The Old Copper Culture of North America

#paleoanthropology #human #nativeamerican
Thank you to Wondrium for sponsoring today's video! Signup for your FREE trial to Wondrium here: ow.ly/b8RY50L1inp
Thanks for watching,
Make sure to like, share, comment, and subscribe!
▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀
Check out my stuff!
Instagram: / north02video
Subreddit: / north02reddit
Email: [e-mail]
▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀
All media displayed in this video is displayed with either permission from the copyright owner, fair use, or is creative commons.
If I failed to give proper credit or you do not want your images displayed here, please contact me and I will give credit or immediately remove them at your request.
Much of the media displayed in this video is protected under FAIR USE for reasons of Commentary, Education, Criticism, Parody, and Social Satire.
▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀
Sources:
Saraceni, Jessica Esther. “Native American Copper Use in North America Re-Dated.” Archaeology Magazine, www.archaeology.org/news/9536....
“MVAC Home.” UW, www.uwlax.edu/mvac/pre-europe...
Administrator. “Southeastern Plumets.” Peach State Archaeological Society, peachstatearchaeologicalsociet....
Ancient Native Americans Were among the World's First Coppersmiths ... www.science.org/content/artic....
“Old Copper Culture.” Milwaukee Public Museum, www.mpm.edu/research-collecti....
Pompeani, David P, et al. “On the Timing of the Old Copper Complex in North America: A Comparison of Radiocarbon Dates from Different Archaeological Contexts: Radiocarbon.” Cambridge Core, Cambridge University Press, 9 Mar. 2021, www.cambridge.org/core/journa....
▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀

[@NORTH02]

Thank you to Wondrium for sponsoring today's video! Signup for your FREE trial to Wondrium here: ow.ly/b8RY50L1inp

[@tonydai782]

Are there any updates on the video that you said could be two hours long in your community post?

[@NORTH02]

@@tonydai782 It is taking a long time haha

[@JM-qb2kd]

I won’t lie man, I absolutely love ur content, I’ve been watching this videos a long time now. I especially find the ones on human evolution, learning about our “cousin” species. The videos about the prehistoric and ancient societies and how they developed culturally/technologically. -but, I NEEDED to leave a comment on this video, because I have a mixed European/Native American family here in the upper peninsula. I remember growing up any bit really being told much about the native copper culture of our local region (and the Great Lakes region as a whole. So it always means something to see a video made about it. So thank you for that, and keep up the good work

[@missourimongoose8858]

I wish u would of brought up the underwater panther who was the God of copper and water to the copper culture and past down, I actually have a mississippian shrine to this God around my families land in southern missouri, video on my channel if u would like to see all the artwork left on a big bluff the biggest one is a wolf headed creature

[@FacesintheStone]

Be sure to check out Edwin Barnhart’s Ancient civilizations of North America on Wondrium. It’s the best!

[@joeshmoe8345]

I vote u do a video on Polynesian expansion, and origin theories. Lots to talk about there and I think it’s an underrated topic, yt needs a closer look at the complexities behind this event.

[@petehoover6616]

Watched a Samoan neighbor once lift a couch four stories by himself with just a rope. At some point Polynesian people lost the sail but developed massive rowing muscles. Not so good on the legs as the arms which is why pro football isn't an all-Samoan sport. Not enough can run. (And when a walking man weighs 750 lbs he can't walk fast. My sister's horse was that big and I rode the mare a lot. That man was definitely as big as her.) I am not sure if Samoan vs Tongan football exists in the US. There are racist jokes between the two. Good luck telling Samoans from Tongans.

[@Nae_Ayy]

@@petehoover6616 Thanks for the vaguely racist rant, Pete.

[@petehoover6616]

@@Nae_Ayy So I can't talk about people I love dearly without being considered racist because they aren't like you? There is a difference between polite and familiar speech in Samoan, where "t" changes to "k". It goes back to some lower class Samoan who was tongue tied.

[@Nae_Ayy]

@@petehoover6616 Bruh what I'm joking lol

[@petehoover6616]

@@Nae_Ayy Samoans resemble Irish Wolfhounds or Great Danes; they are accidentally very much larger than other people. I played bagpipes for the funeral of a clan leader and many people flew from Samoa to the service. Strangely they were all normal sized. The 750 lb man (who was Tongan) was indeed the biggest person I have ever encountered who could still walk. Barely. He was severely disabled. I used to pick up a Samoan two year old each day and a Romanian four year old each day. The Samoan was heavier at half the age. They get full of their own power and so when drinking in bars they can get shot, and we lost one that way. They all shunned me as soon as I figured out all the elders were hard drug addicts.

