JEWELRY METALWORKING

Metal working means shaping metals into useful objects (artistic as well as functional). The earliest metalworking was probably from around 5000 BCE and the first metals were probably copper and gold. Copper is more abundant than gold, but copper usually needs to be refined from ore that is not pure copper, and gold occasionally can be found as pure nuggets. Later copper was alloyed with tin and other metals to make bronze which is stronger and more malleable. Even later copper was alloyed with zinc to make brass which is smoother than copper or bronze.

The copper cuff bracelet pictured above can be found at CAPTIVATING COPPER CUFF BRACELET (beadshaper.com)

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