View source for Bronze Age

{{Short description|Historical period (c. 3300–1200 BCE)}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Use British English|date=November 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}
{{Bronze Age|260}}
{{History of technology sidebar}}
[[File:AlacaStandarte.jpg|thumb|One of the [[Alaca Höyük bronze standards]] from a pre-Hittite tomb dating to the 3rd millennium&nbsp;BC, from the [[Museum of Anatolian Civilizations]] in [[Ankara]]]]

The '''Bronze Age''' is an [[Archaeology|archaeological]] and [[Anthropology|anthropological]] term defining a phase in the development of [[material culture]] among ancient societies in [[History of Asia#Ancient|Asia]], the [[Ancient Near East|Near East]] and [[Bronze Age Europe|Europe]]. An [[ancient civilisation]] is deemed to be part of the Bronze Age if it either produced [[bronze]] by [[smelting]] its own [[copper]] and [[alloy]]ing it with [[tin]], [[arsenic]], or other metals, or traded other items for bronze from producing areas elsewhere. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of the [[three-age system]], following the [[Stone Age]] and preceding the [[Iron Age]]. Conceived as a global era, the Bronze Age follows the [[Neolithic]] ("New Stone") period, with a transition period between the two known as the [[Chalcolithic]] ("copper-Stone") Age. These technical developments took place at different times in different places, and therefore each region's history is framed by a different chronological system.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=The Metal Ages |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/history-of-Europe/The-Metal-Ages |date=16 September 2024}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last= |first= |display-authors= |date=17 June 2025 |title=Bronze Age |url=https://www.britannica.com/event/Bronze-Age |journal=Encyclopedia Britannica |volume=17 |access-date=28 June 2025}}</ref>

Bronze Age cultures were the first to [[History of writing|develop writing]]. According to archaeological evidence, cultures in [[Mesopotamia]], which used [[cuneiform]] script, and [[Ancient Egypt|Egypt]], which used [[hieroglyphs]], developed the earliest practical writing systems. In the [[archaeology of the Americas]], a five-period system is conventionally used instead, which does not include a Bronze Age, though some cultures there did smelt copper and bronze. There was no metalworking on the Australian continent prior to the establishment of European settlements in 1788.  

In many areas bronze continued to be rare and expensive, mainly because of difficulties in obtaining enough tin, which occurs in relatively few places, unlike the very common copper. Some societies appear to have gone through much of the Bronze Age using bronze only for weapons or elite art, such as [[Chinese ritual bronze]]s, with ordinary farmers largely still using stone tools. However, this is hard to assess as the rarity of bronze meant it was keenly recycled.

== Metal use ==
{{Further|Tin sources and trade during antiquity}}

Bronze Age civilisations gained a technological advantage due to [[bronze]]'s harder and more durable properties than other [[metal]]s available at the time. While terrestrial iron is naturally abundant, the higher temperature required for smelting, {{cvt|1250|C}}, in addition to the greater difficulty of working with it, placed it out of reach of common use until the end of the 2nd millennium&nbsp;BC.<ref name=":0" /> Tin's lower melting point of {{cvt|232|C}} and copper's moderate melting point of {{cvt|1085|C}} placed both these metals within the capabilities of Neolithic pottery [[kiln]]s, which date to 6000&nbsp;BC and were able to produce temperatures of at least {{cvt|900|C}}.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last1=McClellan III |first1=James E. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YnqLfVRJ3AkC |title=Science and Technology in World History |last2=Dorn |first2=Harold |date=2006-04-14 |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |isbn=978-0-8018-8360-6 |edition=2nd |location=Baltimore |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=YnqLfVRJ3AkC&pg=PA21 21]}}</ref>

[[File:Metallurgical diffusion.svg|thumb|upright=1.5|Diffusion of [[metallurgy]] in Europe and [[Asia Minor]]—the darkest areas are the oldest.]]
The Bronze Age is characterised by the widespread use of bronze, though the introduction and development of bronze technology were not universally synchronous. Bronze was independently discovered in the [[Maykop culture]] of the [[North Caucasus]] as early as the mid-4th millennium&nbsp;BC, which makes them the producers of the oldest-known bronze. However, the Maykop culture only had [[arsenical bronze]]. Other regions developed bronze and its associated technology at different periods. Tin bronze technology requires systematic techniques: tin must be mined (mainly as the tin ore [[cassiterite]]) and smelted separately, then added to hot copper to make bronze alloy. The Bronze Age was a time of extensive use of metals and the development of trade networks.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Brooks |first=Christopher |date=2022-08-01 |title=The Bronze Age and the Iron Age |url=https://louis.pressbooks.pub/westernciv/chapter/chapter-3-the-bronze-age/ |journal=The Louisiana Library Network |language=en}}</ref>

