The materials for pipes used in plumbing include clay, cast-iron, and copper, far back into history. The earliest material known was clay mixed with straw. Soon after that, the Egyptians had copper pipe, though it was laboriously hand made and not in common usage. In early Germany the first cast-iron pipe can be found in a castle dating to 1455.
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The early Americans mostly did without plumbing completely until well into the 19th and even 20th centuries. But now we have arrived at a state of plumbing sophistication that requires a large assortment of modern materials, as well as the old favorites, clay, cast-iron, and copper.