The alloy bronze was the first metal to have an important role in human history, although first people used copper refined from ore (smelted). Copper was used for knives and other utensils. Copper was used for knives and other utensils from about 2500 B.C.E. to 3000 B.C.E. in Mesopotamia and even later in both Egypt and Europe. About 3000 B.C.E., metalworkers discovered that adding other metals or ores to copper ore lowered the heat required for smelting and produced a harder, stronger product-bronze. Originally, tin and copper ores were combined to make the best bronze, but tin ore is much less common than copper ore. Soon tin was smelted where it was mined, notably in Cornwall (southwestern Great Britain), and shipped elsewhere to be added to metallic copper.
Other metals also hardened copper. Tin-poor Egyptian smelters made bronze with copper and arsenic ore. Today corrosion-resistant bronze is made with copper and aluminium. Soon after the end of the Bronze Age – about 1000 B.C.E. in Greece and the Middle East – another alloy of copper was discovered. A small amount of copper smelted with zinc ore produces a large amount of a bright gold metal that is easily worked into many shapes-brass. Brass became the first choice for coins as well as for many ornamental purposes. It remains popular for the latter.
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