A 2013 report suggests that the earliest tin-alloy bronze was a [[foil (metal)|foil]] dated to the mid-5th millennium&nbsp;BC from a [[Vinča culture]] site in [[Pločnik (archaeological site)|Pločnik]], [[Serbia]], although this culture is not conventionally considered part of the Bronze Age;<ref name="Radivojevic2013">{{Cite journal |last1=Radivojevic |first1=M. |last2=Rehren |first2=T. |last3=Kuzmanovic-Cvetkovic |first3=J. |last4=Jovanovic |first4=M. |last5=Northover |first5=J. P. |year=2013 |title=Tainted ores and the rise of tin bronzes in Eurasia, c. 6500 years ago |url=http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1420706/ |journal=Antiquity |volume=87 |issue=338 |pages=1030–1045 |doi=10.1017/S0003598X0004984X |doi-access=free}}</ref> however, the dating of the foil has been disputed.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Sljivar |first1=D. |last2=Boric |first2=D. |display-authors=et al |year=2014 |title=Context is everything: comments on Radivojevic et al. (2013) |journal=Antiquity |volume=88 |issue=342 |pages=1310–1315 |doi=10.1017/s0003598x00115480 |s2cid=163137272}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Radivojevic |first1=M. |last2=Rehren |first2=Th. |last3=Kuzmanovic-Cvetkovic |first3=J. |last4=Jovanovic |first4=M. |year=2014 |title=Context is everything indeed: a response to Sljivar and Boric |journal=Antiquity |volume=88 |issue=342 |pages=1315–1319 |doi=10.1017/s0003598x00115492 |s2cid=163091248}}</ref>

== Near East ==
<!-- "Tuttul" links here --><!-- "Deir ez-Zor Museum" links here -->
{{Main|Ancient Near East}}

West Asia and the [[Near East]] were the first regions to enter the Bronze Age, beginning with the rise of the [[Mesopotamia]]n civilization of [[Sumer]] in the mid-4th millennium&nbsp;BC. Cultures in the ancient Near East practised intensive year-round agriculture; developed [[writing system]]s; invented the [[potter's wheel]], created [[centralised government]]s (usually in the form of [[hereditary monarchies]]), formulated written law codes, developed [[city-state]]s, nation-states and empires; embarked on advanced architectural projects; and introduced [[social stratification]], economic and civil administration, [[slavery]], and practised organised warfare, medicine, and religion. Societies in the region laid the foundations for [[astronomy]], mathematics, and [[astrology]].

{{anchor|Periodization}}

The following dates are approximate.
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 from: -2050 till: -1700 shift:(0,5) text:[[Assyria]]
 from: -1900 till: -1800 text:[[Babylonia]]
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 from: -2700 till: -2180 text:[[Old Kingdom]]
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===Near East Bronze Age divisions===
The Bronze Age in the Near East can be divided into Early, Middle and Late periods. The dates and phases below apply solely to the Near East, not universally.<ref>The Near East period dates and phases are unrelated to the bronze chronology of other world regions.</ref><ref>Piotr Bienkowski, Alan Ralph Millard, eds. ''Dictionary of the ancient Near East''. p. 60.</ref><ref>Amélie Kuhr. ''The Ancient Near East, c. 3000–330&nbsp;BC''. p. 9.</ref> However, some archaeologists propose a "high chronology", which extends periods such as the Intermediate Bronze Age by 300 to 500–600 years, based on material analysis of the [[southern Levant]] in cities such as [[Tel Hazor|Hazor]], [[Jericho]], and [[Beit She'an]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Lev |first1=Ron |last2=Bechar |first2=Shlomit |last3=Boaretto |first3=Elisabetta |year=2021 |title=Hazor Eb III City Abandonment and Iba People Return: Radiocarbon Chronology and ITS Implications |journal=Radiocarbon |volume=63 |issue=5 |page=1453 |bibcode=2021Radcb..63.1453L |doi=10.1017/RDC.2021.76 |doi-access=free}}</ref>
* Early Bronze Age (EBA or EB): 3300–2100&nbsp;BC
** 3300–3000: EBA I
** 3000–2700: EBA II
** 2700–2200: EBA III
** 2200–2100: EBA IV
*Middle Bronze Age (MBA or MB) or Intermediate Bronze Age (IBA or IB): 2100–1550&nbsp;BC
** 2100–2000: MBA I
** 2000–1750: MBA II A
** 1750–1650: MBA II B
** 1650–1550: MBA II C
*Late Bronze Age (LBA or LB): 1550–1200&nbsp;BC
** 1550–1400: LBA I
** 1400–1300: LBA II A
** 1300–1200: LBA II B ([[Late Bronze Age collapse]])

