Chalcolithic

Literally, the Copper Stone Age, a period between the Neolithic (Stone Age) and the Bronze Age from 3000-2500 BC in which both stone and copper tools were used. It was a transitional phase between Stone Age technology and the Bronze Age and an increase in trade and cultural exchanges. The term is much less widely used than other divisions and subdivisions of the Three Age System partly because of the difficulty in distinguishing copper from bronze without chemical analysis partly because many areas did not have a Chalcolithic period at all.

A term used, like its alternatives Eneolithic and Copper Age, to refer to a period between the Neolithic and the Bronze Age when copper was used for tools, but not bronze (an alloy of copper and tin). The term is much less widely used than other divisions and subdivisions of the Three Age System, partly because of the difficulty in distinguishing copper from bronze without chemical analysis, partly because many areas did not have a Chalcolithic period at all. Different usages have grown up in different areas and this can cause confusion: for instance, the Italian and Spanish Chalcolithic or Copper Age cultures are equivalent — both chronologically and technically — to the Early Bronze Age in the Aegean.