The Copper Age Explained (The rise of civilization)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 19 ส.ค. 2021
- The Copper Age Explained (The rise of civilization) Chalcolithic Mesopotamia
Some sources used include:
Mesopotamia and the near east (Roaf, Michael )
Northern Mesopotamia (Potts, Danie)
Archaeologies of the Middle East: Critical Perspectives (Pollock, Susan)
A History of the Ancient Near East(Van De Mieroop, Marc)
On pins and needles: tracing the evolution of copper-based alloying (Thornton, C.P.; Lamberg-Karlovsky, C.C.; Liezers, M.; Young, S.M.M.)
This video is sponsored by my patrons over on Patreon
/ epimetheus1776
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The super ancient vids like this are the best ones.
true
Yes
What are you talking about, this video is 2 days old
Agreeed
@@greenkoopa He's talking about topic, Can you not understand?
I've never seen a youtuber tackle the copper age. Props to you, man.
was before the Bronze Age - done!
@@TheSulross it's not on age of empires so it doesn't exist
@@noobian3314 ya I started learning history because of that game, and thank god I did.
@@9051team I got interested from Rome and medieval 2 total war, which are both horribly inaccurate, but ah well.
Miniminiuteman youre welcome
Somewhere I read that the depiction of Ephestus the forge god as a deformed men was a depiction of ancient blacksmiths using arsenic in their craft to make bronze. Long term exposure to arsenic it's not only mortal also can deform limbs an incapacitate before killing. So for the ancient greek their forge god had the features of the great forge masters of the mythical times.
That’s badass. Hope it’s true.
Arsenic can replace Tin in Bronze and Arsenic Bronze was well known on the Iranian plateau by the 5th millennium BC
There’s a reason they preferred non-arsenic bronzes
I tried to find evidence that arsenic causes deformations but didn't see anything.
I did see though that the semitic craftsman god Kothar-wa-Khasis possibly walked with a limp, the Egyptian craftsman god Ptah used to be thought of as a deformed dwarf and the Norse bronzeworking god Weyland the Smith was lame.
But there could be other reasons for those similarities (and there are plenty of able bodied craftsmanship gods in other cultures). The idea of a god of craftsmanship being physically imperfect is a very interesting idea itself.
@@br2485 Hephaestus's misshapen appearance and lameness are taken by some to represent peripheral neuropathy and skin cancer resulting from arsenicosis caused by arsenic exposure from metalworking.[73] Bronze Age smiths added arsenic to copper to produce harder arsenical bronze, especially during periods of tin scarcity. Many Bronze Age smiths would have suffered from chronic arsenic poisoning as a result of their livelihood. Consequently, the mythic image of the lame smith is widespread. As Hephaestus was an iron-age smith, not a bronze-age smith, the connection is one from ancient folk memory.[74]
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hephaestus#:~:text=Hephaestus%27s%20misshapen%20appearance%20and%20lameness,during%20periods%20of%20tin%20scarcity.
The real world depiction of the different materials at the beginning were a very satisfactory representations. You have my admiration for this idea.
I was walking by my mom's garden and saw the oxidized hippo, bucket and the green rock and thought "definitely changing the intro to my video" :)
@@EpimetheusHistory Nice vid though, a wee detail... when decribing why copper, lead and gold were utilised first, I struggle with the priorisation of aesthetics there - the primary reason for their discovery has to be their low smelting temperatures - it would not have been possible for them to smelt iron first with their given level of technology in managing their fires i.e. iron requires efficient bellows - therefore, the discovery of metal smelting is bound to occur with these materials first.
Lead in particular can be melted on a naturally aspirated, wood burning camp fire (at 375°c) and is therefore the obvious first step as this can happen by accident - smelting both copper and gold on the other hand require temperatures over 1000°c which is only achievable with artificial aspiration (bellows) and a very concerted effort, so this process must be done with foresight and the intention of smelting ore.
Melting or smelting iron ore on the other hand requires sustaining a fire at just over 1500°c, which is a very serious undertaking not achievable without a lot of acquired experience and knowledge - there's no chance of that being discovered by accident.