[@katiefrances531]

i have yet to finish the video, but i just wanted to say i appreciate the calming narration and straight forward presentation in your videos. biological/archeological anthropology was my favorite course in college, so thank you for scratching that itch in my brain!

[@calebnome1194]

As a First Nation Canadian I think it would be awesome if you covered the wars between the different tribes in Canada

[@xv02greedo37]

He Won’t Do It Nobody Cares About Our History Except for Us😤🤦🏾‍♂️🤦🏾‍♂️

[@dsxa918]

That's bullshitism, Greedo - I saved a image today of what is said to be the distribution of tribes in North America in 1500 and I did recognise many names given, so that says to me there is much anthropology to comprehend; especially curious would be the politics of otherwise 'socially advantaged' if not Advanced cultures.

[@maxwellhayden5261]

do it yourself.

[@markschuler1511]

Sure, he doesn't care about "your" history, that's why he didn't make this video. 😅​@xv02greedo37

[@somefuckstolemynick]

A a Swede with absolutely no connection to Canada, that would be dope. Know absolutely nothing about it.

[@sdhappyprince]

@NORTH02 should be writing a much needed history book revised version for school kids who still think stone age is all about stones and wild sapiens and Neanderthal were ancestors

[@gabrielstanford5370]

I am very interested in Mississippian cultures. Here in Mississippi we are taught in elementary that all north american native people built mounds as a way to bury their dead. I would like to learn about mound building, Mississippian cultures, or anything related :) Love your vids

[@ElizabethDMadison]

The Wisconsin Historical Society Library has a small museum that has a very large and varied collection of these copper artifacts, I wandered in there one day and was amazed, I didn't even know that the natives used copper tools.

[@charlesyoung2530]

You didn't know because it is unique to that region.

[@ElizabethDMadison]

@@charlesyoung2530 More recently i went to the Geology Museum which is also on the UW Madison campus, they had examples of massive natural chunks of copper metal that can be found (rarely) in the region, I think they said it was glacial related, these were not tiny pieces like when people pan for gold, nor ore that would have to be smelted, but a veritable boulder of definite metal, you could touch it so I knocked on it with my knuckles and it had a bit of a ring and vibration, solid metal. it made sense that the natives had to have occasionally found these substantial size globs of pure copper that they were able to figure out how to use to good advantage. But it would not have been something they found often.

[@pittbullking87]

At the mound site Poverty Point in NW Louisiana copper from the Great Lakes region has been found. Poverty Point, which dates to around 1800 BC until 1200 BC, is also a World Heritage Site.

[@asdfasdf-dd9lk]

I'd be super interested to see a video on Arsenical bronze, it was an alternate method of making bronze with Arsenic instead of Tin, with some arguments about it actually predating the "traditional" method.

[@guacre2675]

It very likely did predate tin bronze. In fact, it would explain how Mesopotamians discovered alloys. Many copper ores are naturally contaminated with arsenic, so whether or not they intended to make bronze, it would have been anyways.

[@maxwellhayden5261]

Shut the hell up.

[@taylorharvey3980]

growing up in michigan and having at least two field trips a year to our local reservation and being taught by the people who live there i wasn't aware that a lot of this info wasnt widely known and it makes me really take into account how lucky i was in that aspect to learn the things i did so early on

[@georgecuyler7563]

We Turtle Islanders considered copper more valuable than gold or money. Although it fell out of favor due to colonial interference, we are starting to get back to work reclaiming our history and waking up the old ways.

[@johnharker7194]

I wonder if they ever dropped a hunk of ore into hot coals on accident, and the wind blew just right and smelted it. Like, they vaguely knew about smelting, but it was a parlor trick because native copper was so abundant.

[@kovona]

Most copper ores only start breaking down effectively at around 1200'C - you'll be hard press to smelt it with just a campfire. You need the containment of a furnace or kiln to concentrate heat.

[@joewilson1052]

It blows me away I only just found this channel. It's great! Thanks for the hard work and great info!

[@heritageoutdoorsproduction2460]

Just made my Monday morning much less mundane, my friend! Another amazing video, your quality throughout the years just keeps getting better and better. It’s astounding that you manage school and this channel so well. My favorite channel on yt, and I’m not alone, keep up the good work! I’d love to see a video on the different shelters and structures built by the ancient peoples of the americas throughout time from the paleo-Indian to the Mississippian era’s. Thanks!

[@Where_is_Waldo]

Another excellent video and an absolutely fascinating subject. Thank you sir.

[@joeshmoe8345]

just love when I realize it’s a north 02 notification. always did, but the quality of your stuff has gotten so pro since about a year. thanks a fuckin bunch for sharing with us. keep it up big dog!

[@patriciamccormick9321]

I love it when you drop a video and can’t wait to carve out the time to watch it as soon as possible.

