Almost from the beginning of civilisation the inhabitants had
learned the art of recovering and working copper to produce
items which were of use to society.
From the early beginnings of the use of copper which can be
traced back 6000 years and more, there has been an evolutionary
process accentuated in more recent times in which the art of
producing alloys particularly with tin and latterly zinc and other
elements, has given society a wide range of useful alloys for use
in industrial, domestic and architectural applications.