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=== Anatolia ===
{{further|Prehistory of Anatolia#Bronze Age}}
[[File:Hattusa Bronze Tablet Cuneiform.JPG|thumb|upright|Hittite bronze tablet from Çorum-Boğazköy dating from 1235&nbsp;BC, [[Museum of Anatolian Civilizations]], [[Ankara]]]]

The [[Hittite Empire]] was established during the 18th century&nbsp;BC in [[Hattusa]], northern [[Anatolia]]. At its height in the 14th century&nbsp;BC, the Hittite Kingdom encompassed central Anatolia, southwestern Syria as far as [[Ugarit]], and upper [[Mesopotamia]]. After 1180&nbsp;BC, amid general turmoil in the [[Levant]], which is conjectured to have been associated with the sudden arrival of the [[Sea Peoples]],<ref>{{Cite book |last=Killebrew |first=Ann E. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gBCl2IQfNioC&pg=PA1 |title=The Philistines and Other 'Sea Peoples' in Text and Archaeology |publisher=Society of Biblical Literature |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-58983-721-8 |series=Society of Biblical Literature Archaeology and biblical studies |volume=15 |page=2 |quote=First coined in 1881 by the French Egyptologist G. Maspero (1896), the somewhat misleading term 'Sea Peoples' encompasses the ethnonyms Lukka, Sherden, Shekelesh, Teresh, Eqwesh, Denyen, Sikil / Tjekker, Weshesh, and Peleset (Philistines). [Footnote: The modern term 'Sea Peoples' refers to peoples that appear in several New Kingdom Egyptian texts as originating from 'islands' (tables 1–2; Adams and Cohen, this volume; see, e.g., [[Robert Drews|Drews]] 1993, 57 for a summary). The use of quotation marks in association with the term 'Sea Peoples' in our title is intended to draw attention to the problematic nature of this commonly used term. It is noteworthy that the designation 'of the sea' appears only concerning the Sherden, Shekelesh, and Eqwesh. Subsequently, this term was applied somewhat indiscriminately to several additional ethnonyms, including the Philistines, who are portrayed in their earliest appearance as invaders from the north during the reigns of Merenptah and Ramesses Ill (see, e.g., Sandars 1978; Redford 1992, 243, n. 14; for a recent review of the primary and secondary literature, see Woudhuizen 2006). Henceforth the term Sea Peoples will appear without quotation marks.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Drews |first=Robert |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bFpK6aXEWN8C&pg=PA48 |title=The End of the Bronze Age: Changes in Warfare and the Catastrophe ca. 1200 B.C. |publisher=Princeton University Press |year=1993 |isbn=0-691-02591-6 |pages=48–61 |quote=The thesis that a great 'migration of the Sea Peoples' occurred ca. 1200 B.C. is supposedly based on Egyptian inscriptions, one from the reign of Merneptah and another from the reign of Ramesses III. Yet in the inscriptions themselves, such a migration nowhere appears. After reviewing what the Egyptian texts have to say about 'the sea peoples', one Egyptologist (Wolfgang Helck) recently remarked that although some things are unclear, 'eins ist aber sicher: Nach den ägyptischen Texten haben wir es nicht mit einer "Völkerwanderung" zu tun.' Thus, the migration hypothesis is based not on the inscriptions themselves but on their interpretation.}}</ref> the kingdom disintegrated into several independent "Neo-Hittite" city-states, some of which survived into the 8th century&nbsp;BC.

[[Arzawa]], in Western Anatolia, during the second half of the 2nd millennium&nbsp;BC, likely extended along southern Anatolia in a belt from near the [[Turkish Lakes region]] to the [[Aegean Sea|Aegean]] coast. [[Arzawa]] was the western neighbor of the Middle and New [[Hittite Kingdom]]s, at times a rival and, at other times, a vassal.

The [[Assuwa league]] was a confederation of states in western Anatolia defeated by the Hittites under the earlier [[Tudhaliya I]] {{circa|1400&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}. Arzawa has been associated with the more obscure [[Assuwa]] generally located to its north. It probably bordered it, and may have been an alternative term for it during some periods.

