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Bronze Age
Bronze Age period in the development of technology when metals were first used regularly in the manufacture of tools and weapons. Pure copper and bronze, an alloy of copper and tin, were used indiscriminately at first; this early period is sometimes called the Copper Age. The earliest use of cast metal can be deduced from clay models of weapons; casting was certainly established in the Middle East by 3500 BC Following the Neolithic period , the development of a metallurgical industry coincided with the rise of urbanization. The organized operations of mining, smelting, and casting undoubtedly required the specialization of labor and the production of surplus food to support a class of artisans, while the search for raw materials stimulated the exploration and colonization of new territories. This process culminated in the civilizations of Mesopotamia and Sumer . Later, the Minoan civilization and the Mycenaean civilization opened extensive trade routes in central Europe, where tin and copper were mined. This activity fostered native industries and political unification, especially in Hungary, Austria, and the Alpine region. It laid the foundations of the Iron Age civilization, which was to follow under Greek, Etruscan, and Scythian influences. In the New World the earliest bronze was cast in Bolivia c.AD 1100. The Inca civilization used bronze tools and weapons but never mastered iron.
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"Bronze Age." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. 13 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Bronze Age." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. (February 13, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-BronzeAg.html "Bronze Age." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2008. Retrieved February 13, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-BronzeAg.html |
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Bronze Age
Bronze Age The prehistoric period during which bronze was the principal material used for tools and weapons. The transition from the COPPER AGE is difficult to fix, as is that to the IRON AGE which followed. It is now accepted that the technological advance to bronze was made on several separate occasions between 3500 and 3000 BC in the Near East, the Balkans, and south-east Asia, and not until the 15th century AD among the Aztecs of Mexico. Knowledge of the new alloy spread slowly, mainly because of the scarcity of tin, so the Bronze Age tends to have widely different dates in different parts of the world. Indeed sub-Saharan Africa and Australasia, nearly all of America, and much of Asia never experienced a Bronze Age at all.
Although much more metal came into circulation in Bronze Age cultures, the high cost of tin led to two significant results. International trade increased greatly in order to secure supplies, and greater emphasis on social stratification is noticeable practically everywhere following the introduction of bronze, as those able to produce or obtain it strengthened their power over those without it. In the Middle East the Bronze Age developed into the Iron Age from about 1200 BC, in southern Europe from about 1000 BC, and in northern Europe from about 500 BC. The Urnfield cultures were a group of central European Bronze Age cultures associated with the Celts. Their origins are first identifiable in Hungary and Romania, dating from about the 15th century BC. They cremated their dead and placed urns of their ashes in flat graves in cemeteries. |
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"Bronze Age." A Dictionary of World History. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. 13 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Bronze Age." A Dictionary of World History. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. (February 13, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O48-BronzeAge.html "Bronze Age." A Dictionary of World History. 2000. Retrieved February 13, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O48-BronzeAge.html |
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Bronze Age
Bronze Age a prehistoric period that followed the Stone Age and preceded the Iron Age, when weapons and tools were made of bronze rather than stone.
The Bronze Age began in the Near East and SE Europe in the late 4th and early 3rd millennium bc. It is associated with the first European civilizations, the beginnings of urban life in China, and the final stages of some Meso-American civilizations, but did not appear in Africa and Australasia at all. |
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ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Bronze Age." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 13 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Bronze Age." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (February 13, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-BronzeAge.html ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Bronze Age." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Retrieved February 13, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-BronzeAge.html |
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Bronze Age
Bronze Age Period in human cultural development between the Neolithic period and the discovery of iron-working techniques (the Iron Age). In Mesopotamia, bronze tools were used from c.3200 bc and the Bronze Age lasted until c.1100 bc. In Britain, bronze was used after 2000 bc, and iron technology did not become widespread until c.500 bc.
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Cite this article
"Bronze Age." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. 13 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Bronze Age." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. (February 13, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-BronzeAge.html "Bronze Age." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Retrieved February 13, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-BronzeAge.html |
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Bronze Age
Bronze Age a prehistoric period that followed the Stone Age and preceded the Iron Age, when certain weapons and tools came to be made of bronze rather than stone. |
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Cite this article
"Bronze Age." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 13 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Bronze Age." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (February 13, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-bronzeage.html "Bronze Age." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved February 13, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-bronzeage.html |
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