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Bronze Age
*** Shopping-Tip: Bronze Age
:''This article is about the archaeological era, for the era in
Classical mythology see
Ages of Man''
:''For the comic book published by Image Comics, see
Age of Bronze (comics)''
The '''Bronze Age''' is a period in a
civilization's development when the most advanced
metalworking (at least in systematic and widespread use) consisted of techniques for
smelting copper and
tin from naturally occurring outcroppings of ore, and then
alloys alloying those metals in order to cast
bronze. The Bronze Age is part of the
three-age system for
prehistory prehistoric societies. In that system, it follows the
neolithic in some areas of the world. In most parts of
Sub-Saharan Africa, the
neolithic is directly followed by the '
iron age'.
Origins
The earliest evidence of bronze metalworking dates to the mid
4th millennium Maykop culture in the
Caucasus. From there, the technology spread rapidly to the Near East and after some time to the
Indus Valley Civilization (see
Meluhha).
Aegean Bronze Age
Image:Copper Ingot Crete.jpg Crete.html" title="Meaning of thumb thumb|200px|Bronze Age copper ingot found in [[Crete..html" title="Meaning of 200px|Bronze Age copper ingot found in [[Crete">thumb|200px|Bronze Age copper ingot found in [[Crete.">200px|Bronze Age copper ingot found in [[Crete">thumb|200px|Bronze Age copper ingot found in [[Crete.
The
Aegean civilization Aegean bronze age civilisations established a far-ranging
trade network. This network imported
tin and charcoal to
Cyprus, where
copper was mined and alloyed with the tin to produce bronze. Bronze objects were then exported far and wide, and supported the trade.
Isotope Isotopic analysis of the tin in some
Mediterranean bronze objects indicates it came from as far away as
Great Britain.{{fact}}
Knowledge of
navigation was well developed at this time, and reached a peak of skill not exceeded until a method was discovered (or perhaps rediscovered) to determine
longitude around
1750.
The
Minoan civilization appears to have coordinated and defended its bronze-age trade.
One crucial lack in this period was that modern methods of accounting were not available. Numerous authorities believe that ancient empires were prone to misvalue
staples in favor of
luxury luxuries, and thereby perish by famines created by
uneconomic trade uneconomic trading.
How the bronze age ended in this region is still being studied. There is evidence that
Mycenaean Greece Mycenaean administration of the regional trade empire followed the decline of Minoan primacy. Evidence also exists that supports the assumption that several Minoan
client-states lost large portions of their respective populations to extreme famines and/or pestilence, which in turn would indicate that the trade network may have failed at some point, preventing the trade that would have previously relieved such famines and prevented some forms of illness (by nutrition). It is also known that the
bread-basket of the Minoan empire, the area north of the
Black Sea, also suddenly lost significant portions of its population, and thus probably some degree of cultivation in this era.
Recent research has discredited the theory that exhaustion of the
Cyprus Cypriot forests caused the end of the bronze trade. The Cypriot forests are known to have existed into later times, and experiments have shown that
charcoal production on the scale necessary for the bronze production of the late bronze age would have exhausted them in less than fifty years.
One theory says that as
iron tools became more common, the main justification of the tin trade ended, and that trade network ceased to function as it once did. The individual colonies of the Minoan empire then suffered drought, famine, war, or some combination of these three factors, and thus they had no access to the far-flung resources of an empire by which they could easily recover.
Another family of theories looks to the volcanic explosion of
Thera, which occurred shortly before the end of the bronze age. Thera is about 40 miles north of
Crete, which was at the time the capital of the Minoan empire. Some authorities speculate that a
tsunami from Thera destroyed Cretan cities. Others say that perhaps a tsunami destroyed the Cretan
navy in its home harbor, which then lost crucial battles with the
Mycenaean navy, so that a former
colony took over the empire.
Yet another theory looks to the possible loss of Cretan expertise in administering the Empire. If this expertise was concentrated in Crete, and simply became discredited by military failure, then the
Mycenaeans may have made crucial political and commercial mistakes when administering their empire.
All of these theories are persuasive, and aspects of all of them may have some validity in describing the end of the bronze age in this region.