So, above and beyond aesthetic appeal, practical limitations force this evolution - point being, we could do away with these titles of "copper-age", "bronze-age" and "iron-age" and instead look at this span of time (running right up to today) as the gradual evolution of our skill in managing fire and raising its temperature ever higher. In terms of the craft behind this progression, that would be a much more sensible way of approaching the matter, rather than creating these false abstractions dividing periods by materials - because the practice behind those materials remains unchanging - this is all unified under the bracket of progressive skill in the management of our fires.
[Incidentally, I suspect developments in firing clay pots may have been woven into this evolution and, more interestingly, perhaps fire-setting work in (megalithic) quarrying of stone during the neolithic was actually the first step in this process - wherein the possibility of transforming stone with fire was perhaps first introduced to the neolithic craftsman's mind.... Which eventually led from weakening and breaking the stone they worked by heating to melting ore stones. There's a band of weirdos, including myself, exploring this hypothesis at present.]
@@JesseP.Watson That is, the history of life is the history of energy harnessing and manipulation.
@@JesseP.Watson Those are all native metals. They can be found in nature, ready to work without smelting. This likely played a part in why man started working with these metals. Compare that to aluminum which was once precious enough that a number of Napoleonic medals were made of it. Lightning strikes in desert sands did the smelting.
You know shit is real when Epimetheus stops talking about Bronze age
Every good series needs a prequel ☺️
I wish I can go back in time and Industrialized Ancient Sumeria
Christian Dauz Yeah, but we'd be stuck with a funky wedge shaped alphabet
@@TheSulross
Industrialization and modern technology would simplify the Sumerian language and alphabet or invent a new simpler language similar to English
Think of all the tragedies prevented by having the Industrial Revolution occur Five THOUSAND Years Ago!!!
I know shit is real, every time I wipe... there is empirical evidence.
Man, how did you manage to secure a copper sponsorship? You hardly see them sponsoring anything nowadays
Ikr
Big Copper, always near, always here. Pulling the strings for 10,000 years. Mwa ha ha haa!
Ya, and the sales pitch was great, but I can't find the links to copper in the description. Please help,I have many zink pennies to smash.
He sent an application written in cuneiform, on clay tablet, to Ea-Nasir. That man's a scoundrel but he knows good advertising when he sees it.
Copper is the primary element in the electrical wiring in your home and computer, thus it sponsors communication, sponsors generation and delivery of electric power and is 88.5% of the 2022 Lincoln penny, so it sponsors recycling itself.
WE MISSED YOU EPIMETHEUS !!! WE NEED MORE CONTENT FROM YOU
ALL HAIL THE UNREPLACEABLE EPIMETHEUS
I rate this guy so much I genuinely just became a Patreon for the first time in my life
Become a patreon
@@zxera9702 I mean not everyone can afford it. It's not something you should say as lightly as you just did for future references
@@RodolfoGaming ok..my bad
8:06 good to see the Uruk-hai developed their own civilization after the War of the Ring
Their civilization was before the war. During the war of the rings they had steel armour.
Uruk is just orcish for folk or people
Why did I have to see this while in the middle of a Shadow of Mordor playthrough of all times possible ?
"A new power is rising! Its victory is at hand!"
Gilgamesh frowns upon your shenanigans.
When ever Im sick I enjoy mimicking Epimetheus voice
It is so odd
I find it so interesting when inventions like copper smelting are invented independently of other civilizations. The crossbow is another good example.
When two students have the same answers to their homework, sometimes they didn't copy each other's work. Maybe the answers were just correct.
Trade maybe connected our world way more than we would think. I think our ancestors were way better sea navigators than we give them credit for.
Great minds think alike, even great minds on the other side of the world
Because were all humans with the same brains that think the same way and come up with similar solutions.
@@YaBoiDREX not that simple, as great civilizations are not evenly dispersed throughout the world nor is avg IQ
NOBODY TALKS ABOUT THE COPPER AGE OH MY GOD I'M SO HAPPY YOU ARE EPI!!
ALL HAIL THE UNREPLACEABLE EPIMETHEUS
@@RodolfoGaming Hail Epimetheus all my homies love Epimetheus.
