A a 7,500-year-old copper axe found at a neolithic site in Serbia shows that copper was being used in Europe earlier than we thought.

The find near the Serbian town of Prokuplje shifts the timeline of the Copper Age and the Stone Age’s neolithic period, archaeologist Julka Kuzmanovic-Cvetkovic told the independent Beta news agency.

‘Until now, experts said that only stone was used in the Stone Age and that the Copper Age came a bit later. Our finds, however, confirm that metal was used some 500 to 800 years earlier,’ she said.

Archaeologists excavating the site also found pots and furnaces with metal residue, suggesting people might have fabricated metal goods on the site, not just used them.