In plumbing history we see the use of clay pipe, cast iron pipe, a copper pipe. In a strict historical progression, that is not quite the order of things, and that list leaves out several important materials. But the clay to cast to copper will work if a frequency of usage model is favored.
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Around 4,500 years B.C. we find the first usage of clay pipe in plumbing. Copper was not far behind though. Those old Egyptians had copper pipes soon after the earliest clay pipes are known, as early as 4,000 B.C., though these were intensively hand made and not for everyone. The use of cast iron for cannon is verified long before the use of cast iron for pipes. Cast-iron pipe was used in a castle in Germany in 1455. So really, the history of these three materials for plumbing would be this: clay, closely followed by copper, and after a span of a thousand years or more, cast iron.
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Of course, if you are planning a new bathroom or kitchen, the history of these things may not matter so much as the choice of which will work best for you. Fortunately, your local plumbing professional will know how to use all these and many modern materials as well.