=== Egypt ===
{{Main|Ancient Egypt}}

==== Early Bronze dynasties ====
[[File:Egypt, New Kingdom, Dynasty 18 - Caryatid Mirror - 1983.196 - Cleveland Museum of Art.tif|thumb|upright|Bronze mirror with a female human figure at the base, [[Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt]] (1540–1296&nbsp;BC)]]
[[File:Thutmose III sphinx E10897-Louvre 042005 06.jpg|thumb|upright|Sphinx-lion of [[Thutmose III]] (1479–1425&nbsp;BC)]]

In [[Ancient Egypt]], the Bronze Age began in the [[Protodynastic Period]] {{circa|3150&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}. The archaic ''Early Bronze Age of Egypt'', known as the [[Early Dynastic Period of Egypt]],<ref name="Karin Sowada and Peter Grave">Karin Sowada and Peter Grave. ''Egypt in the Eastern Mediterranean during the Old Kingdom''.</ref><ref>Lukas de Blois and R. J. van der Spek. ''An Introduction to the Ancient World''. p.&nbsp;14.</ref> immediately followed the unification of Lower and Upper Egypt, {{circa|3100&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}. It is generally taken to include the [[First Dynasty of Egypt|First]] and [[Second Dynasty of Egypt|Second]] dynasties, lasting from the Protodynastic Period until {{circa|2686&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}, or the beginning of the [[Old Kingdom]]. With the First Dynasty, the capital moved from [[Abydos, Egypt|Abydos]] to Memphis with a unified Egypt ruled by an Egyptian god-king. Abydos remained the major holy land in the south. The hallmarks of ancient Egyptian civilization, such as art, architecture and religion, took shape in the Early Dynastic Period. [[Memphis, Egypt|Memphis]], in the Early Bronze Age, was the largest city of the time. The Old Kingdom of the regional Bronze Age<ref name="Karin Sowada and Peter Grave" /> is the name given to the period in the 3rd millennium&nbsp;BC when Egyptian civilization attained its first continuous peak of complexity and achievement—the first of three "Kingdom" periods which marked the high points of civilization in the [[Geography of Egypt#Nile Valley and Delta|lower Nile Valley]] (the others being the [[Middle Kingdom of Egypt|Middle Kingdom]] and [[New Kingdom]]).

The [[First Intermediate Period of Egypt]],<ref>Hansen, M. (2000). ''A comparative study of thirty city-state cultures: An investigation conducted by the Copenhagen Polis Centre''. Copenhagen, Denmark: Det Kongelike Danske Videnskabernes Selskab. p. 68.</ref> often described as a "dark period" in ancient Egyptian history, spanned about 100 years after the end of the Old Kingdom from about 2181 to 2055&nbsp;BC. Very little monumental evidence survives from this period, especially from the early part of it. The First Intermediate Period was a dynamic time when the rule of Egypt was roughly divided between two areas: [[Heracleopolis Magna|Heracleopolis]] in Lower Egypt and [[Thebes, Egypt|Thebes]] in Upper Egypt. These two kingdoms eventually came into conflict, and the Theban kings conquered the north, reunifying Egypt under a single ruler during the second part of the [[Eleventh Dynasty]].

==== Nubia ====
The Bronze Age in [[Nubia]] started as early as 2300&nbsp;BC.<ref name="Childs1993">{{Cite journal |last1=Childs |first1=S. Terry |last2=Killick |first2=David |year=1993 |title=Indigenous African Metallurgy: Nature and Culture |journal=Annual Review of Anthropology |volume=22 |pages=317–337 |doi=10.1146/annurev.anthro.22.1.317 |jstor=2155851}}</ref> Egyptians introduced copper smelting to the Nubian city of [[Meroë]] in present-day [[Sudan]] {{circa|2600&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}.<ref name="Miller1994" /> A furnace for bronze casting found in [[Kerma]] has been dated to 2300–1900&nbsp;BC.<ref name="Childs1993" />

==== Middle Bronze dynasties ====
The [[Middle Kingdom of Egypt]] spanned between 2055 and 1650&nbsp;BC. During this period, the Osiris funerary cult rose to dominate popular [[Ancient Egyptian religion]]. The period comprises two phases: the Eleventh Dynasty, which ruled from Thebes, and the [[Twelfth Dynasty of Egypt|Twelfth]]<ref>Othmar Keel and Christoph Uehlinger. ''Gods, goddesses, and images of God in ancient Israel'', 1998. p.&nbsp;17. "The first phase (Middle Bronze Age IIA) runs roughly parallel to the Egyptian Twelfth Dynasty".</ref> and [[Thirteenth Dynasty of Egypt|Thirteenth]] dynasties, centred on [[el-Lisht]]. The unified kingdom was previously considered to comprise the Eleventh and Twelfth Dynasties, but historians now consider part of the Thirteenth Dynasty to have belonged to the Middle Kingdom.