[@pauld7704]

I’d like to see you cover the Chaco culture, especially their discovery of the northern lunar standstill cycle. It’s one of my favorite ancient cultures to learn about.

[@kobebarka8633]

another brilliant piece! I can like the video as soon I open it because I know it’s gonna be amazing as always!

[@deepquake9]

Wonderful video as usual. Thank you!

[@declanrex9435]

The true GOAT of KZbin narration. I love your stuff and your soothing voice is cherry on top

[@265lgkp]

Best history/pre-history channel 🙏 Thank you

[@jeffreyhanson3769]

Your content is amazing! Thanks again

[@micahpocket]

perfect timing!

[@bryanjames5256]

Amazing content man. Keep it coming.

[@She_C]

You are a great creator!

[@free_salmon]

Always a pleasure and benefits with you thanks and 💖

[@kirkjones9639]

Another outstanding video! You spoil us.

[@dracodistortion9447]

I've been binge watching your channel recently, and i love it. Here are some topics I'd love to see you explore: •Indo-European migration and culture •Rise and fall of the Celts •Germanic peoples and their development from Indo-Europeans •the Haudenosaunee and their known history/customs •history of the Ainu

[@maxwellhayden5261]

no one like it when someone else tells them what to do. if you want good content, let him make what he wants to.

[@oscargranda5385]

Excelent video.....im gonna go deep with this ancient chopper culture...thank you!!!!

[@code4chaosmobile]

Great video, always worth watching twice :) I was wondering if there is enough content for a video about nets, and it's history and innovation. I'm curious if they were used in parallel or if the tech came before or after other known hunting/fishing technologies of the ancient past. Thanks again, my day is always a little brighter after some North 02

[@loke6664]

Metal working in the Americas is certainly fascinating. The arsenic bronze of the people of Tiwanaku is just as fascinating as the copper working at the Great lakes and I think they also is worth a vid, a lot of people today seems to think that gold was the only metal used in pre Columbian Americas and that isn't true, but besides some possible iron working by vikings in Newfoundland the arsenic bronze was the height of metallurgy before 1492 at least to my knowledge. If you wonder why arsenic bronze wasn't more wide spread, the Incas and Mayans used it a little but making it is a rather dangerous process and while it is far superior to copper it is less effective then tin based bronze. A similar but not identical metal was used in pre historian Eastern Europe for a while (it had some components but a bit different mix of them). Anyways, super interesting. :)

[@anonymousthesneaky220]

I knew the Inca used bronze, but I did not know the details here, thanks!

[@loke6664]

@@anonymousthesneaky220 Yeah, most people don't which is why I think Milo should do some more vids about metalworking in the Americas. Gold working also could make an interesting episode, how they mined and worked gold over the 2 continents is rather interesting too but it is a bit more well known. Shows like "Ancient aliens" like to pretend people were still living in the stone age until Columbus since they can claim any sign of higher technology is made by aliens or inspired by but I think that is a bit racist, they were not stupid. Iron really didn't become a thing until after the bronze age collapse in Eurasia since the tin trading died it, it is however a bit of a mystery why bronze working didn't become more popular in the Americas even if it was dangerous, bronze hammers and chisels certainly makes building stuff in stone easier even if arsenic bronze have it's own problems.

[@anonymousthesneaky220]

@@loke6664 I think it might have cultural reasons as well as technological ones. The stoneworking skills in the Americas were extremely high, so switching to bronze probably did not seem very beneficial, or at least worth the risk, to the average person. Secondly, the high-quality stone trades were extensive, so switching to bronze might not have been good economically. Finally, many tools and weapons were very important culturally, so people may not have wanted to give up traditions. I think it would be cool to see a video about the Aztec macuahuitl, just because I think they are cool.

[@loke6664]

@@anonymousthesneaky220 Those are some good points and there were probably not a single reason to why bronze weapons weren't common in South America. I don't think the economical reason is good enough though, copper and bronze jewelry was already pretty common so the trade routes for it already existed and it was the bronze trade that created the economical boom in Europe and middle east, when it collapsed so did most societies in what is called "the bronze age collapse". The Tiwanaku did use bronze tools and tool marks on places like Pumu punku seems to indicate they used far more then what we found which points towards them being melted into new tools over and over so at least they used them a lot. I am not sure about the Incas though, it is possible they used them more then we think and most ended up as jewelry eventually. Bronze have the advantage that it can be reused many times, stone tools are far harder, when they break you sometimes can rework them into smaller tools but often they are just trashed which means we will find a lot more of them. But weapons were clearly rare and more or less we are just talking about knives there. Since they made swords out of wood and obsidian, it is pretty odd that we never found any bronze swords in South America even if they were expensive and not popular. It is a rather obvious thing and the color and looks of them should make them a thing for royalty at least, but if they ever made any they would have to been short since the arsenic bronze is not great for huge weapons. We do still lack a lot of knowledge about the topic, they have found some interesting bronze items in the waters of lake Titicaka but there have been pretty limited archaeological surveys there so far so maybe something will pop up in the future. And yeah, the macuahuitl was rather awesome. :)

