Page:Early Man in Britain and His Place in the Tertiary Period.djvu/427

] introduced into Europe, can only be discussed after we have treated of the distribution of copper and of tin.

Copper is supposed by Pliny to have derived its name from Cyprus, where it is said to have been first mined, and whence the Romans obtained the greater part of their supply (œs Cyprium). It is to be found in nearly every country in Europe, and it must have attracted attention in the earliest ages, from the beautiful green, blue, and red colours of its ores. In Britain it occurs in many places; in Cornwall, Devon, and Somerset, in Derbyshire and Cheshire, in Yorkshire, Cumberland, Westmoreland, and in Wales.

It has been worked in this country in very remote times. The Hon. W. Owen Stanley records the discovery of "two mining tools or picks" in an old mine near Llandudno, in North Wales, along with stone hammers made of large rounded pebbles, with grooves cut round them for the reception of a handle of osier.