During the [[Second Intermediate Period]],<ref>Bruce G. Trigger. ''Ancient Egypt: A Social History''. 1983. p.&nbsp;137. "...&nbsp;for the Middle Kingdom and Second Intermediate Period it is the Middle Bronze Age".</ref> Ancient Egypt fell into disarray a second time between the end of the Middle Kingdom and the start of the New Kingdom, best known for the [[Hyksos]], whose reign comprised the [[Fifteenth Dynasty of Egypt|Fifteenth]] and [[Sixteenth Dynasty of Egypt|Sixteenth]] dynasties. The Hyksos first appeared in Egypt during the Eleventh Dynasty, began their climb to power in the Thirteenth Dynasty, and emerged from the Second Intermediate Period in control of [[Avaris]] and the [[Nile Delta]]. By the Fifteenth Dynasty, they ruled lower Egypt. They were expelled at the end of the [[Seventeenth Dynasty]].

==== Late Bronze dynasties ====
The [[New Kingdom of Egypt]], also referred to as the Egyptian Empire, existed during the 16th–11th centuries&nbsp;BC. The New Kingdom followed the Second Intermediate Period and was succeeded by the [[Third Intermediate Period]]. It was Egypt's most prosperous time and marked the peak of Egypt's power. The later New Kingdom, comprising the [[Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt|Nineteenth]] and [[Twentieth Dynasty of Egypt|Twentieth]] dynasties (1292–1069&nbsp;BC), is also known as the [[Ramesside period]], after the eleven pharaohs who took the name of Ramesses.

=== Iranian plateau ===
[[File: Elam cool.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|Late 3rd-millennium&nbsp;BC silver cup from Marvdasht, [[Fars province|Fars]], with linear-Elamite inscription]]
{{Further|Iranian plateau}}

[[Elam]] was a pre-Iranian ancient civilization located east of Mesopotamia. In the Middle Bronze Age, Elam consisted of kingdoms on the [[Iranian plateau]], centred in [[Anshan (Persia)|Anshan]]. From the mid-2nd millennium&nbsp;BC, Elam was centered in [[Susa]] in the [[Khuzestan]] lowlands. Its culture played a crucial role in both the [[Gutian Empire]] and the Iranian [[Achaemenid dynasty]] that succeeded it.

The [[Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex|Oxus civilization]]<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Dalton |first1=Ormonde Maddock |author-link1=Ormonde Maddock Dalton |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p14VAAAAYAAJ |title=The treasure of the Oxus |last2=Franks |first2=Augustus Wollaston |author-link2=Augustus Wollaston Franks |last3=Read |first3=C. H. |publisher=British Museum |year=1905 |location=London}}</ref> was a Bronze Age Central Asian culture dated {{circa|2300–1700&nbsp;BC|lk=no}} and centred on the upper [[Amu Darya]] ({{aka|the Oxus}}). In the Early Bronze Age, the culture of the [[Kopet Dag]] oases and [[Altyndepe]] developed a proto-urban society. This corresponds to level IV at [[Namazga-Tepe]]. Altyndepe was a major centre even then. Pottery was wheel-turned. Grapes were grown. The height of this urban development was reached in the Middle Bronze Age {{circa|2300&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}, corresponding to level V at Namazga-Depe.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Masson |first=V. M. |title=History of civilizations of Central Asia |editor-last=Dani |editor-first=A. H. |volume=The dawn of civilization: earliest times to 700&nbsp;BC |chapter=Bronze Age in Khorasan and Transoxiana |editor-last2=Masson |editor-first2=Vadim Mikhaĭlovich}}</ref> This Bronze Age culture is called the [[Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex]].

The [[Kulli culture]],<ref>Possehl, G. L. (1986)., ''Kulli: An exploration of ancient civilization in Asia''. Durham, North Carolina: Carolina Academic Press.</ref><ref>Piggott, S. (1961). ''Prehistoric India to 1000 B.C.'' Baltimore: Penguin.</ref> similar to that of the [[Indus Valley Civilisation]], was located in southern [[Balochistan]] (Gedrosia) {{circa|2500–2000&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}. The economy was agricultural. Dams were found in several places, providing evidence for a highly developed water management system.

[[File:Chlorite object Jiroft, Kerman ca. 2500 BCE, Bronze Age I, National Museum of Iran.jpg|thumb|[[Master of Animals]] in [[Chlorite group|chlorite]], [[Jiroft culture]], {{circa|2500&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}, Bronze Age I, [[National Museum of Iran]]]]
[[Konar Sandal]] is associated with the hypothesized [[Jiroft culture]], a 3rd-millennium&nbsp;BC culture postulated based on a collection of artefacts confiscated in 2001.

