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14-September-2008 18:38:49 - Bronze Age Redirected from Early Bronze Age For other uses, see Bronze Age disambiguation. Bronze Age This box: view talk ↑ Neolithic Near East 3300-1200 BC Caucasus, Anatolia, Aegean, Levant, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Elam, Sistan Bronze Age collapse India 3000-1200 BC Europe 2300-600 BC Beaker culture Unetice culture Urnfield culture Hallstatt culture Atlantic Bronze Age Bronze Age Britain Nordic Bronze Age China 2000-700 BC Korea 800-400 BC arsenical bronze writing, literature sword, chariot ↓Iron age Ceremonial giant dirk of the Plougrescant-Ommerschans type, Plougrescant, France, 1500-1300 BC. Ceremonial giant dirk of the Plougrescant-Ommerschans type, Plougrescant, France, 1500-1300 BC. The term Bronze Age refers to a period in human cultural development when the most advanced metalworking at least in systematic and widespread use included techniques for smelting copper and tin from naturally-occurring outcroppings of copper and tin ores, creating a bronze alloy by melting those metals together, and casting them into bronze artifacts. These naturally-occurring ores typically included arsenic as a common impurity. Copper/tin ores are rare, as reflected in the fact that there were no tin bronzes in western Asia before 3000 BC. The Bronze Age is regarded as the second part of three-age system for prehistoric societies though there are some cultures that have extensively written records during the Bronze Age. In this system, it follows the Neolithic in some areas of the world. On the other hand, in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa, the Neolithic is directly followed by the Iron Age.citation needed In some parts of the world, a Copper Age follows the Neolithic and precedes the Bronze Age. Contents 1 Origins 2 Near East 2.1 Mesopotamia 2.2 Ancient Egypt 2.3 Levant 2.4 Anatolia 2.5 Aegean 2.6 Persian Plateau 2.7 Collapse 3 Indus valley 4 East Asia 4.1 China 4.2 Southeast Asia 4.3 Korean peninsula 5 Europe 5.1 Central Europe 5.2 Caucasus 5.3 Great Britain 5.3.1 Bronze Age boats 5.4 Ireland 6 Notes 7 References 8 See also 9 External links Origins The place and time of the invention of bronze are controversial and it is possible that bronzing was invented independently in multiple places. The earliest known tin bronzes are from what is now Iran and Iraq and date to the late 4th millennium BC. Arsenical bronzes were made in Anatolia and on both sides of the Caucasus by the early 3rd millennium BC. Some scholars date some arsenical bronze artifacts of the Maykop culture in the North Caucasus as far back as the mid 4th millennium BC, which would make them the oldest known bronzes, but others date the same Maykop artifacts to the mid 3rd millennium BC. Arsenic bronze however is a naturally occurring alloy, in contrary to the later used tin bronze. Tin had to be delved and smelted separately mainly as the tin ore cassiterite, and added to the molten copper to make the alloy. Near East Main article: Ancient Near East Periodization for the Bronze Age in the Ancient Near East is as follows: Bronze Age 3300-1200 BC Early Bronze Age 3300-2000 BC Early Bronze Age I 3300-3000 BC Early Bronze Age II 3000-2700 BC Early Bronze Age III 2700-2200 BC Early Bronze Age IV 2200-2000 BC Middle Bronze Age 2000-1550 BC Middle Bronze Age I 2000-1750 BC Middle Bronze Age II 1750-1650 BC Middle Bronze Age III 1650-1550 BC Late Bronze Age 1550-1200 BC Late Bronze Age I 1550-1400 BC Late Bronze Age II A 1400-1300 BC Late Bronze Age II B 1300-1200 BC Mesopotamia In Mesopotamia, the Bronze Age begins in the late Uruk period, spanning the Early Dynastic period of Sumer, the Akkadian Empire, the Old Babylonian and Old Assyrian periods and the period of Kassite hegemony. Ancient Egypt In Ancient Egypt, the Bronze Age begins in the Protodynastic period. Early Bronze Age Early Dynastic Period of Egypt Old Kingdom First Intermediate Period of Egypt Middle Bronze Age Middle Kingdom of Egypt Second Intermediate Period of Egypt Hyksos Late Bronze Age New Kingdom Levant Main article: Bronze Age Levant Further information: Canaan, Pre-history of the Southern Levant, and List of archaeological periods Levant Early Bronze Age Ebla Middle Bronze Age Amorites Late Bronze Age Mitanni Ugarit Aramaeans Anatolia Main article: Bronze Age Anatolia Hittite Empire Arzawa Assuwa Aegean Main article: Aegean Bronze Age Bronze Age copper ingot found in Crete. Bronze Age copper ingot found in Crete. The Aegean Bronze Age begins around 3000 BC when civilizations first 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. Isotopic analysis of the tin in some Merranean bronze objects indicates it came from as far away as Great Britain.citation needed 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 AD 1750, with the notable exception of the Polynesian sailors. The Minoan civilization based from Knossos 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 authoritiescitation needed believe that ancient empires were prone to misvalue staples in favor of luxuries, and thereby perish by famines created by uneconomic trading. Persian Plateau Further information: Persian plateau Elam Konar Sandal Kulli culture Tappeh Sialk BMAC Collapse Main article: Bronze Age collapse How the Bronze Age ended in this region is still being studied. There is evidence that 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 breadbasket 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. Mycenaean sword found in Eastern Europe Mycenaean sword found in Eastern Europe Recent research has discred the theory that exhaustion of the 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 Knossos itself. The Thera eruption occurred at this time, 110 kilometers 70 mi north of Crete. 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 naval battles; so that in the LMIB/LMII event c. 1450 BC the cities of Crete burned and the Mycenaean civilization took over Knossos. If the eruption occurred in the late 17th century BC as most chronologists now think, then its immediate effects belong to the Middle Bronze to Late Bronze Age transition, and not to the end of the Late Bronze Age; but it could have triggered the instability that led to the collapse first of Knossos and then of Bronze Age society overall. One such theory looks to the role of Cretan expertise in administering the empire, post-Thera. If this expertise was concentrated in Crete, then the Mycenaeans may have made crucial political and commercial mistakes when administering the Cretans' empire. More recent archaeological findings, including on the island of Thera more commonly known today as Santorini, suggest that the center of Minoan Civilization at the time of the eruption was actually on this island rather than on Crete. Some think that this was the fabled Atlantis a map drawn on a wall of a Minoan palace in Crete depicts an island similar to that described by Plato and similar too to the form Thera very likely had prior to its explosion. According to this theory, the catastrophic loss of the political, administrative and economic center by the eruption as well as the damage wrought by the tsunami to the coastal towns and villages of Crete precipitated the decline of the Minoans. A weakened political entity with a reduced economic and military capability and fabled riches would have then been more vulnerable to human predators. Indeed, the Santorini Eruption is usually dated to c. 1630 BC. And, the Mycenaean Greeks first enter the historical record a few decades later c. 1600 BC. Thus, the later Mycenaean assaults on Crete c.1450 BC and Troy c.1250 BC are revealed as but continuations of the steady encroachments of the Greeks upon the weakened Minoan world. Each of these theories is persuasive, and aspects of all of them may have some validity in describing the end of the Bronze Age in this region. Indus valley Main article: Indus Valley civilization The Bronze Age on the Indian subcontinent began around 3300 BC with the beginning of the Indus Valley civilization. Inhabitants of the ancient Indus Valley, the Harappans, developed new techniques in metallurgy and produced copper, bronze, lead and tin. The Indian Bronze Age