In addition to what Michael McNeil just said:
I would say rather more bronze than copper was used in the Late Bronze Age
in Egypt, some of which was containing considerable amounts of lead as an
alloying element (rather than an impurity). And as for the lead metal, they
did use it, e.g. for small cheap objects such as net sinkers of which quite
a number are known. Anybody with an idea when they started making it into
sling shot (as the Romans did), and when architectural use (plumbing proper)
started (at the latest in the Classical period)? Tin was known as a metal in
its own right as well, mostly used for making bronze, but traded as pure
metal in ingots.
Thilo Rehren
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