The Bronze Age, the time in the development of any human
culture, before the introduction of iron, when most tools and
weapons were made of bronze.

Chronologically, the term is of strictly local value, for bronze came
into use, and was again replaced by iron, at different times in
different parts of the world. It generally succeeds a culture's Copper
Age.

Archaeological discoveries since 1960 have upset traditional
theories concerning the origins of copper and bronze technologies.
It had been thought that the use of bronze had originated in the
Middle East, but discoveries near Ban Chiang, Thailand, indicate
that bronze technology was known there as early as 4500 BC.
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Learn about this important development in human culture.
This preceded the working of bronze in the Middle East by several
hundred years. Bronze objects have been found in Asia Minor that
date from before 3000 BC. At first this alloy was used sparingly,
mostly for decorative purposes; the tin needed to make it was not
available in the region.
Regular imports of tin from Cornwall in Britain during the 2d
millennium BC, however, made possible wider use of bronze in the
Middle East, and it was eventually utilized for tools and weapons.
Raw copper was being pounded into tools and ornaments as early
as 10,000 BC. Later discoveries at Rudna Glava in Yugoslavia
have shown that copper was in use there in 4000 BC, although
bronze was not made at that time.

By 3000 BC bronze began to be used in Greece. In China the Bronze
Age did not begin until 1800 BC. The pre-Columbian civilizations
of the Americas had no bronze technology until about ad 1000.

The Bronze Age in the Middle East and the eastern Mediterranean
has been divided into three phases early, middle, and late.

The early phase is characterized by increased use of the metal,
from the sporadic to the common. It was the time of the Sumerian
civilization and the rise of Akkad to prominence in Mesopotamia; it
also generated the spectacular treasures of Troy.

Babylon reached its height of glory during the middle Bronze Age.
Minoan Crete and Mycenaean Greece were major late-Bronze-Age
civilizations. The Bronze Age there ended about 1200 BC, after
which iron technology became common.
Bronze Age Structure
Bronze Age Axe
Bronze Age Tools
Bronze Age Trade Routes
There exist in Europe the evidences of three
different ages of human development:

1. The Stone Age, which dates back to a vast antiquity. It is
subdivided into two periods: an age of rough stone
implements; and a later age, when these implements were
ground smooth and made in improved forms.

2. The Bronze Age, when the great mass of implements
were manufactured of a compound metal, consisting of about
nine parts of copper and one part of tin.

3. An age when iron superseded bronze for weapons and
cutting tools, although bronze still remained in use for
ornaments. This age continued down to what we call the
Historical Period, and embraces our present civilization; its
more ancient remains are mixed with coins of the Gauls,
Greeks, and Romans.
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