[@anonymousthesneaky220]

@@loke6664 I think bronze was used fairly extensively by the Inca, both for weapons and tools, but I haven't heard of anyone else using bronze as much. Your points about economic values not being as much of a cause are good and make sense. I still think it is possible that it was economically tied. If the groups of people who hold power in major trade routes are more likely to have the logistics to process ore, but do not have the natural ore deposits, they are probably not going to encourage the use of metals, as that will open competition and possibly close their hold on the trade routes. Meanwhile, if the people in places with deposits do not have the infrastructure to process ore, they may want metal trades to expand, but may not have the means. That could explain why metal began to be used only for personal items, and therefore personal purchases. The wealthiest could afford to have the ore processed but would limit the processing to keep their trades safe. The deposits in question would probably be arsenic, as it is more rare and much harder to process. This is all just speculation, and, as you said, there are most likely many reasons. Thank you for your excellent points and a good discussion!

[@SkepticalZack]

Always a good day when North 02 posts

[@GillyBillman]

Just watched the new Graham Hancock series on Netflix. So fuggin good! Glad to see him gaining the respect he deserves.

[@NORTH02]

No, Graham is a charlatan pseudoscientist.

[@ptptpt123]

@@NORTH02 journalist, not scientist or pseudoscientist

[@michaelfoulkes9502]

Grahm Hancock speaks the truth.

[@eggmasterproductions1768]

Hey man, love your content and keep it up.

[@vaughnslavin9784]

I learned something new! Thank you.

[@carterkunkel7188]

Staying on the topic of Eastern North American cultures from the archaic-Woodland period. The red ochre culture would be extremely interesting

[@carterkunkel7188]

Or even just a video about the widespread use of red ochre across the planet

[@FacesintheStone]

Painted Quartz with this rust based paint you speak of are found in North Carolina. Yellow, black, red and even green paints are used. There’s red on the artifact on my avatar there, that is a portrait of a Native American on a arrowhead shaped Quartz piece. It has over 200 faces on it, the first photo albums.

[@andreabertini3788]

Quality content as usual pal, and I'm glad that you're learning Italian! Se ti va puoi fare un video sul neolitico italiano e sulla cultura Terramare. Ancora complimenti e tanti saluti!

[@NORTH02]

Forse quando sarò in italia, visiterò alcuni siti dell'età della pietra. Sicuramente Otzi

[@mothturtle7897]

6:48 I'm immediately reminded of those rocking knives you can get which are great for dicing, particularly herbs.

[@EdinburghFive]

An ulu knife.

[@scpdatabase969]

Can you do an episode about farming but on a worldwide scale? How did the idea originate, did it pass from group to group, or did humans discover it across continents within a couple thousand years of each other? Is it entirely a misconception that farming sprung up quickly and dominated as the way of life vs Hunter gatherer? You might have something similar already, I’m not sure. I’ve just never heard a solid explanation for how farming took over the world…

[@ruthanneseven]

@Ammonite Studios If you pay attention in nature, as early people did, it would have been a no-brainer for them. The art of farming is different. Soil matters, and can easily be exhausted of mineral content. That's a huge problem in farming today, and a good reason to keep supporting local farmers. Over production for export exasperates the problem.

[@chonqmonk]

@@ruthanneseven *exacerbates

[@machematix]

@Ammonite Studios What I find interesting is that agriculture is a scale, not a binary yes/no. Would nomadic groups who remove weed plants (eg. strangling vines) from their favorite fruit trees be considered agriculture? What if they were planting the crops they then weeded? What if they only returned to that area for two weeks of the year, is that considered farming? Two months? Conversely, if a group is fairly settled (eg. 9 months in one place, winter in another location)and for a couple of generations have been planting their favorite food sources and even altering the landscape by say, removing trees or splitting a stream for basic irrigation, is that agriculture?

[@robertscheinost179]

@@chonqmonk Good one! Keep in mind when people post a comment they are not writing a term paper and mistakes creep in. Still, a good catch!

