Murder Strikes Again: COPPER & GOLD

Fact File

Copper: Copper was the first metal to be used by man. The use of copper probably began with the discovery of small nuggets which could be beaten and hammered into ornaments. Then the discovery was made that these nuggets could be melted and poured into moulds to make axes, knives or ornaments. Unfortunately copper was a very soft material so the axes and knives were not so useful. In about the year 2000 BC, it was found that copper could be mixed with tin to give a much stronger metal called bronze.

Gold: Gold, also, was a very soft material but it was valued above all other metals. It could be shaped and moulded in the same way as copper and it was made into necklaces, gold collars, torcs, brooches and bracelets. Gold was found in many streams in Ireland where the force of the water washed it out of quartz rocks.

Read &Write

1. Name three kinds of metal in use in the fifth century in Ireland?

2. How can you make a copper axe?

3. What happened when copper was mixed with tin?

4. Page 35: Bran is wearing a torc. What is a torc?

5. Page 35: What did King Cathen commission the goldsmith to make for the church?

Draw…!

The Ardagh Chalice was made from copper, and the Glenisheen collar was made from gold.

See if you can find a picture of either in a book, or on the Internet, and then draw and colour the picture.

EXPLORE…!

See if you can shape a piece of tin foil into a silver torc.

You will need to put a strip of foam or some rolled up paper towels inside the foil so that it holds its shape.