@@liviavaleria1342 this
damn those Bronze elitists, lol
There were other ages too like before the stone age there was the wtf age, and before that was the dum knt age.
i love the cute little gem trees at the start
I found the Bronze Age endlessly fascinating, and some independent research taught me about the Copper Age, but this video does such a great job at really illustrating this period of history. I didn't understand why copper became so important, but the context makes it clear. Coming from tools of stone and bone, metal probably turned society on its head! I loved one comment in particular, of how the people in the Bronze Age saw the Copper Age as a time of myths and legends. In the same way, we today look at our past and try to imagine it, so too did the people who came before us.
That last comment was also deeply meaningful to me. I couldn't stop thinking about how the epic of Gilgamesh - one of the oldest songs we have record of - opens up with "in those old days". It really puts into perspective how LONG we actually have come through as species.
Every time I watch one of your vids on the pre-iron age, I'm convinced an excellent strategy game could be built from the resource gated situation: do you breed your warhorses, or risk them on expansion? Do you risk losing your copper weapons on an mercenary expedition, sell them as jewelry to neighbours, or increase crop yields with tools? Do you share metallurgy knowledge so you can trade for it later, or keep it secret and limit the total available resource?
No need for a game...all of the above really happened in different iterations. I won't spoil it for you, but there were some paths that were clearly more successful(?) than others (see video on Sumeria and Assyria)
Pre-dynastic Egypt and Egypt: Old Kingdom (both available on Steam for a few bucks) got you.
@@goo894 Exactly. The mining of copper in the Sinaï is even a 'plot point' in the latter.
check out dawn of men
Through the Ages is a board game that also has a digital version on iOS. This is the best yet complicated game about history I’ve played. But I still would love something focused on this copper age time period.
Great to hear a rundown of the copper age, always wanted to hear more about it ever since my Chemistry teacher casually mentioned it in one of his off-topic rambles.
Off-topic rambles of the smarter teachers are some of the only things I remember from school some 20 years later. poking curiosity was the greatest thing any of my teachers did.
@@fortusvictus8297 I could not agree more!
@@fortusvictus8297 saaane thats how my insomnia started thinking about the hitites haha
Ur chem teach a ho cuh
You cover litterally everything not main stream. It's awesome because I'm a fan of history and I discovered I didn't even knew the copper and bronze ages existed with your videos. Your bronze age video was beyond great.
you... didn't know the bronze age exists? modern western education is truly a crime against humanity.
@@BlackMasterRoshi Then imagine the education in the rest of the world... ;_;
The Copper Age must have been quite interesting maybe deadly but certainly not boring.
Yet the bronze age was the titan age of mankind.
Watch the story of Otzi the Iceman, who now they know was killed by an arrow to the back oh, it's a fascinating story that they've pieced together from exactly this time. 5300 years ago, the border between the copper and the Stone Age
@@zenolachance1181 They found him with both stone and copper tools. He had a bow with stoneheaded arrows, a stone knife and copper dagger and a copper axe.
@@genghiskhan6809 Stone knife copper axe
@@zenolachance1181 woops. Thx for correction
Thanks for creating & sharing this, Epimetheus! I’m glad this was recommended
I did not know that arsenic was in some ore deposits of copper... makes sense that this would give rise to an alchemical mythos. The original name for Egypt was Khemit ~ Origin of the word CHEMISTRY ~ I suspect that gold and silver also had very early origins.
Great storytelling and love how this video illuminates the context of the Bronze Age, which remains an enduring interest of mine since many years. Thank you for your great work!
some guy probably: Puts nice green stone in the fire
green stone: melts and turns into a shiny redish metal
same guy: $$$
smelting still still seems mysterious as had to figure out how to make fires reach much higher temperatures than an ordinary fire for cooking or warmth - and then discover that some "rocks" melt when subjected to theses much more intense fires
@@TheSulross you probably never enjoyed the warmth of a proper fire. Here in Canada I've had nights around a camp fire we're the heat was enough to turn a iron poker red to Orange hot. No added charcoal, no special ventilation regular camp fire. A fire is definitely hot enough to melt copper and gold
man I have been around from the first couple of videos and its awesome to see the wild leaps you've made on production quality. atta boy!
