Comments by "mpetersen6" (@mpetersen6) on "These Ancient Mines Transformed Prehistoric Europe" video.

There's another factor in the terms of copper alloys used in North America is the general lack of tin deposits. The whole idea of native copper from deposits on Isle Royal and the Kewanee Peninsula is an idea that really flies in the face of logic. For one thing the Upper Peninsula is a good way inland. Summers are pretty short compared to other copper using regions. Did any Bronze Age sailors wind up in North America? Its possible I suppose. Did they get home? That another thing. Most likely no. And any Bronze Age sailors that did wind up in the Americas most likely wound up in the West Indies. Now could a Bronze Age or early Iron Age vessel have been driven by weather and current across the Atlantic. And then picked up pieces of copper in trade. And then made it home. It's long odds. Possible but not likely.
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@Tugela60 Useless you say. Copper leaps buildings in a faster than a speeding train. Carves obelisks in a bound. Builds pyramids in a thrice. It's a miracle material.
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@tesnacloud Well there were the huge tin deposits in what is now Bolivia. Copper alloys called bronzes do not always include those with tin. Other common alloying elements include Phosporous, Aluminum/Aluminium, Iron, Beryllium and Nickel. Phosphorus is normally an alloying element in Bronzes meant for journal or plain bearings. Aluminum/Aluminium, Iron and Nickel are used in Aluminum/Aluminium Bronzes used in bearings, tooling and high wear applications. Berylium Copper alloys are used for non sparking tools meant to be used in chemical environments with high chance of fire or explosions. The golf equipment Ping used Beryllium/Copper in it's original Ping putter. Other uses alloy include anvils anvils and tooling for injection molds. Naval Bronze is an alloy of Copper, .7 % Tin and around 35 to 39% Zinc. The variance in percentage is to allow for the inclusion of Lead ~ 5% to increase machinability. These alloys commonly used in marine applications due to their strength and corrosion resistance. A common use is ship propellers
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@panzermacher I'm not saying that ancient miners or Smith's could identify different metal beyond the classic ones known. I was merely pointing out that there are different varieties of copper alloys. Also the first production of bronze had to be an accident. I suspect that in the early Bronze Age the casting and alloying of the metal was closely held secrets. The art was entirely empiric in its practice. And if a group or family if smiths accidently stumbled on something that produced a superior product. Maybe somebody was casting bronze in to clay forms. Clay that just may have been rich in Aluminum/Aluminium that was able to leach some of the Aluminum/Aluminum/Aluminium into the bronze improving its wear resistance or hardness. Plus Bauxite isn't the only "ore" that Aluminum/Aluminum/Aluminium is extracted from.
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