COPPER PLAYS AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN PRESERVING HUMAN HISTORY AND CULTURE

Copper has an attractive golden color which varies with the copper content. It is an extremely good conductor of both heat and electricity and can be polished to a bright finish. It has low chemical reactivity. In moist air it slowly forms a greenish surface film called patina; this coating protects the metal from further attack. Copper is a ductile metal. This means that it can easily be shaped into pipes and drawn into wires. Copper is the best material for making cast products. Bronze is harder than pure iron and far more resistant to corrosion.
Due to its properties, copper and its alloy have played an important role in many civilizations and contribute to the human history and culture studies throughout human civilization for thousands of years.

·   Historically, copper was the first metal to be machined by people. Copper was heated and mold-casted into shapes in Egypt around 4000 B.C. In 3500 B.C, Fire and charcoal were used to smelt ores, and copper was alloyed with tin to create bronze, giving rise to the Bronze Age. The Egyptians used it for weapons, armor, tools and, most famously, sculptures. It is particularly well-suited for sculpture because it expands when heated (filling the nooks and crannies of a mold), then contracts as it cools so the sculpture is easy to remove from the mold.
·   Copper and copper alloys in particular, were used for coinage as early as the 3rd century BCE. Since the time of the Ancient Romans, copper has spread throughout the world and its use in coinage is global. 
·   Dong Son drum is a symbol and a sacred item, bearing with them all the typical cultural characteristics of Vietnamese civilization in the ancient time. The drums were produced from about 600 BC or earlier until the third century AD. The Dong Son bronze drum is a product of the excellent bronze-casting technique of the ancient Viet people. It is meticulously carved with complicated flower patterns, providing a lively description of the society, its people, their daily chores as well as their spiritual life and ceremonial activities.
Bronze is used in the construction of sculptures, musical instruments and medals, and in industrial applications such as bushings and bearings, medical tools, electrical materials decoration applications, door lock, machining spare parts. America’s most iconic sculpture, the Statue of Liberty, is also derived from copper.