High school history be like: First there was the Stone Age, and that lasted like three generations. Then papyrus, then Rome then the Magna Carta and pretty much nothing in between.
With a final that's fifty questions like: 'The Bronze Age was known for the use of ____ in tools and weapons.'
(a) bronze
(b) rechargeable batteries
(c) lasers
(d) all of the above
Neither challenging nor interesting. Amazing our education became worse the more knowledge available to us.
Sometimes scrolls down to you shit
These days, I would not be surprised if that was an actual exam question.
*American high school history
@@eduardopupucon Not sure where this guy lives but in my history class we learned much more than that. We covered ancient greece, Fuedal Japan, the many Dynasties of China, the rise of Islam, the Ottoman Empire, and many more topics.
Yay!!! I just was looking for a new video, and here it is!!! Thanks, Epimetheus!
Thank you so much for your super informative videos!! You are really helping people. Your videos were shown in my son's 7th grade social studies class last year and are a wonderful guide for my research as well.
I have been waiting for copper age for so long thank you for making this one!
Oh boy I have been waiting for a video on this subject for a long time. It’s good someone finally made a video about it.
@
Epimetheus this channel is my favorite, because of videos like this one! keep up the grind my man!!!
Dude, thank you for doing this! I love the most ancient times of civilization, but sometimes it's hard to see how it all connects and the Copper Age really does put the pieces of the puzzle together
The first appearance of a copper culture was in the Great Lakes region of what is now known as Wisconsin. The 'Old Copper Complex' (Wiki) began in 7500BC or 1500 years prior to anywhere else in the world. It lasted until 1000BC.
Shhhh....middle east. Civilization started in the middle east. Nowhere else. Worship joos, I mean....the middle east "cradle of civilization". It's just so FERTILE don't ya know?
There was no culture in Asia or America til the mighty YahWeh saw it fit to spread his mighty...CIVILIZATION.
Said it before and I'll say it again: the best history channel on TH-cam. And there are many good ones. Epimetheus is just that damn good and he keeps improving.
That was fantastic! I love every little detail including the cool gem-trees!
Thank you for your efforts!
Day improved, thank you man
Astoundingly good, dear Epi... Love your integreative intel mind, analysis & presentation styles. This is one of the key transition points in civilization, wonderfully elucidated. Jus sayin... ; D
Great video, as always. I really appreciate the quality of your productions.
Appreciate that you put your sources in the description. 🙏🏾👍🏾
That's an interesting topic. Thanks for covering it, and good work, as usual.
I am at best an amateur historian. I have however read countless histories of the Middle East, but this is an outstanding analysis! Thank you for the time you spent creating it, and even more so for sharing it!
Not just for the algorithm: Great and very clear video. Including somehow Norte-Chico/Caral is fortunate. And I love that combination of maps and superimposed images.
Thank you :)
Glad you enjoyed it! :D
@@EpimetheusHistory please do one on pre Islamic arabia,gods ,tribes ,warefare
@@EpimetheusHistory abs
@@EpimetheusHistory
At 10:12, you refer to "blacksmiths" seeking to improve on arsenic bronze...of course, they didn't speak English, but a "blacksmith" works with iron, and eventually, steel: people who work with cast, forging and forming copper* are coppersmiths, just as Paul Revere was a smith, but not a blacksmith, as he worked with silver and pewter...(although his hands probably got pretty black!), silversmiths, and goldsmiths also specialize, as indicated...
It's baffling to think about how different life must have been all the way back then. And yet we can still experience many of the exact same emotions and sensations they must have felt. So distant yet so close.
And all this time later, life still sucks. I know, it sucks way less than it did back then but it still sucks nonetheless 😅
@Nohr Scum beautifully put
@@feynstein1004Blame the government, social structure need a upgrade.
@@julianblacksmith8539 Hmm what do you mean?
