Bronze Age
The term Bronze Age describes a phase in the development of material culture among ancient societies across Asia, the Near East, and Europe. An ancient civilization or culture is deemed to be part of this period if it either produced bronze by smelting its own copper and alloying it with tin, arsenic, or other metals, or traded for bronze from producing areas elsewhere. This era follows the Stone Age and precedes the Iron Age within the three-age system used by archaeologists. These technical developments took place at different times in different places, meaning each region's history is framed by a distinct chronological system. By 3000 BC, the Bronze Age had begun in much of the Old World, though some regions like Australia showed no evidence of metalworking prior to European settlements in 1788. In the Americas, a five-period system is conventionally used instead, which does not include a Bronze Age, although some cultures there did smelt copper and bronze.
Bronze Age civilizations gained a technological advantage due to bronze's harder and more durable properties compared to other metals available at the time. Tin's lower melting point and copper's moderate melting point placed both these metals within the capabilities of Neolithic pottery kilns, which date to 6000 BC and were able to produce temperatures of at least 900 degrees Celsius. The production of complex tin bronzes lasted for about 500 years in the Balkans before disappearing at the end of the 5th millennium BC. A 2013 report suggests that the earliest tin-alloy bronze was a foil dated to the mid-5th millennium BC from a Vinča culture site in Pločnik, Serbia, although this dating has been disputed. The Maykop culture of the North Caucasus produced the oldest-known bronze as early as the mid-4th millennium BC, but they only had arsenical bronze. Tin must be mined mainly as the tin ore cassiterite and smelted separately, then added to hot copper to make bronze alloy. This systematic technique required specialized knowledge and infrastructure that few societies possessed initially.
West Asia and the Near East were the first regions to enter the Bronze Age, beginning with the rise of the Mesopotamian civilization of Sumer in the mid-4th millennium BC. Cultures in the ancient Near East practiced intensive year-round agriculture and developed writing systems including cuneiform script in Mesopotamia and hieroglyphs in Egypt. These societies invented the potter's wheel and created centralized governments usually in the form of hereditary monarchies. They formulated written law codes, developed city-states, nation-states and empires, and embarked on advanced architectural projects. Societies in the region laid the foundations for astronomy, mathematics, and astrology while introducing social stratification, economic and civil administration, slavery, and organized warfare. The cities of the Ancient Near East housed several tens of thousands of people such as Ur, Kish, Isin, Larsa, and Nippur in the Middle Bronze Age. The Akkadian Empire became the dominant power in the region from 2335 to 2154 BC before its fall allowed the Sumerians a renaissance with the Neo-Sumerian Empire.
Trade routes connected distant cultures across Eurasia and Africa through extensive exchange networks for tin and copper. Early long-distance trade was limited almost exclusively to luxury goods like spices, textiles, and precious metals. The first and most extensive trade routes were along rivers such as the Nile, the Tigris, and the Euphrates which led to the growth of cities on the banks of these rivers. The later domestication of camels helped encourage trade routes overland linking the Indus Valley with the Mediterranean. This further led to towns appearing where there was an inn or port where caravan routes ended. Knowledge of navigation was well-developed by this time and reached a peak of skill not exceeded until 1730 when the invention of the chronometer enabled precise determination of longitude. Isotopic analysis of tin in some Mediterranean bronze artifacts suggests that they may have originated from Bronze Age Britain. The Aegean Bronze Age began when civilizations first established a far-ranging trade network importing tin and charcoal to Cyprus where copper was mined and alloyed with tin to produce bronze.
Bronze metallurgy developed independently in different regions with unique characteristics and traditions. In China, the earliest bronze artifacts have been found in the Majiayao culture site dating from 3100 to 2700 BC. The production of Erlitou represents the earliest large-scale metallurgy industry in the Central Plains of China. Chinese bronze artifacts generally are either utilitarian like spear points or adze heads, or ritual bronzes which are more elaborate versions in precious materials of everyday vessels. The bronzes of the Western Zhou document large portions of history not found in extant texts often composed by persons of varying rank and possibly even social class. In Southeast Asia, Ban Chiang in Thailand has bronze artifacts discovered that date to 2100 BC. Archaeological research in Northern Vietnam indicates an increase in rates of infectious disease following the advent of metallurgy. The Moche culture of South America independently discovered and developed bronze smelting while bronze technology was developed further by the Inca for utilitarian objects and sculpture.
Around 1200 BC, major Late Bronze Age societies experienced sudden systemic failure known as the Bronze Age collapse. At the end of the Bronze Age in the Aegean region, the Mycenaean administration of the regional trade empire followed the decline of Minoan primacy. Several Minoan client states lost much of their population to famine and pestilence indicating that the trade network may have failed preventing the trade that would previously have relieved such famines. Drought and famine in Anatolia may have also led to the Aegean collapse by disrupting trade networks therefore preventing the Aegean from accessing bronze and luxury goods. The Thera eruption occurred approximately 3600 years ago north of Crete with speculation including that a tsunami destroyed Cretan cities. The Aegean collapse has been attributed to the exhaustion of the Cypriot forests causing the end of the bronze trade since experiments show charcoal production on the scale necessary for late Bronze Age bronze production would have exhausted them in less than 50 years. After 1180 BC amid general turmoil in the Levant which is conjectured to have been associated with the sudden arrival of the Sea Peoples, the Hittite kingdom disintegrated into several independent Neo-Hittite city-states.
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Common questions
What defines the Bronze Age period in ancient history?
The Bronze Age describes a phase in material culture development where societies produced bronze by smelting copper and alloying it with tin, arsenic, or other metals. This era follows the Stone Age and precedes the Iron Age within the three-age system used by archaeologists.
When did the Bronze Age begin in West Asia and the Near East?
West Asia and the Near East were the first regions to enter the Bronze Age beginning with the rise of the Mesopotamian civilization of Sumer in the mid-4th millennium BC. The Maykop culture of the North Caucasus produced the oldest-known bronze as early as the mid-4th millennium BC though they only had arsenical bronze.
Which region developed bronze metallurgy independently around 3100 BC?
In China the earliest bronze artifacts have been found in the Majiayao culture site dating from 3100 to 2700 BC. The production of Erlitou represents the earliest large-scale metallurgy industry in the Central Plains of China.
Why did the Bronze Age collapse occur around 1200 BC?
Around 1200 BC major Late Bronze Age societies experienced sudden systemic failure known as the Bronze Age collapse due to factors like drought famine and disrupted trade networks. The Aegean collapse has been attributed to the exhaustion of the Cypriot forests causing the end of the bronze trade since experiments show charcoal production on the scale necessary for late Bronze Age bronze production would have exhausted them in less than 50 years.
How long did the production of complex tin bronzes last in the Balkans?
The production of complex tin bronzes lasted for about 500 years in the Balkans before disappearing at the end of the 5th millennium BC. A 2013 report suggests that the earliest tin-alloy bronze was a foil dated to the mid-5th millennium BC from a Vinča culture site in Pločnik Serbia though this dating has been disputed.