This paper presents groundbreaking evidence of the first copper mining in
the Balkans that occurred during the apparent metal production ‘bust’
and societal collapse in the 4th millennium BC. The copper mine at Curak
in southwest Serbia was exploited from c. 3800 cal BC and an integrated
approach encompassing a detailed survey of the area, field excavations
and a suite of provenance analyses was applied in identification of its
activities. The paper then evaluates the results against the recently
published and now extensive data surrounding early copper mining across
Europe to explore models of technological transmission and metal
production
