Archaeologists studying an ancient Spanish copper mine uncovered stone tools and new evidence of Bronze Age production; the findings suggest metal from Iberia may have travelled as far north as Scandinavia

Have you ever wondered where the things our ancestors used came from? Today, we can order almost anything from anywhere in the world, and a product can travel thousands of kilometres before reaching our doorstep. But what about people who lived thousands of years ago?

How did they find the materials they needed, and did they really have connections with communities living far away? These questions have fascinated historians and archaeologists for generations, and sometimes, a discovery at a seemingly ordinary location can tell us much more about how people lived and interacted with one another.Copper was one such material that changed the course of human history. During the Bronze Age, people mixed copper with tin to produce bronze, which was then used to make tools, weapons and ornaments.

But copper was not available everywhere, and communities often had to depend on other regions to obtain it.