<Li> Stage B: Annealing the metal on an open fire (200--300 ° C or 390--570 ° F is hot enough) reduces its hardness considerably and gives in malleability . This permits the manufacture of slightly more sophisticated objects, like bracelets, but is still a rather limited technique . </Li> <Li> Stage C: In the first two steps, the mineral used was native copper that does not actually need specialized technology . Probably, due to the situation that native copper was increasingly difficult to find, copper ore is used in this third step . This is a very significant development . In fact, this is truly the beginning of the metallurgy, as the mineral has to be smelted to separate the copper from the gangue, requiring technology . </Li> <P> Minerals of copper were known from ancient times . In Crete, little fragments of malachite and azurite were powdered and used as make up or to decorate ceramic in an early date such as 6000 BC (Mohen 1992). </P> <P> Therefore, the minerals were not collected because people were looking for copper but for virtues like those mentioned or simply because of its brightness and colour, but this knowledge of the minerals is critical since they already knew how to recognize them and where to collect them when, later, they started the systematic search for ores . </P>

Where did the copper come from during the bronze age