@@julianblacksmith8539Lol why are you so triggered, mate? I just wanted to hear what you had in mind
Epimetheus:"progressing from stone to Copper to Bronze to Iron"
Great Lakes Copper Culture returning to Stone: Am I a joke to you?
From stone to the Copper age - like going from an iPhone 6 to a 12 - But one more thing - got something called Bronze for ya and we're working on something call iron. Your videos are excellent my friend!
Then this stuff called steel. Then this stuff called fiber carbon
You use Iphones to refer huge technological changes that improves people's life. But Iphone has been the same thing since Iphone 3 or 4, just sightly better camera and hardware and you pay the whole price again for just some small upgradings.
The only thing Apple have achieved since then is to convince people every new version of their products is a huge technological jump so the big money paid on these products is justified.
Even you lost the sound jack port, now you cant use third party headphones. LOL.
This has become one of my favorite history channel. Really love all the art and drawings.
Truly a great video. Well researched, great animation and perfect voice over work!! 👍🥰
Excellent video, thank you for producing this.
New Epimetheus! My day is made! Still the best content on TH-cam.
Really cool video, exactly what I have wanted to see for so many years. So grateful for this great presentation of information. ❤️
Great wide angle video. Really helped me to peace together a more coherent mental image of pre ancient history. Thanks!
your videos are so creative, i really enjoy the unique visuals.
Love watching these videos over a meal, they're the perfect length.
I just stumbled upon your channel and immediately subscribed.
Fascinating videos.
Ah, the last time a penny was worth it’s weight.
Bruh
"If you buy some, you can smash a penny with it" :D That is the funniest rant I heard about worthless zinc pennies.
This is awesome. Thank you for the post.
Great content as always Epimetheus!!!
Excellent breakdown of the who what and why. Looking forward to more of your content.
I love your videos - all this long sweep of history with civilisational collapse shows that we still, even after COVID, take our civilisation for granted far more than we should and that lots of ancestors went through unimagineable horrors and kept persevering and as a result we are here.
I really enjoyed this video. Thank you for making it
thanks for your work and dedication, good video as always
"Brought to you by Copper"
Me glancing over at my three pounds of the stuff: Neat.
Can I have some?
There is something about your videos that help me remember more of the information I have learned before but commonly forget. Like dates , locations and names. Not sure if it’s your script details or just your voice.
I love it when history channels do niche/semi-niche topics like this. Not enough Copper Age videos out there.
Would love to see something like the history of farming and agriculture too. Might also be an excuse to talk about population growth/population centers or even population decline.
I wish there were more videos about it. It's super interesting and covered over 2000 years depending on the area but it's almost never brought up in history classes or major documentaries
I'm happy this video up here to my recommendations. A good introduction to your channel for me
That was both 1 of the quickest n 1 of the best sponsorships I've ever heard.
Good to see you use the term _Copper Age_ . Too many historistians like to cover it up under the cute Rule of 3: Stone Age, Bronze Age, Iron Age. Everything fits neatly & History is the natural Progression of events.
to be honest tho, stone age is really just a side age because its stone, a rock. nothing much could be done and it should be classified as "the epilogue of hunter gathering" as people started to realize that farming and mining can be done, which brought about civilization which brought about science which did etc
@@Harsh-tf9he “We’ll be saying a big hello to all intelligent lifeforms everywhere and to everyone else out there, the secret is to bang the rocks together, guys.”
@@Timberhawk lol
@@Timberhawk ah yes. Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
Thank you so much for these videos! I consider myself pretty informed when it comes to history but these times are like a giant black hole for me.
Man I love your channel. Always listening to before going to sleep. Cheers
hey man, love the content. and i really like your voice! great, listenable voice over track.
It's an interesting time period. Great content
Awesome ! 😎👍
Can we get a video about the scythians and the tribes of the Caucasus mountains ? 😇
that would be really interesting, caucasus is a clusterheck with different peoples and religions but I love it
History of Caucasus sounds very good.
A small region, small population, but an incredible diversity of languages and ethnicities.
@@DesertsOfHighfleet Indeed ! One interesting story I heard is the Vainakh Chechens are directed descendants of Scandinavian Vikings and that the Avar and Ingush people are descendants of the Scythians and Gokturks.
