how was it used in the early days of human civilization?
Zinc ores were used to make the zinc–copper alloy brass, Judean brass from the 14th to 10th centuries BC contains 23% zinc.
Zinc
Various isolated examples of the use of impure zinc in ancient times have been discovered. Zinc ores were used to make the zinc–copper alloy brass thousands of years prior to the discovery of zinc as a separate element. Judean brass from the 14th to 10th centuries BC contains 23% zinc.

this close relative of zn is used with nickel UNANSWERABLE how does this metal look like? Zinc is a bluish-white, lustrous, diamagnetic metal, though most common commercial grades of the metal have a dull finish. where can it be found abundantly? Large deposits are in Australia, Canada and the United States, with the largest reserves in Iran.
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Zinc [SEP] Ancient use
Various isolated examples of the use of impure zinc in ancient times have been discovered. Zinc ores were used to make the zinc–copper alloy brass thousands of years prior to the discovery of zinc as a separate element. Judean brass from the 14th to 10th centuries BC contains 23% zinc. Knowledge of how to produce brass spread to Ancient Greece by the 7th century BC, but few varieties were made. Ornaments made of alloys containing 80–90% zinc, with lead, iron, antimony, and other metals making up the remainder, have been found that are 2,500 years old. A possibly prehistoric statuette containing 87.5% zinc was found in a Dacian archaeological site.