It might be just kidding for Zara on this map. If the copper is not found, AH is almost the next target.
However, there are some cases when I find copper and the early war with axe is very profitable(for example, a close neighbor building wonders,which is possible for a map of 8 AI). In that case, AH tech is still a huge investment that I cannot afford. It might be better to go pottery->writing->alphabet(math)->currency directly if there are very few AH resources. Why not cottaging pig in those cases? It's better than grass land.
Therefore I would never ever reject any crazy idea. It may not be viable in most cases, but they have their value.