Copper (Was: 10 forgotten wonders of 1980s homes

On Thu, 31 Dec 2015, Geoffrey Oltmans wrote: Almost half a century ago, there were attempts to use aluminium instead of copper for house wiring. It did not go well. "After having dug to a depth of 1,000 meters last year, French scientists found traces of copper dating back 1,000 years and came to the conclusion that their ancestors had a telephone network all those centuries ago." "Not to be outdone by the French, English scientists dug to a depth of 2,000 meters and shortly after headlines in the U.K. newspapers read: "English archeologists have found traces of 2,000-year-old fiber-optic cable and have concluded that their ancestors had an advanced high-tech digital communications network a thousand years earlier than the French." "One week later, Scottish newspapers reported the following: "After digging as deep as 5,000 meters, scientists had found absolutely nothing. They, therefore, concluded that 5,000 years ago Scots were already using wireless technology."