[@b.a.erlebacher1139]

Agriculture spread from several independant centers around the world. The big advantage of agriculture is that under suitable conditions even primitive farming can support far more people per unit area than hunting and gathering. When farmers from the east moved into Europe they both interbred with and displaced earlier populations which ended up on lands unsuitable for farming. Long before DNA technology was invented, someone very cleverly used data from blood donor typing across Europe to map this effect. One of the best markers is Rh- which was apparently common in palaeolithic Europe but nowhere else on earth. The maps of Rh- frequency show increasing incidence moving up into the Alps and westward into the Pyranees. The highest incidence was in the Basques. Btw, if you are Rh-, try not to get into situations requiring blood transfusion in parts of the world without a significant population of European descent, ideally western European.

[@kingofwingo]

Awesome, can't wait to learn something interesting.

[@Adam-wl8wn]

You could do a look at how cultures even up to the modern day use salvaged metal from shorelines and junk etc to make arrowheads and tools etc.

[@reneemoore4292]

Love your voice❤and the material is interesting too👌

[@Borsuk3344]

Even higher volume in the future please. Much easier to lower than to raise.

[@timlopes67]

Thanks for the video.

[@guymanuel4260]

Notification gang

[@marcoblauwe]

A video about the first signs for the use of Iron in Anatolia would be so great 😃👍

[@jb-vb8un]

GREAT MATERIAL, as always

[@cyankirkpatrick5194]

This is very interesting about the use of metal. Oh by the way my cousin suggested your channel and I'm subscribed and she's going to get back with you she's having trouble with her computer.

[@andrewlabat9963]

Thank you for this video, I, like most, had no idea they used any metal, and had no idea pure copper could found in such quantity..

[@1Loc2dabrain3]

I'm from Michoacan, Mex My ancestors have using copper for centuries, if not thousands of years. It's still abundantly used today...

[@Jason-hg1pc]

I'm from Tanana, Ak, my ancestors have been using copper as well, but I have mutated into blacksmithing.

[@1Loc2dabrain3]

@@Jason-hg1pcpeople today mainly use it for pottery and some jewelry, there's even a town "Santa Clara del Cobre" literally meaning Santa Clara of copper due to the abundance of it in that region...

[@Jason-hg1pc]

@@1Loc2dabrain3 I'm not sure what quantities of copper are extracted now, just that there was at some point enough that it now specifies a regional dialect of our Native language.

[@ctwriter1670]

As I was watching your video (loved it, thank you), I was waiting to see whether copper was used in woodworking, and to what extent. And as you said, it was used, though limited. But it leads me to one of my fascinations which is Viking boat building. (First knowledge ability to create a vessel, the magnitude of the labor, and then the motivation and courage to go out into the cold ocean). My understanding is they first felled and split trees using stone tools. (which is amazing onto itself.). And then at some point they discovered how to create metal, and then tools. (How in the world this technology unfolded… how that threshold of knowledge and craftsmanship was crossed, I can only wonder). And from then on only it was the metal tools in the making of boats. I lack the detailed understanding of which metals are used in woodworking. (Hardness ranking?). I assume it’s all about smelting and the level of hardness. I guess that makes all the difference. Fascinating to look at the effect of metal on history, building, exploration…!!

[@domcarter4326]

I'd like to see a video on the ancient celts

[@FacesintheStone]

Great video ❤

[@AbbyThePiLL]

Pre-Columbian Caribbean peoples and cultures. It would be very interesting to gain a deeper understanding of the very first people encountered in the "New" world, specifically the Taino and the Caribs, but Arawak cultures in general as well.

[@SteveC38]

Great Job!

[@Maxcom12]

Good video. I like you never knew that Native American societies worked metal, in the modern day USA and Canada at least, until relatively recently. I think you're statement at around 14:38 pretty much hits the nail on the head on why copper tools fell out of fashion in what is now the United States. I am less sure about the control elites had over the copper trade. We know that trading networks were huge across the continent, so could a commoner from a culture associated with the Mississippians get access to a small amount of copper ore if they really wanted to? Maybe? But if they were more concerned with accessing materials for practical reasons, stone might have always been the better choice. I have always felt that our understanding of Mississippian culture at its height was not well understood and its hard to confirm just how much power an elite would have. At another point in the video, you mention that there were experimental tests were conducted on recreations of copper tools to determine their durability. I'd love to read them if they are accessible somewhere and not locked behind some journal paywall. I had been under the impression that pure copper actually made a relatively poor tool, as it was very malleable and alloys (which the Old Copper Culture didn't have) were stronger. Please don't take this as me challenging your video, I think you did a great job of explaining the topic, I'd just love more things to read about it. The Old Copper Culture (or complex?) has always been fascinating to me and its great that well made videos are popping up to challenge misconceptions about pre-columbian America. edit: lol I just saw you put your sources in the description, I'll just go there. Thanks for doing that too, lots of youtubers dont bother.