=== Levant ===
{{Further|Canaan|Prehistory of the Levant#Bronze Age|History of the ancient Levant#Bronze Age}}
{{see also|List of archaeological periods (Levant)}}
[[File:TimnaChalcolithicMine.JPG|thumb|Chalcolithic copper mine in the [[Timna Valley]], Negev Desert, Israel]]

In modern scholarship, the chronology of the Bronze Age Levant is divided into: 
* Early Syrian, or Proto Syrian{{snd}}corresponding to the Early Bronze Age
* Old Syrian{{snd}}corresponding to the Middle Bronze Age
* Middle Syrian{{snd}}corresponding to the Late Bronze Age
The term ''Neo-Syria'' is used to designate the early [[Iron Age]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hansen |first=Mogens Herman |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8qvY8pxVxcwC&pg=PA57 |title=A Comparative Study of Thirty City-state Cultures: An Investigation |publisher=Kgl. Danske Videnskabernes Selskab |year=2000 |isbn=978-87-7876-177-4 |volume=21 |page=57 |access-date=5 June 2015}}</ref>

The old Syrian period was dominated by the [[Ebla#First kingdom|Eblaite first kingdom]], [[Tell Brak#Kingdom of Nagar|Nagar]] and the [[The second kingdom of Mari|Mariote second kingdom]]. The [[Akkadians]] conquered large areas of the Levant and were followed by the [[Amorites|Amorite kingdoms]], {{circa|2000–1600&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}, which arose in [[Mari, Syria#The Lim dynasty|Mari]], [[Yamhad]], [[Qatna]], and [[Assyria]].<ref>under [[Shamshi-Adad I]].</ref> From the 15th century&nbsp;BC onward, the term [[Amurru kingdom|Amurru]] is usually applied to the region extending north of [[Canaan]] as far as [[Kadesh (Syria)|Kadesh]] on the [[Orontes River]].

The earliest-known contact of [[Ugarit]] with Egypt (and the first exact dating of Ugaritic civilisation) comes from a [[carnelian]] bead identified with the Middle Kingdom pharaoh [[Senusret I]], whose reign is dated to 1971–1926&nbsp;BC. A [[stela]] and a statuette of the Egyptian pharaohs [[Senusret III]] and [[Amenemhet III]] have also been found. However, it is unclear when they first arrived at Ugarit. In the [[Amarna letters]], messages from Ugarit {{circa|1350&nbsp;BC|lk=no}} written by [[Ammittamru I]], [[Niqmaddu II]], and his queen have been discovered. From the 16th to the 13th century&nbsp;BC, Ugarit remained in constant contact with Egypt and Cyprus ([[Alashiya]]).

[[Mitanni]] was a loosely organised state in northern Syria and south-east Anatolia, emerging {{circa|1500–1300&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}. Founded by an [[Indo-Aryan peoples|Indo-Aryan]] ruling class that governed a predominantly [[Hurrian]] population, Mitanni came to be a regional power after the Hittite destruction of [[Kassite]] Babylon created a power vacuum in Mesopotamia. At its beginning, Mitanni's major rival was Egypt under the [[Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt|Thutmosids]]. However, with the ascent of the Hittite empire, Mitanni and Egypt allied to protect their mutual interests from the threat of Hittite domination. At the height of its power during the 14th century&nbsp;BC, Mitanni had outposts centred on its capital, [[Washukanni]], which archaeologists have located on the headwaters of the [[Khabur (Euphrates)|Khabur River]]. Eventually, Mitanni succumbed to the Hittites and later [[Assyrian people|Assyrian]] attacks, eventually being reduced to a province of the [[Middle Assyrian Empire]].

