“Only Michigan Copper is of this purity, and it is known to have been mined in enormous quantities during the Bronze Age....”
Uh...no.
There’s pits on the Keweenaw mined by unknown ancient miners, but they never mined “enormous quantities.”
You can see how these ancient miners chipped away at the “Ontonagon Boulder,” which is on display at the Smithsonian Institute. Now, we don’t know who these ancient miners were, and these ancient miners and their identity are a true mystery.
The “ancient miners” chipped away at the abundant float copper on the Keweenaw Peninsula, but it was never in any great quantities.
BTW, how the Ontonagon Boulder got to the Smithsonian is a Hollywood movie in itself.
It involves a gunboat battle with a US Army ship that chased a free-wheeling adventurer who owned a sailing vessel to the Sault locks, wheeling and dealing with Anishinabe natives, several gunfights, and the captain of a vessel who had the guts to take on the entire US government.
The captain eventually beat all odds and displayed the Ontonagon Boulder in Detroit for 10¢ a peek. He made a fortune.
We need people like that today.
I see the potential for an interesting trade flow. Copper from America, stop in Cornwall and/or Wales. Trade some copper for tin, and go home to Mediterranean and make bronze.
You know, ONE of the best things about FR; it feels like you’re sitting around a table listening to old friends’ stories...
I know NOTHING about the rich history you all are so obviously steeped in. What an education.
Thanks dave. Thanks ALL.
“The captain eventually beat all odds and displayed the Ontonagon Boulder in Detroit for 10¢ a peek.”
Took the family on a little tourist attraction into an old gold mine in Idaho. Ride the little ore cart in, watch a demonstration of the drilling to place the explosives, etc.
The tour guide said the mine made more money as a tourist attraction than it ever did as a gold mine!