[@repetemyname842]

The Neville Museum in Green Bay has a decent display of copper artifacts, lots of petrified wood and saber tooth cat fossils as well, if you are in town its definitely worth a look.

[@janebennett9930]

Fantastic as usual. I knew little about the copper age in any area of the earth. Stone yes, and bronze, but not copper alone. I’d love to more more about copper in UK and Ireland where I’m from. 😊😘

[@AncientAmericas]

Hey hey! What do we have here? Very well researched video and gorgeous visuals!

[@NORTH02]

Thanks, your video was a huge inspiration! Your channnel is fantastic!

[@AncientAmericas]

@@NORTH02 Wow! That is really cool to hear. Thank you! Hope you cover more Native American history down the road. I'm subbed to you so I don't miss it.

[@CostaCola]

WHAT COMMENT SECTION CROSS-OVER??

[@sophiekwinters]

EARLY F YEAH ILY NORTH 02

[@bonnieagliata4780]

What a comliment it is to you, before we finish viewing new work, We long for more. Thanx...get back to work.😉

[@redriver6541]

Thanks for the endless education and entertainment North02. I love what you do man.

[@languagelearningwithap]

Love the channel. Thanks. I super interested in information on pre-European languages in the Americas, specifically dominant languages that are still used by minority populations today. Also, writing systems, calendars, etc...

[@Johnny_Vee]

Great music choice for the closer

[@haraldraich7292]

Che bel video! Grande :)

[@rafaelaldana1503]

Nice video, very informative. Can you make a video about the Caral civilization or the Moche culture in Perú? Thanks

[@i_know_it_poet]

Wow. This was an incredibly informative video. I live in the region and had no clue that copper working ever occurred in the native population. I would love to find a artifact from the old copper culture one day. Thank you and keep making great vids!

[@existentiallydead5998]

im from the upper peninsula of michigan its an under appreciated fact of history especially since i wanna do archology its nice to have it in ur bark yard so to speak

[@patricknorton5788]

Very interesting!

[@Superburtclub]

I’m loving the videos about the americas. I’ve always been interested in native culture more than anywhere else- that said, I’d watch a video you made even if it was about beetle poop.

[@o2807]

Thank you for correcting my same belief

[@EugenioFilippi]

If you need Italian tips ket me know :) great video as always... Saluti

[@Mothman_Libra]

Great video great info. I remember being a young boy and taught in school that Native Americans only used stone tools and had no metal works when Europeans came and it never sat right with me. Come to find out they may have been using copper tools before the settlers themselves!

[@stevel379]

There was a lesser known and much smaller copper culture in the Pacific Northwest along the lower Columbia River basin and up to Puget Sound. With the exception of a very few and extremely rare pieces that were used in weaponry, it was all ornamental. Most was hammered into small flat sheets and rolled into long hollow beads to adorn clothing or made into a necklace when strung on some cordage and combined with shell beads. I've owned a number of the long copper beads over the years, some still with the original cordage and beads attached. If you're looking for an interesting subject for future videos, one subject I would suggest would be on the Lovelock Cave in Nevada. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lovelock_Cave Also one of my favorite artifacts to collect here in the west are Paleo Crescent blades. They came and went with the Clovis culture, and are only found in the western US. Their use remains somewhat of a mystery, but I suspect they were used to tip an Atlatl dart to hunt waterfowl since they are almost always found where water is or once was. Great videos, keep it up.

[@fessendenful]

I'm no expert, however, I went to a summer camp on Lopez Island (near Vancouver Island) that celebrated a "Potlatch" as part of the activities. I remember specific mention of a tradition of "breaking the copper" as one component of the ceremonies. I really don't recall much more.

[@chrispy804]

Great video! Would really like to see more lore about early native American life please! Honestly, just any native groups really please

[@Jason-hg1pc]

Research the Institute of American Indian Arts, in Santa Fe, NM, they at least have a library and teachers that might be able to help you. I was a student and literally learned about the Copper Culture at the same time I was given instruction and assignments to shape the same material. I introduced myself to blacksmithing, however, and now I've returned to give a few short classes on that.

[@lesliesylvan]

Is there any credence to Harvard prof's "America B.C" regarding Egyptians hiring Phoenicians/et al bringing copper from Mississippi down from Great Lakes; helped build Collosas of Rhodes? Any spectrographic materials available. Especially at such purity~

[@WorldWokeApeCult]

No, the evidence doesn’t support Fell’s ideas.

[@andyshelly3473]

very cool , love it .

[@chrisbflory]

Tired 5am rainy Monday before work… HEY! A new North O2! Gonna be a good day, Tater! Was not disappointed.

