Video argues Old World Bronze Age lacked fuel to smelt copper matching artifacts

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Key facts

• Ricardo argues that smelting enough copper to account for the artifact record would have consumed all available wood in the Old World, leaving not a single tree.
• He cites a priority order for Bronze Age fuel use: fire first, cooking and heating second, house construction third, tools fourth, and processing copper for trade last.
• The panel notes most Bronze Age charcoal was made from conifers such as pine, which burn quickly and give little heat, while hardwood charcoal is needed to reach copper smelting temperatures.
• Peat was used in Cornwall, and the panel notes Michigan and northern Indiana hold large peat deposits, but that hauling peat to the copper would have been harder than hauling finished copper.
• The fuel-shortage argument is presented as the group's own draft paper rather than an accepted result.

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