It’s a problem with the conventional pseudochronology, in part; also the lapis lazuli trade and bead trade is quite old.
Jewels are a whole lot more portable than bulk metals, even very valuable bulk metals. Tin mines in Cornwall, NW Spain and Brittany are very old.
Yes, that's what I thought they meant. The land trade routes have been slowly revealed to be of astonishing length. It's a long way from Afghanistan to Crete but Mesopotamia is right on that route.