ends at the start of the Iron Age Vedic Period 1500-500 BC. This is during the Harappan culture, which dates from 1700 BC to 1300 BC, that overlaps the transition period between the Bronze Age, and the Iron Age period. As a result, it is difficult to pinpoint the true end of the Indian Bronze Age. East Asia A two-handled bronze gefuding gui, from the Chinese Shang Dynasty 1600-1046 BC. A two-handled bronze gefuding gui, from the Chinese Shang Dynasty 1600-1046 BC. China Historians disagree about the dates that should be attached to a Bronze Age in China. The difficulty lies in the term Bronze Age itself, as it has been applied to signify a period in European and Middle Eastern history when bronze tools replaced stone tools, and were later replaced by iron ones. In those places, the medium of the new Age made that of the old obsolete. In China, however, any attempt to establish a definite set of dates for a Bronze Age is complicated by two factors: the early arrival of iron smelting technology and the persistence of bronze in tools, weapons and sacred vessels. The earliest bronze artifacts are found in the Majiayao culture site between 3100 and 2700 BC, and from then on the society gruadually grew into the Bronze Age Bronze metallurgy in China originated in what is referred to as the Erlitou also Erh-li-t'ou period, which some historians argue places it within the range of dates controlled by the Shang dynasty.1 Others believe the Erlitou sites belong to the preceding Xia also Hsia dynasty.2 The U.S. National Gallery of Art defines the Chinese Bronze Age as the period between about 2000 BC and 771 BC, a period that begins with Erlitou culture and ends abruptly with the disintegration of Western Zhou rule.3 Though this provides a concise frame of reference, it overlooks the continued importance of bronze in Chinese metallurgy and culture. Since this is significantly later than the discovery of bronze in Mesopotamia, bronze technology could have been imported rather than discovered independently in China.citation needed4 Chinese pu bronze vessel with interlaced dragon design, Spring and Autumn Period 722-481 BC Chinese pu bronze vessel with interlaced dragon design, Spring and Autumn Period 722-481 BC Iron is found in the Zhou period, but its use is minimal. Chinese literature dating to the 6th century BC attests a knowledge of iron smelting, possibly making iron a Chinese invention, yet bronze continues to occupy the seat of significance in the archaeological and historical record for some time after this.5 Historian W. C. White argues that iron did not supplant bronze at any period before the end of the Zhou dynasty 481 BC and that bronze vessels make up the majority of metal vessels all the way through the Later Han period, or through AD 221.6 The Chinese bronze artifacts generally are either utilitarian, like spear points or adze heads, or ritualistic, like the numerous large sacrificial tripods. However, even some of the most utilitarian objects bear the markings of more sacred items. The Chinese inscribed all kinds of bronze items with three main motif types: demons, symbolic animals, and abstract symbols.7 Some large bronzes also bear inscriptions that have helped historians and archaeologists piece together the history of China, especially during the Zhou period. The bronzes of the Western Zhou period document large portions of history not found in the extant texts, and often were composed by persons of varying rank and possibly even social class. Further, the medium of cast bronze lends the record they preserve a permanence not enjoyed by manuscripts.8 These inscriptions can commonly be subdivided into four parts: a reference to the date and place, the naming of the event commemorated, the list of gifts given to the artisan in exchange for the bronze, and a dedication.9 The relative points of reference these vessels provide have enabled historians to place most of the vessels within a certain time frame of the Western Zhou period, allowing them to trace the evolution of the vessels and the events they record.10 Southeast Asia Song Da bronze drum's surface, Dong