The Caucasus mountains is truly steeped in history and culture and was the arena of many wars between the Persian, Russian, Mongol, Ottoman, Byzantine and Arab empires.
Hail to the green eyed devil
Hail Scyth!
Proto-Indo-European time babyyyy
Underrated channel, love your vids!
Thank You. Your channel is truly a gem
I loved your new animation style ❤️
me and the boys patiently waiting for the next Epimetheus video.
My new favorite morning coffee video stream. Love your voice.
Thank you so much for uploading this video. It is helping me get through the pandemic!
Your videos are worth to be put on physical disk. Thank you!
Videos about Neolithic and Copper ages and how they influence Bronze age are super cool.
First time the TH-cam algorithm has put one of your videos in front of me. Really enjoyable video essay!
Amazing work mate. Great stuff.
This video brought me so many memories of an old French historical animated series called "Il etait une fois l'homme".
Man, I loved that series when I was a child, it sparked my interest in history.
This was really when civilisation began, too bad it's not discussed more often
perhaps even earlier at gobekli tepe
That we know of. This is far as archeology really can show us, as nearly all settlements everywhere in the world from earlier than this period are now underwater. Sea levels rise hundreds of feet circa 5600bc and as he states nearly all human civilization (then and now) was along coastlines or large rivers which may not exist today.
Well, the first cities and towns appeared in the Neolithic such as Chatalhoyuk and Jericho and all across the northern Levant/Mesopotamia.
@@seanbeadles7421 yes
Neolithic is the real when Civilization begin
Earned a sub like and comment. Nice short and to the point. I enjoyed it.
The illustrations in this really helped my adhd process the information. Thanks!
very interesting topic, as always!
Wow you really sold me at the end with the smashing of the penny, guess I’m now an investor of the metal that clapped stone
You have a really serious/sober approach when summarizing this stuff that I really appreciate. No history channel vibes (which is good).
I'm 61 and learn something from almost all of the videos like this, thank you for your work!
Bro yessssss thanks for the upload
Very relaxing and educative video's. Thanks!
great video, i cannot get enough of ancient prehistory. thank you very much
Another banger video, love your channel!
I enjoy this ancient history ASMR.
I never even knew there was a distinct copper age! This video is very well made!
i LOVE what you did for the ages graph at the beginning of the video
Thx for make a very interesting video and in the same way a very deep and useful one.
Very good. Thank you for sharing.
I find it fascinating and also very telling that in pretty much all cases I'm aware of, writing developed for the purposes of business transactions, and it was only very much later that writing was used for purposes of artistic expression. I think this is because the spoken/sung word was considered a much more organic and human way of expressing oneself. I have heard about research done on tribes who didn't have writing, and it is very fascinating to hear about how much oral tradition they had passed on through stories, poems, proverbs, songs, and even humorous anecdotes. In Europe and other cultures which had a developed writing system, this oral tradition for poetry, singing songs, and story telling still continued alongside the writing tradition until somewhat recently. It's sad we've lost so much of that oral tradition in our local cultures, especially with the advent of the 20th and 21st century mass communication methods.
That's a big reason why some of the oldest stories are poetic epics like the Odyssey or Eddas, often in alliterative verse. The rhyming helps people to remember things, which is also why Stan Lee and other comic creators made so many names rhyme like "Peter Parker" and "Bruce Banner". That rhyming can also turn stories into songs which further helps spread the stories. It's crazy how long some of those stories stuck around, we've still got some vague stories that date back to copper age; I've heard theories that many flood myths and "Atlantis" style sunken city stories are based off actual events during the stone age since the melting glaciers caused both areas like Doggerland to flood slowly but also caused cataclysmic floods like the ice dam across the Columbia river that created the scablands in eastern Washington and extend as far as Montana. Some Inuit and other native American stories are beleived to describe similarly ancient events.
Fascinating, thank you, and informative. It’s hard to find much information on the Copper Age, but it was critical to human development.
Kudos to you for noting that dating is difficult that far back. A lot of things in antiquity are hard to pin down. Especially given the recycling issue. Subbed.