CO2, leaving you with copper in its elemental form

[kenshi]

Our ancestors' curiosity and creativity are almost unfathomable.

[aetheralmeowstic]

Honestly, that malachite pigment would make a beautiful-looking oil paint

[LeoStaley]

I like how you just said "added a bit of tin" as if it weren't also a very complicated process.

[jebsmith]

I'm absolutely amazed that at some point in history, someone figured this out.