why Cu Pb and Sn were metals used in early civilizations Sol

why Cu, Pb, and Sn were metals used in early civilizations ?

Solution

Copper(Cu), Lead(Pb) and Sn(Tin) are among the metals which were used by the pre-historic men. Copper in its native pure form could be hammered to different shapes. Archaeological evidence suggests that copper was first used between 8,000 and 5,000 B.C., most likely in the regions known now as Turkey, Iran, Iraq and the Indian subcontinent. It is most likely that before the invention of the metallurgical methods, the native copper in pure form was used.

They could use simple hammering and forging to harden the copper. Also these metals were malleable so they could be molded into different shapes. Then annealing became the first step towards metallurgy when they discovered that heating the copper makes it easy to work with.

Other superior alloys such as Bronze were only possible after further enhancements in metallurgy, such as smelting process. So this is the reason that only these metals were used in early times.