Copper in the Roman Empire

At the Royal School of Mines in London some experiments were made in the 1910s in order to rediscover the techniques of the early Bronze Age [7.4]. A very simple furnace, a hole in the ground, was charged with  

The discovery - or invention - of bronze was a technological leap that was also of great political importance. A people with knowledge of the manufacture of bronze could control the neighboring nations. Bronze also opened international trade routes 

The native peoples of South America used copper tools and weapons long before the European invasion. As early as ad 700 the Chimu on the coast of Peru were making bronze. The great copper and tin deposits of BoHvia were available to the Inca Empire of Peru. Bronze tools were beginning to appear at the time of the invasion by the Spanish Conquistadors. 

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