Who found copper in Cyprus?
Who found copper in Cyprus?
Copper has been critical in the history of Cyprus - the Greek name for the ore - kupros - comes from the word Cyprus. A Cyprus Museum display (now disappeared) estimates that 200,000 tonnes of copper ingots were extracted by ancient workings from the Troodos ore deposits.
The charcoal required to extract the ore and purify it into the fantastic ox-hide shaped ingots produced for export was, it is estimated, equivalent to 16 times the entire wooded potential of ancient Cyprus - known as the ‘green isle’ for its bounteous forests of pine, cypress, cedar, and oak.
Thus, the fecundity of the island’s soil and rainfall had managed to regenerate the forests for thousands of years as different civilizations from the Chalcolithic – 'stone/copper age' – through Cyprus’s three bronze ages, and the Archaic and Hellenic and Roman – had taken their fill of the islands abundant metal.
Copper has been critical in the history of Cyprus - the Greek name for the ore - kupros - comes from the word Cyprus. A Cyprus Museum display (now disappeared) estimates that 200,000 tonnes of copper ingots were extracted by ancient workings from the Troodos ore deposits.
The charcoal required to extract the ore and purify it into the fantastic ox-hide shaped ingots produced for export was, it is estimated, equivalent to 16 times the entire wooded potential of ancient Cyprus - known as the ‘green isle’ for its bounteous forests of pine, cypress, cedar, and oak.
Thus, the fecundity of the island’s soil and rainfall had managed to regenerate the forests for thousands of years as different civilizations from the Chalcolithic – 'stone/copper age' – through Cyprus’s three bronze ages, and the Archaic and Hellenic and Roman – had taken their fill of the islands abundant metal.
