Age-Old Problem: River in Jordan Polluted by Copper 7,000 Years Ago

The first river polluted by humanity may have been discovered in Jordan, contaminated by copper about 7,000 years ago, a new study finds. Scientists examined a now-dry riverbed in the Wadi Faynan region of southern Jordan. Archaeologist Russell Adams at the University of Waterloo in Canada and his colleagues have been studying the area for more than 25 years to learn more about a critical turning point in history — the origins of metallurgy, when humans began moving from making tools out o