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Definition: Bronze Age from Philip's Encyclopedia

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.

Bronze Age

From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide
Stage of prehistory and early history when copper and bronze (an alloy of tin and copper) became the first metals worked extensively and used for tools and weapons. One of the classifications of the Danish archaeologist Christian Thomsen's Three Age System , it developed out of the Stone Age and generally preceded the Iron Age. It first began in the Far East and may be dated 5000–1200 BC in the Middle East and about 2000–500 BC in Europe. Mining and metalworking were the first specialized industries, and the invention of the wheel during this time revolutionized transport. Agricultural productivity (which began during the New Stone Age, or Neolithic period, about 6000 BC ) was transformed by the ox-drawn plough, increasing the size of the population that could be supported by farming. In some areas, including most of Africa, there was no Bronze Age, and ironworking was introduced directly into the Stone Age economy. Metalworking The earliest use of bronze has been found in the Far East…
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The Bronze Age in northern and western Europe continued many of the developments in technology, economy, commerce, ritual, ceremony, and social complexity that began during the Late Neolithic. Long-distance trade, fueled by the demand for copper and tin to make bronze, the elaboration of mortuary…
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Full text Article Bronze Age

From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide
Stage of prehistory and early history when copper and bronze (an alloy of tin and copper) became the first metals worked extensively and used for tools and weapons. One of the classifications of the Danish archaeologist Christian Thomsen's Three Age System , it developed out of the Stone Age and…
| 581 words
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Full text Article Bronze Age

From Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
Third phase in the development of material culture among the ancient peoples of Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, following the Paleolithic and Neolithic periods and preceding the Iron Age . The term also denotes the first period in which metal was used. The date at which the age began varied by…
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Full text Article Bronze Age in ancient Greece

From Encyclopedia of the Ancient Greek World
This term used by modern archaeologists and historians describes the phase of Asian and European human prehistory that falls roughly between 3500 and 1000 BCE . Coming after the Neolithic or New Stone Age, the Bronze Age is considered to have spread from Near East to various other regions over…
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Full text Article Bronze Age

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
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…
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Full text Article Bronze Age settlement, upland Britain

From Environmental History and Global Change: A Dictionary of Environmental History
Throughout upland Britain, above levels of later improvement, late Neolithic and Bronze Age landscapes are well preserved with settlements, field systems and ritual monuments. A wave of colonization appears to have occurred between C. 2300 BC and 1800 BC , possibly due to population pressure, …
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Full text Article BRONZE AGE, The (c. 2300-c. 700 bc)

From The Welsh Academy Encyclopaedia of Wales
The beginnings of metallurgy in Europe - sometime c. 2500 bc - coincided with the appearance of a new form of pottery . In many parts of Europe, including Britain , a range of copper weapons and tools, together with examples of the new pottery, have come to light in graves dating from the period…
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The site is associated with sun worship rituals,...
Finland Criteria - Testimony to cultural tradition; Significance in human history The Sammallahdenmäki cemetery includes thirty-three burial cairns and is the largest and best cairn site in all Finland. It provides a unique insight into the funerary practices and social and religious structures of…
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Full text Article Bronze Age

From The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Houghton Mifflin
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This article provides an overview of the processes of conservation within the various stages of archaeology. The process of conservation include: examination and analysis, stabilization design and proposal, treatment application and interpretation, and data and documentation. The first known use of…
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