Copper Age: Did you mean...?

One of the major motivating factors in the European Age of Exploration was the search for direct access to the highly lucrative Eastern spice trade. In the 15th century, spices came to Europe via the Middle East land and sea routes, and spices...

This clay tablet was a letter from a person named Nanni to another one, Ea-nasir. The former complained that the wrong grade of copper ore has been delivered after a gulf (modern-day Arabic/Persian Gulf) voyage and that there was a misdirection...

A stag pendant made from a copper alloy, Persia, 1500-500 BCE. Height: 3.19 cm. (British Museum, London)

A Roman copper as coin depicting Domitian and aulos and lyre players. 88-89 CE. (Archaeological Museum of Como, Italy)

Such molds appeared for the very first time during the late Chalcolithic period. Their use indicates a trend towards mass production and consumption of copper goods. Late Chalcolithic period, 4000-3600 BCE. From Hujayrat al-Ghuzlan, north...

Pirates have gained a reputation for wearing bright and distinctive clothing and accessories during the Golden Age of Piracy (1690-1730) even if, in reality, most of what we think they wore comes from works of fiction like Robert Louis Stevenson’s...

Frieze from the base of the temple of the goddess Ninhursag at Tell Al-Ubaid. The lion-headed eagle monster, or Imdugud, grasps a pair of deer. Imdugud represents the Sumerian god Ningirsu, and it is unknown why it was placed at the temple...

Greenland was drawn into the Viking Age and settled by Norse Vikings in the late 980s CE, their presence there lasting into the 15th century CE. Despite its ice-riddled geography, the Norse managed to carve out a living for themselves in...

The buccaneers who roamed the Spanish Main and the pirates who plundered the Caribbean and the Indian Ocean during the Golden Age of Piracy (1690-1730) needed a place of refuge where they could share out and enjoy their loot. Pirate havens...

During the Golden Age of Piracy (1690-1730), pirates were first and foremost after gold, silver, and jewels, but if these could not be grabbed, then a ship’s cargo would be taken for resale at a pirate haven. Shared amongst the crew, the...