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Ancient Egyptians used so much copper, they polluted the harbor near the pyramids, study finds

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A geochemist from France 's Aix-Marseille Université studied metalworking activities in ancient Khufu Harbor .

Researchers found metal contamination peaked during late pyramid construction around 2500 BCE and persisted until about 1000 BCE .

The study traced the onset of metal contamination to around 3265 BCE , earlier than researchers anticipated.