Central European Bronze Age
Image:Bronze age weapons Romania.jpg thumb|right|Bronze age weaponry
In
Central Europe, the early Bronze Age
Unetice culture (
18th century BC 1800-
16th century BC 1600 BC) includes numerous smaller groups like the
Straubingen culture Straubingen,
Adlerberg culture Adlerberg and
Hatvan Hatvan cultures. Some very rich burials, such as the one located at
Leubingen with grave gifts crafted from gold, point to an increase of social stratification already present in the Unetice culture. All in all, cemeteries of this period are rare and of small size. The Unetice culture is followed by the middle Bronze Age (
16th century BC 1600-
12th century BC 1200 BC)
Tumulus culture, which is characterised by inhumation burials in
tumuli (barrows). In the eastern
Hungary Hungarian Körös tributaries, the early Bronze Age first saw the introduction of the
Mako culture, followed by the
Ottomany culture Ottomany and
Gyulavarsand culture Gyulavarsand cultures.
The late Bronze Age
urnfield culture, (
13th century BC 1300 BC-
700s BC 700 BC) is characterized by cremation burials. It includes the
Lusatian culture in eastern
Germany and
Poland ((
1300 BC 1300-
500 BC) that continues into the
Iron Age. The Central European bronze age is followed by the iron age
Hallstatt culture (
700s BC 700-
450 BC).
list of archaeological sites Important sites include:
*
Biskupin (Poland)
*
Nebra (Germany)
* Zug-Sumpf,
Zug,
Switzerland
Nordic Bronze Age (1500-500 BC)
{{main|Nordic Bronze Age}}
In northern
Germany,
Denmark,
Sweden and
Norway, Bronze Age inhabitants manufactured many distinctive and beautiful artifacts, such as the pairs of
lurer horns discovered in Denmark. Some linguists believe that a
proto-Indo-European language was probably introduced to the area around
20th century BC 2000 BC, which eventually became the ancestor of the
Germanic languages. This would fit with the evolution of the Nordic bronze age into the most probably Germanic
pre-Roman iron age.
The age is divided into the periods I-VI according to
Oscar Montelius. Period Montelius V already belongs to the
Iron Age in other regions.
British Bronze Age
In
Great Britain, the Bronze Age is considered to have been the period from around
21st century BC 2100 to
8th century BC 700 BC.
Immigration brought new people to the islands from the continent, recent tooth enamel isotope research on bodies found in early Bronze Age graves around
Stonehenge indicate that at least some of the immigrants came from the area of modern
Switzerland. The
Beaker people displayed different behaviours from the earlier
Neolithic people and cultural change was significant although integration is thought to have been peaceful as many of the early
henge sites were seemingly adopted by the newcomers. The rich
Wessex culture developed in southern Britain at this time. Additionally, the climate was deteriorating, where once the weather was warm and dry it became much wetter as the bronze age continued, forcing the population away from easily-defended sites in the hills and into the fertile valleys. Large livestock ranches developed in the lowlands which appear to have contributed to economic growth and inspired increasing forest clearances. The
Deverel-Rimbury culture began to emerge in the second half of the 'Middle Bronze Age' (c.
1400 BC 1400-
1100 BC) to exploit these conditions.
Cornwall was a major source of
tin for much of western Europe and
copper was extracted from sites such as the
Great Orme mine in northern
Wales. Social groups appear to have been tribal but with growing complexity and hierarchies becoming apparent.
Also, the burial of dead (which until this period had usually been communal) became more individual. For example, whereas in the Neolithic a large
chambered cairn or
long barrow was used to house the dead, the 'Early Bronze Age' saw people buried in individual
tumulus barrows (also commonly known and marked on modern British Ordnance Survey maps as Tumuli), or sometimes in
cists covered with
cairns.
Bronze Age boats
*
North Ferriby
*
Dover#Bronze Age Dover - see also
Dover Museum
*
Dover#Bronze Age Langdon Bay hoard - see also
Dover Museum
Near Eastern Bronze Age
The Bronze Age in the Near East is divided into three main periods (the dates are very approximate):
* EBA - Early Bronze Age (c.3500-2000 BC)
* MBA - Middle Bronze Age (c.2000-1600 BC)
* LBA - Late Bronze Age (c.1600-1200 BC)
Each main period can be divided into shorter subcategories such as EB I, EB II, MB IIa etc.