Son culture, Vietnam Song Da bronze drum's surface, Dong Son culture, Vietnam In Ban Chiang, Thailand, Southeast Asia bronze artifacts have been discovered dating to 2100 BC.11 In Nyaunggan, Burma bronze tools have been excavated along with ceramics and stone artefacts. Dating is still currently broad 3500-500 BC.12 Korean peninsula Main article: Mumun Pottery Period The Middle Mumun pottery period culture of the southern Korean Peninsula gradually adopted bronze production c. 700-600? BC after a period when Liaoning-style bronze daggers and other bronze artifacts were exchanged as far as the interior part of the Southern Peninsula c. 900-700 BC. The bronze daggers lent prestige and authority to the personages who wielded and were buried with them in high-status megalithic burials at south-coastal centres such as the Igeum-dong site.13 Bronze was an important element in ceremonies and as for mortuary offerings until 100. Europe Main article: Bronze Age Europe Central Europe Bronze Age weaponry and ornaments Bronze Age weaponry and ornaments In Central Europe, the early Bronze Age Unetice culture 1800-1600 BC includes numerous smaller groups like the Straubing, Adlerberg and 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 1600-1200 BC Tumulus culture, which is characterised by inhumation burials in tumuli barrows. In the eastern Hungarian Körös tributaries, the early Bronze Age first saw the introduction of the Mako culture, followed by the Ottomany and Gyulavarsand cultures. The late Bronze Age Urnfield culture, 1300-700 BC is characterized by cremation burials. It includes the Lusatian culture in eastern Germany and Poland 1300-500 BC that continues into the Iron Age. The Central European Bronze Age is followed by the Iron Age Hallstatt culture 700-450 BC. Important sites include: Biskupin Poland Nebra Germany Vráble Slovakia Zug-Sumpf, Zug, Switzerland Caucasus Some scholars date some arsenical bronze artifacts of the Maykop culture in the North Caucasus as far back as the mid 4th millennium BC.14 Great Britain Main article: Bronze Age Britain In Great Britain, the Bronze Age is considered to have been the period from around 2100 to 750 BC. Migration 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 migrants came from the area of modern Switzerland. The Beaker culture displayed different behaviours from the earlier Neolithic people and cultural change was significant. 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 farms developed in the lowlands that 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. 1400-1100 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 barrows also commonly known and marked on modern British Ordnance Survey maps as Tumuli, or sometimes in cists covered with cairns. The greatest quantities of bronze objects found in England were discovered in East Cambridgeshire, where the most important finds were recovered in Isleham more than 6500 pieces.15 Bronze Age boats Dover bronze age boat - the earliest known sea-going plank-built vessel Ferriby Boats Langdon Bay hoard - see also Dover Museum Divers unearth Bronze Age hoard off the coast of Devon Moor Sands finds, including a remarkably well preserved and complete sword which has parallels with material from the Seine basin of northern France Ireland The Bronze Age in Ireland commenced in the centuries around 2000 BC when copper was alloyed with tin and used to manufacture Ballybeg type flat axes and associated metalwork. The preceding period is known as the Copper Age and is characterised by the production of flat axes, daggers, halberds and awls in copper. The period is divided into three phases: Early Bronze Age 2000-1500 BC, Middle Bronze Age 1500-1200 BC, and Late Bronze Age 1200 - c. 500 BC. Ireland is also known for a relatively large number of Early Bronze Age burials. One of the characteristic type of artifact of the Early Bronze Age in Ireland is the flat axe. There are five main types of flat axes: Lough Ravel c. 2200 BC, Ballybeg c. 2000 BC, Killaha c. 2000 BC, Ballyvalley c. 2000-1600 BC, Derryniggin c. 1600 BC, and a number of metal ingots in the shape of