Earliest Discovered Elements
There are currently 118 elements in the periodic table, of which 33 have no stable isotopes. The first 94 occur naturally on Earth while the remaining 24 are synthetic, formed by way of nuclear reaction.
View an interactive periodic table here
Copper was the first element to be discovered in around 9000BC. Other elements discovered before 500BC include iron, antimony, carbon, gold, silver, mercury, lead, tin and sulphur. From then until about 1600AD only arsenic, bismuth and zinc were discovered. The vast majority of elements were discovered after about 1750, at which time there were about 20 known elements.
The nineteenth century was the most prolific with the discovery of 55 elements. In November 2016 the most recently discovered elements were named. They are nihonium (Nh, element 113), moscovium (Mc 115), tennessine (Ts 117) and oganesson (Og 118).
The following elements were discovered in ancient times – pre 500BC. It should be noted that there is some disagreement as to when some elements were discovered, which is not surprising given the thousands of years that have passed.
| Element | Discovery (BC) | Oldest Sample (BC) | Discovered | Comments |
| Copper | 9000 | 6000 | Middle East | Originally used as native metal, then from smelting of ore then as bronze around 2000BC |
| Lead | 7000 | 3800 | Africa | Oldest artefact a statue of Osiris in 3800BC in Egypt |
| Gold | 6000 | 4000 | Levant | Oldest artefact in what is now Syria in about 4000BC |
| Silver | 5000 | 4000 | Asia Minor | Discovered in what is now part of Turkey, or Anatolia |
| Iron | 5000 | 4000 | Middle East | Oldest iron objects made from meteoric iro. Iron Age started in 1200BC |
| Carbon | 3750 | 2500 | Middle East | Charcoal was used to smelt metal ores and in making bronze. Diamonds were also used |
| Tin | 3500 | 2000 | Asia Minor | First smelted with copper to form bronze. A tin mine in Turkey was active until 1800BC |
| Sulphur | 2000 | 815AD | Middle East | It was used as an ointment in Egypt according to the Ebers Papyrus |
| Mercury | 1500 | 1500 | Egypt | Found in Egyptian tombs dating from 1500BC. |
| Zinc | 1000 | 1000 | India | Used as a component of brass by Indian metalurgists |
Copper axes from around 3000BC found in Hungary