Metallurgy developed first in
Anatolia, modern
Turkey. The mountains in the Anatolian highland possessed rich deposits of copper and tin. Copper was also mined in
Cyprus,
Egypt, the
Negev desert,
Iran and around the
Persian Gulf. Copper was usually mixed with arsenic, yet the growing demand for tin resulted in the establishment of distant trade routes in and out of Anatolia. The precious copper was also imported by sea routes to the great kingdoms of
Ancient Egypt and
Mesopotamia.
The Early Bronze Age saw the rise of urbanization into organized city states and the invention of writing (the
Uruk period in the fourth millennium BC). In the Middle Bronze Age movements of people partially changed the political pattern of the Near East (
Amorites,
Hittites,
Hurrians,
Hyksos and possibly the
Israelites). The Late Bronze Age is characterized by competing powerful kingdoms and their vassal states (
Ancient Egypt,
Assyria,
Babylonia,
Hittites,
Mitanni). Extensive contacts were made with the
Aegean civilization (
Ahhiyawa,
Alashiya) in which the copper trade played an important role.
Iron began to be worked already in Late Bronze Age Anatolia. The transition into the Iron Age c.1200 BC was more of a political change in the Near East rather than of new developments in metalworking.
Asia
China's bronze age began from around 2100? BC during the
Xia dynasty. In
Ban Chiang,
Thailand, (
Southeast Asia) bronze
Artifact (archaeology) artifacts have been discovered dating to
21st century BC 2100 BC [http://www.museum.upenn.edu/new/research/Exp_Rese_Disc/Asia/banchiang/bronzelab/index.shtml].
The
Erlitou culture,
Shang Dynasty and
Sanxingdui Sanxingdui culture of early
China used bronze vessels for rituals as well as farming implements and weapons [http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/chbro_bron.shtm].
The Middle
Mumun pottery period culture of the southern
Korean Peninsula gradually adopted bronze production circa [700-600?] BC after a period when Liaoning-style bronze daggers and other bronze artefacts were exchanged as far as the interior part of the Southern Peninsula (circa 900-700 B.C.). Bronze was an important element in ceremonies and as for mortuary offerings until AD 100.
Bibliography
*Pernicka, E., G.A. Wagner, et al. "''Early Bronze Age Metallurgy in the Northeast Aegean.''" in
Troia and the troad: scientific approaches. Berlin, London: Springer; 2003. pp. 143-172. ISBN 3540437118
External links
-
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Crete/4162/
Web index Bronze Age in Europe
-
Back to the Bronze Age?
{{threeagesystem}}
Category:Bronze Age *
Category:Prehistory
Category:Periods and stages in archaeology
af:Bronstyd
ar:عصر برونزي
ast:Edá de Bronce
cy:Yr Oes Efydd
da:Bronzealder
de:Bronzezeit
el:Εποχή του ΧαλκοÏ?
es:Edad de Bronce
eo:Bronzepoko
fr:Âge du bronze
gl:Idade de Bronce
ko:ì²ë?™ê¸° 시대
id:Zaman Perunggu
it:Età del bronzo
he:תקופת ×”×‘×¨×•× ×–×”
lv:Bronzas laikmets
nl:Bronstijd
nds:Bronzetiet
ja:�銅器時代
no:Bronsealderen
pl:Epoka brÄ…zu
pt:Idade do bronze
ru:Бронзовый век
simple:Bronze Age
sr:Бронзано доба
sv:Bronsåldern
uk:Бронзовий вік
zh:�铜时代
see
Bronze Age
Category:Periods and stages in archaeology
Category:Prehistory
Category:3rd millennium BC
Category:2nd millennium BC
da:Kategori:Bronzealder
de:Kategorie:Bronzezeit
es:CategorÃa:Edad de Bronce
pt:categoria:Idade do Bronze
ru:КатегориÑ?:Бронзовый век
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