Ellen Lloyd - AncientPages.com - Today, Danish physicist Hans Christian Oersted is credited with aluminum's invention. In 1825, Oersted successfully separated aluminum metal from its oxide and techniques to produce aluminum in 1889.
What is not well-known is that Oersted was by no means the first person who invented aluminum.
Foundation figure of king Shulgi of Ur, carrying a basket. Metalwork-Sculpture. Image credit: - CC0
People in Mesopotamia were familiar with aluminum thousands of years ago. Aluminum was used at least 7,000 years ago, and our modern discovery of this valuable metal is nothing but a re-invention based on the knowledge our ancestors already possessed.
While excavating in Iraq, archaeologists discovered pottery produced around 5,300B.CC. These artifacts were made of clay that contained aluminum.
There is also archaeological evidence Egyptians and Babylonians used aluminum compounds in various medicines and chemicals almost 4,000 years ago.
In his writings, Pliny the Elder A.D.D 23 – 79.), a Roman scholar described an element he called alumen. It's today known as alum, a compound of aluminum widely used in the ancient and medieval world to fix dyes in textiles.
In 1959, Chinese archaeologists discovered intriguing belt buckles. Scientists wondered how our ancestors could produce these artifacts that offered evidence of advanced knowledge in metallurgy.
Ancient Chinese belt buckles revealed traces of aluminum.
In 1961, French scientists examined these belt buckles and concluded that the ancient Chinese were making aluminum through an unknown process.
We should not forget a fascinating aspect. Aluminum is the most abundant metal on the planet but requires electricity to create metal in a usable form. If our ancestors could produce aluminum they must have been familiar with electricity.
On the other hand, if that is the case, it isn't a surprise because we have seen on several occasions that our ancestors were much more advanced than previously thought.
Ancient civilizations mastered astronomy, metallurgy, medicine, engineering, and other science areas. Unfortunately, our modern world cannot take credit for many "new discoveries". Most of our so-called inventions are nothing but re-inventions.
It's possible knowledge of aluminum goes much further back in time than we can imagine. In 1974, a strange object was brought to light by a group of construction workers digging in the area of central Romania.
This mysterious object was approximately 1mm thick and covered with a layer of aluminum oxide. It's considered to be millennia old….
Written by Ellen Lloyd – AncientPages.com
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