The Chalcolithic, also called the Copper Age or Eneolithic, was a prehistoric period in which people began using copper alongside stone tools, between the Neolithic and the Bronze Age. Its dates vary greatly by region, and the unusually early date shown here reaches back to the first working of native copper in parts of Anatolia and the Near East, long before true smelting developed. Later Chalcolithic cultures include the Ubaid of Mesopotamia, the Vinca and Varna cultures of the Balkans, where some of the oldest worked gold has been found, and the Cucuteni-Trypillia culture. Copper tools were also carried by Otzi the Iceman, who lived in the Alps around 3300 BCE.
Before and after
- 86th century BCESheep, goats and cattle are domesticated
- c. 8,400 BCEEruption of Michinmahuida
- c. 8,230 BCEEruption of Grimsvotn
- c. 8,050 BCEEruption of Aira
- from 76th century BCE to 25th century BCEChalcolithic
- 76th century BCECats begin to live with farmers
- from c. 7,500 BCE to 5,700 BCEConstruction of Çatalhöyük
- c. 7,460 BCEEruption of Pinatubo
- c. 7,420 BCEEruption of Fisher
More in Civilizations & archaeology
- c. 7,350s BCEConstruction of Cueva de las Manos
- 8th millennium BCEOrigins of Athens
- 71st century BCEMaize is domesticated in Mexico
- from 56th century BCE to 35th century BCEUbaid period
- c. 4,000 BCEOrigins of Thinis
- c. 3,600 BCEConstruction of Ġgantija
The era
This moment belongs to the Human prehistory (300,000 years ago to 3,200 BCE), the human story before writing.