[@scribebat]

i was aware of the Copper Culture here in the US but not to this depth. Why it changed to what might have seemed a regression, not sure but can take a guess. Winters in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, where most of the copper came from, can be really brutal. Easy to imagine a ready supply from a handful of local families coming to an abrupt end with a particularly severe winter combined with maybe an unusually high incidence of Wendigo attacks... Following that, while there may have been an unabated demand for it, now if someone wanted it they had to send someone to the location who might not be as familiar with the area to hunt for the material; not nearly so easy as simply trading for it. An abrupt change in availability could be a very simple answer to why the change from everyday implements to elite body adornment. But that's just a guess... Still have a small nugget of copper i picked up on a Lake Superior beach in the UP, not far from Copper Harbor, on a visit to the area with my family when i was a kid.

[@samuelbutler3215]

Could you do an episode about agriculture and animal husbandry in the Neolithic especially the tools and techniques utilized and how they came about

[@chrisamon4551]

The Mississippians made all sorts of regular tools out of copper. Axes, arrowheads, a copper knife fashioned to look like a stone knife and I read that the looting company pulled a “doctor’s kit” out of Spiro Mounds made entirely out of copper. The doctor’s kit was reported as lost by the looters shortly after discovery so I don’t have a better description, but it wasn’t all just stuff for the elites during Mississippian times. You should really make a video about them.

[@maxwellhayden5261]

and yet you are just spreading more speculation.

[@1-2346]

Heyyy man the things that you are making are awesome please can you do a video of proto - indo - europeans

[@cedley1969]

Cold working copper would probably have been beneficial as work hardening would occur which would almost double the hardness of the resulting tool.

[@rocroc]

As a Northeast Ohioan, I found this to be an even more interesting video than usual. We were heavily influenced by the Indian culture here and I would like to know more about it. Just add it to your growing list of things people want to see. I suspect you already have a very long list:-) Thanks.

[@ililililiililiililililiili2064]

You weren’t influenced enough if you’re referring to them as Indians. Which tribes influenced your culture as an Ohioan.

[@rocroc]

​@@ililililiililiililililiili2064 - I suppose you could call them whatever you like including Native Americans or Indigenous People. I grew up near the Cuyahoga Valley/Portage Trail (now Cuyahoga Valley National Park) and I call them Indians. There were six major Indian tribes in Ohio including the Shawnee, Seneca-Cayuga, Lenape, Wyandot, Ottawa, Myaamia. The Iroquois and offshoot Cherokee also played a roll as they moved down the valley and into many of the Southeast states to form the Cherokee Nation. It doesn't end there though because influential Ohio Indian Chiefs (Tecumsa, Blue Jacket, Joseph Brant) had a wide impact on other tribes across the country. It isn't just Ohio either. Indians had a significant impact on the Revolutionary War with homelands widely spread throughout the Northeast and Canada. I might add that the name Ohio came from a Seneca word meaning "great river" or some would say "beautiful river".

[@dennisfarris5960]

I've met folk from your area that pan gold successfully that was brought in by the glaciers. Highway Culverts can be collect points.

[@rocroc]

@@dennisfarris5960 - Dennis, about 20,000 years ago there was a mile high glacier over my property. All that's left now are some big boulders from Canada and a thick layer of clay soil. You can see cut marks on the boulders that were made as they were pushed along the ground. It is a beautiful area though in spite of that clay soil. I wish there was gold in it but I fear it would be difficult to find. There are sand and gravel pits east and west of me about five miles away. You never know what you might find on the perimeter of those pits.

[@krono5el]

Is theer a big Hindu culture in Ohio, i didnt know a lot of Indians resided there?

[@TyrSkyFatherOfTheGods]

Another fantastic video! As for future content, I'd be really interested in learning more about the Aurignacian and Gravettian industries, and what distinguishes the two.

[@terrysincheff6682]

Could you cover the Hopewellian mound builders of Minnesota. Are there any mounds remaining in Mound MN?

[@tpobrienjr]

Enlightening. I would like to see a narrative on copper, bronze, and brass.

[@samb1123]

How about the Copper culture of the Central Arctic of Canada centred at Kugluktuk Nunavut. The people in this area were using copper into the 20th century and probably still do for artistic purposes.

[@Jason-hg1pc]

Look up the Ahtna Athabascan people.

[@nirdale]

I would love a video about the Romans. Their concrete is fascinating. Or their siege weapons? Thanks for the great videos.

[@billymckee8044]

nice album of the week choice =)

[@jamesgriffith4]

Wonderful video. I came from Indiana and was well aware of the Wisconsin Copper Culture but have always wondered why with Arsenic available more readily than Tin a Bronze Age did not develop.

[@Eyes_Open]

The pureness of the copper allowed it to be easily hammered into shape. Just was no need for smelting to develop.