axes.16 Notes ^ Chang, K. C.: Studies of Shang Archaeology, pp. 6-7, 1. Yale University Press, 1982. ^ Chang, K. C.: Studies of Shang Archaeology, p. 1. Yale University Press, 1982. ^ http://www.nga.gov/education/chinatp_pt2.shtm Teaching Chinese Archaeology, Part Two - NGA ^ Li-Liu; The Chinese Neolithic, Cambridge University Press, 2005 ^ Barnard, N.: Bronze Casting and Bronze Alloys in Ancient China, p. 14. The Australian National University and Monumenta Serica, 1961. ^ White, W. C.: Bronze Culture of Ancient China, p. 208. University of Toronto Press, 1956. ^ Erdberg, E.: Ancient Chinese Bronzes, p. 20. Siebenbad-Verlag, 1993. ^ Shaughnessy, E. L.: Sources of Western Zhou History, pp. xv-xvi. University of California Press, 1982. ^ Shaughnessy, E. L. Sources of Western Zhou History, pp. 76-83. University of California Press, 1982. ^ Shaughnessy, E. L. Sources of Western Zhou History, p. 107 ^ Bronze from Ban Chiang, Thailand: A view from the Laboratory ^ Nyaunggan City - Archaeological Sites in Myanmar ^ â–’â–’â–’â–’ ê²½ë‚¨ê³ ê³ í•™ì—°êµ¬ì†Œ â–’â–’â–’â–’ ^ http://budgetcastingsupply.com/images/C873-Silicon-Bronze.jpg ^ Hall and Coles, p. 81-88. ^ Waddell; Eogan. References Eogan, George 1983 The hoards of the Irish later Bronze Age, Dublin : University College, 331p., ISBN 0-901120-77-4 Hall, David and Coles, John 1994 Fenland survey : an essay in landscape and persistence, Archaeological report 1, London : English Heritage, 170 p., ISBN 1-85074-477-7 Pernicka, E., Eibner, C., Öztunah, Ö., Wagener, G.A. 2003 Early Bronze Age Metallurgy in the Northeast Aegean, In: Wagner, G.A., Pernicka, E. and Uerpmann, H-P. eds, Troia and the Troad : scientific approaches, Natural science in archaeology, Berlin; London : Springer, ISBN 3-540-43711-8, p. 143-172 Waddell, John 1998 The prehistoric archaeology of Ireland, Galway University Press, 433 p., ISBN 1-901421-10-4 See also Synoptic table of the principal old world prehistoric cultures Bronze Age collapse Three age system External links Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Bronze Age. Web index Bronze Age in Europe Ancient tin: old question and a new answer Pretanic World - Bronze Age Britain Pretanic World - Bronze Age Ireland Bronze Age Experimental Archeology and Museum Reproductions Hypothetical reconstruction of a Lusatian culture settlement, raised using only bronze age tools - Wola Radziszowska near Cracow - Poland Umha Aois - Reconstructed Bronze Age metal casting Umha Aois - ancient bronze casting videoclip Reconstructing the Danish Trundholm Sun Chariot Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Bronze Age v d e Three-age system Stone Age · Bronze Age · Iron Age List of archaeological periods Retrieved from http://en..org/wiki/Bronze_Age Categories: Bronze AgeHidden categories: All articles with statements | Articles with statements since August 2007 | Articles with statements since March 2007 | Articles with statements since March 2008 Views Article Discussion this page History Personal tools Log in / create account Navigation Main page Contents Featured content Current events Random article Search Go Search Interaction Community portal Recent changes Contact Donate to Help Toolbox What links here Related changes Upload file Special pages Printable version Permanent link Cite this page Languages Afrikaans العربية Aragonés Asturianu বাংলা БеларуÑ?каÑ? Bosanski Brezhoneg БългарÑ?ки Català Чăвашла ÄŒesky Cymraeg Dansk Deutsch Eesti Ελληνικά Español Esperanto Euskara Ù?ارسی Français Frysk Galego í•œêµì–´ हिनà¥?दी Hrvatski Bahasa Indonesia Ã?slenska Italiano עברית ქáƒ?რთული Қазақша Latina LatvieÅ¡u Lietuvių Limburgs Magyar МакедонÑ?ки Bahasa Melayu Nederlands Nedersaksisch 日本語 ‪Norsk bokmÃ¥l‬ ‪Norsk nynorsk‬ Occitan Piemontèis Plattdüütsch Polski Português Română РуÑ?Ñ?кий Sicilianu Simple English SlovenÄ?ina SlovenÅ¡Ä?ina СрпÑ?ки / Srpski Srpskohrvatski / СрпÑ?кохрватÑ?ки Suomi Svenska தமிழà¯? తెలà±?à°—à±? ไทย Tiếng Việt Тоҷикӣ Türkçe УкраїнÑ?ька West-Vlams 粵語 ŽemaitÄ—Å¡ka ä¸æ–‡ This page was last modified on 14 September 2008, at 02:05
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