[@jamesgriffith4]

@@Eyes_Open Thanks good answer.

[@glennpallast3131]

a video on the Entelodont would be great.

[@nickmeeker3707]

Love the trade route map. What is the mica for ? I'm from Maryland and hunt Calvert quite often and I've read a lot about the teeth here making it all the way over there.

[@petehoover6616]

When you said that they broke the stone off copper nuggets by heating them and then pouring water on them I wondered how that was discovered? Oh yeah! In the sweat lodge! Imagine using one of those nuggets as a heating rock in a sweat lodge. And seeing the stone break off. (It happened to someone first, and once the shock wore off they taught others) Sandia peak behind Albuquerque is full of malachite. Albuquerque had pre-contact pottery. Shreveport had beautiful hand shaped pendants made of sheet copper. The Old Copper Culture had no pottery. As was said by medieval explorers about Central Asian nomads, "their fires were not hot enough to get metals."

[@robertscheinost179]

More likely rocks from a fire pit. It's called fire cracked rock and has been around as long as fire. It's good to speculate though.

[@petehoover6616]

@@robertscheinost179 imagine how startled the first person was to get answered by a parrot! And you know those chimps that use stones and sticks to open nuts? Don'tcha think they might have learned that from people or our ancestors? And I just found a biblical joke about hot fires. Some politician recently mentioned a Moloch, a Phoenecian idol made of clay that held a fire in its belly and children were shoved into it. Uh, that is an iron smelter. So here's the story; ironmongering came from the north, from the Hittites. The Phoenecian got it when the Jews didn't know about it yet. Not only is iron harder than bronze, it's about 5% of the cost of a similar bronze tool. Iron is really really common. The Phoenecian at some point needed to keep a trade secret. So they invited Jews to see a ceremony, shoved a doll into a smelter while someone his behind it making baby cry sounds and the credulous Jews went home and wrote that the Phoenecian burnt children. Here's the point: you are supposed to already know what iron smelters are. You are supposed to get the joke. It's a bible story that could have been written by Monty Python. The moral is to love your enemies so they don't become cartoon monsters and you underestimate them and wind up looking idiotic.

[@stevejohnson3357]

2 things I would find interesting are the development of pottery and the precontact civilizations in the Amazon basin and central America.

[@michaelabultman3209]

I recently found a hefty nugget of float copper in a collapsed bluff alongside lake Michigan. Crazy to think how I was likely the first human to touch and see it since it had been buried there so long ago

[@RemusKingOfRome]

Copper is a very beautiful color once polished, ie many cars have copper / bronze paint. I've very interested in the tribal trade networks, these must have been vast, but this required safe passage, there must have been country wide agreements regarding traders.

[@EnCounterCultureMedia]

fantastic video! thank you for helping dispel myths about us, we are treated like cave men stuck in the stone age when in reality we used things like bones and stone for mass produced tools. Can you do a video on the armour of the northwest cultures? specifically their helmets? they all have unique shapes but i hypothesize that their shapes arent aesthetic primarily but actually primarily serve to counter different weapons and aesthetic is secondary. some things id like to add. the societies of the great lakes havent had "elites" in their societies. They have complex systems of social sanctions on all leaders, chiefs were an elected position with very neutered powers. Instead of a heirarchy like you might be thinking of where its top down, the power was held by those below them because they dont have political immunity and they can be removed if they abuse their power. The main reason for switching was because of the cheaper caloric expense like you said but you left out the important fact that because of how native copper was formed it meant its structure was very brittle and susceptible to breaking if struck with force from the wrong angle. This is why smelting makes metal so strong, because unlike native copper which have nuggets and crystals you measure in inches, but smelting turns them to micrometre big crystals which lets it pack more tightly and bond stronger. Like how carbon can be easy to crumble when its coal but when its a perfect lattice like in a diamond then its super hard. The fragility of native copper is why it fell out of tool use in specific for them, while the decorative and religious jewellery and pendants and such stuck around. Not so much because a shift in social dynamics, if you study the ojibwe and iriquoian political structures you find that egalitarianism has always been central to their philosophies, from elected cheifs, to equal distribution of goods but also things people might not know like how chiefs are expected to be generous with their wealth or theyd be seen as unfit, and even have their horded wealth taken and given to another chief the people felt suitable. I mean imagine if you could just say "im sorry mr president but we all agree you're doing a bad job lets have another election" thats crazy to us in our current society. also im not a great lakes native im across the continent from southern Alberta so im not as well read on the nations out east.

[@texasRoofDoctor]

Great stuff. If you like Alexander the Great, I highly recommend the books by Mary Renault starting with Fire from Heaven. It is fiction but she does an amazing job to take you back to Ancient Greece.