The [[Israelites]] were an [[ancient Semitic-speaking people]] of the [[Ancient Near East]] who inhabited part of Canaan during the [[History of ancient Israel and Judah|tribal and monarchic periods]] (15th–6th centuries&nbsp;BC),<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Finkelstein |first=Israel |year=1996 |title=Ethnicity and origin of the Iron I settlers in the Highlands of Canaan: Can the real Israel stand up? |journal=The Biblical Archaeologist |volume=59 |issue=4 |pages=198–212 |doi=10.2307/3210562 |jstor=3210562 |s2cid=164201705}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Finkelstein |first=Israel |title=The archaeology of the Israelite settlement |publisher=Israel Exploration Society |year=1988 |isbn=965-221-007-2 |location=Jerusalem}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=From nomadism to monarchy: archaeological and historical aspects of early Israel |publisher=Yad Izhak Ben-Zvi |year=1994 |isbn=965-217-117-4 |editor-last=Finkelstein |editor-first=Israel |editor-last2=Naʼaman |editor-first2=Nadav}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Finkelstein |first=Israel |year=1996 |title=The archaeology of the United Monarchy: an alternative view |journal=Levant |volume=28 |issue=1 |pages=177–187 |doi=10.1179/lev.1996.28.1.177}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Finkelstein |first1=Israel |title=The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Sacred Texts |last2=Silberman |first2=Neil Asher |publisher=Simon & Schuster |year=2002 |isbn=0-684-86913-6}}</ref> and lived in the region in smaller numbers after the fall of the monarchy. The name "Israel" first appears {{circa|1209&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}E, at the end of the Late Bronze Age and the very beginning of the Iron Age, on the [[Merneptah Stele]] raised by the Egyptian pharaoh [[Merneptah]].

The [[Arameans]] were a Northwest Semitic semi-nomadic [[pastoralism|pastoral]] people who originated in what is now modern Syria (Biblical [[Aram (region)|Aram]]) during the Late Bronze and early Iron Age. Large groups migrated to Mesopotamia, where they intermingled with the native Akkadian (Assyrian and Babylonian) population. The Aramaeans never had a unified empire; they were divided into independent kingdoms all across the Near East. After the [[Late Bronze Age collapse|Bronze Age]] collapse, their political influence was confined to Syro-Hittite states, which were entirely absorbed into the [[Neo-Assyrian Empire]] by the 8th century&nbsp;BC.

=== Mesopotamia ===
{{Main|History of Mesopotamia}}
{{Unreferenced section|date=February 2025}}
The [[Bronze Age Mesopotamia|Mesopotamian Bronze Age]] began {{circa|3500&nbsp;BC|lk=no}} and ended with the [[Kassite]] period {{circa|1500|1155&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}). The usual tripartite division into an Early, Middle and Late Bronze Age is not used in the context of Mesopotamia. Instead, a division primarily based on art and historical characteristics is more common.

The [[cities of the Ancient Near East]] housed several tens of thousands of people. [[Ur]], [[Kish (Sumer)|Kish]], [[Isin]], [[Larsa]], and [[Nippur]] in the Middle Bronze Age and [[Babylon]], [[Calah]], and [[Assur]] in the Late Bronze Age similarly had large populations. The [[Akkadian Empire]] (2335–2154&nbsp;BC) became the dominant power in the region. After its fall, the [[Sumer]]ians enjoyed a renaissance with the [[Neo-Sumerian Empire]]. [[Assyria]], along with the [[Old Assyrian Empire]] ({{circa|1800–1600&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}), became a regional power under the [[Amorite]] king [[Shamshi-Adad I]]. The earliest mention of Babylon (then a small administrative town) appears on a tablet from the reign of [[Sargon of Akkad]] in the 23rd century&nbsp;BC. The Amorite dynasty established the city-state of Babylon in the 19th century&nbsp;BC. Over a century later, it briefly took over the other city-states and formed the short-lived First Babylonian Empire during what is also called the [[Old Babylonian Period]].

Akkad, Assyria, and Babylonia used the written East Semitic [[Akkadian language]] for official use and as a spoken language. By that time, the Sumerian language was no longer spoken, but was still in religious use in Assyria and Babylonia, and would remain so until the 1st century&nbsp;AD. The [[Akkadian Empire|Akkadian]] and Sumerian traditions played a major role in later Assyrian and Babylonian culture. Despite this, Babylonia, unlike the more militarily powerful Assyria, was founded by non-native Amorites and often ruled by other non-indigenous peoples such as the [[Kassites]], [[Aramaeans]] and [[Chaldea]]ns, as well as by its Assyrian neighbours.

== Asia ==
[[File:World in 2000 BC.svg|thumb|upright=1.6|Political boundaries in 2000&nbsp;BC]]

=== Central Asia ===

==== Agropastoralism ====
For many decades, scholars made superficial reference to Central Asia as the "pastoral realm" or alternatively, the "nomadic world", in what researchers call the "Central Asian void": a 5,000-year span that was neglected in studies of the origins of agriculture. Foothill regions and glacial melt streams supported Bronze Age agro-pastoralists who developed complex east–west trade routes between Central Asia and China that introduced wheat and [[barley]] to China and [[millet]] to Central Asia.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Spengler |first=Robert N. |date=2015-09-01 |title=Agriculture in the Central Asian Bronze Age |journal=Journal of World Prehistory |volume=28 |issue=3 |pages=215–253 |doi=10.1007/s10963-015-9087-3 |issn=1573-7802 |s2cid=161968192}}</ref>

==== Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex ====
{{Main|Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex}}

The [[Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex]] (BMAC), also known as the Oxus civilisation, was a Bronze Age civilisation in Central Asia, dated {{circa|2400|1600&nbsp;BC|lk=no}},<ref>Vidale, Massimo, 2017. Treasures from the Oxus, I. B. Tauris, pp. 8–10 & Table 1.</ref> located in present-day northern [[Afghanistan]], eastern [[Turkmenistan]], southern [[Uzbekistan]] and western [[Tajikistan]], centred on the upper [[Amu Darya]] (Oxus River). Its sites were discovered and named by the Soviet archaeologist [[Viktor Sarianidi]] (1976). [[Bactria]] was the Greek name for the area of [[Bactra]] (modern [[Balkh]]), in what is now northern Afghanistan, and [[Margiana]] was the Greek name for the Persian [[satrap]]y of [[Margiana|Marguš]], the capital of which was [[Merv]] in present-day Turkmenistan.

A wealth of information indicates that the BMAC had close international relations with the [[Indus Valley Civilisation|Indus Valley]], the [[Iranian plateau]], and possibly even indirectly with Mesopotamia. All civilisations were familiar with [[lost wax casting]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Possehl |first=Gregory L. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pmAuAsi4ePIC |title=The Indus Civilization: A Contemporary Perspective |publisher=Rowman Altamira |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-7591-0172-2 |pages=215–232}}</ref>

According to a 2019 study,<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Narasimhan |first1=Vagheesh M. |last2=Patterson |first2=Nick |last3=Moorjani |first3=Priya |last4=Rohland |first4=Nadin |last5=Bernardos |first5=Rebecca |last6=Mallick |first6=Swapan |last7=Lazaridis |first7=Iosif |last8=Nakatsuka |first8=Nathan |last9=Olalde |first9=Iñigo |last10=Lipson |first10=Mark |last11=Kim |first11=Alexander M. |last12=Olivieri |first12=Luca M. |last13=Coppa |first13=Alfredo |last14=Vidale |first14=Massimo |last15=Mallory |first15=James |display-authors=1 |year=2019 |title=The formation of human populations in South and Central Asia |journal=Science |volume=365 |issue=6457 |biorxiv=10.1101/292581 |doi=10.1126/science.aat7487 |pmc=6822619 |pmid=31488661 |last16=Moiseyev |first16=Vyacheslav |last17=Kitov |first17=Egor |last18=Monge |first18=Janet |last19=Adamski |first19=Nicole |last20=Alex |first20=Neel |last21=Broomandkhoshbacht |first21=Nasreen |last22=Candilio |first22=Francesca |last23=Callan |first23=Kimberly |last24=Cheronet |first24=Olivia |last25=Culleton |first25=Brendan J. |last26=Ferry |first26=Matthew |last27=Fernandes |first27=Daniel |last28=Freilich |first28=Suzanne |last29=Gamarra |first29=Beatriz |last30=Gaudio |first30=Daniel |article-number=eaat7487 }}</ref> the BMAC was not a primary contributor to later South-Asian genetics.

==== Seima-Turbino phenomenon ====
{{Main|Seima-Turbino phenomenon}}
The [[Altai Mountains]], marking a natural boundary between [[Siberia]] and [[Mongolia]], have been identified as the point of origin of a cultural enigma termed the [[Seima-Turbino Phenomenon]].<ref name="Keys2009">{{Cite journal |last=Keys |first=David |author-link=David Keys (author) |date=January 2009 |title=Scholars crack the code of an ancient enigma |journal=BBC History Magazine |volume=10 |issue=1 |page=9}}</ref> It is conjectured that changes in climate in this region {{circa|2000&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}, and the ensuing ecological, economic, and political changes, triggered a rapid and massive migration westward into northeast Europe, eastward into China, and southward into Vietnam and Thailand<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=White |first1=Joyce |last2=Hamilton |first2=Elizabeth |year=2009 |title=The Transmission of Early Bronze Technology to Thailand: New Perspectives |journal=Journal of World Prehistory |volume=22 |issue=4 |pages=357–397 |doi=10.1007/s10963-009-9029-z |s2cid=9400588}}</ref> across a frontier of some {{cvt|4000|mi|km|sigfig=1}}.<ref name="Keys2009" /> This migration took place in just five to six generations and led to peoples from Finland in the west to Thailand in the east employing the same metalworking technology and, in some areas, horse breeding and riding.<ref name="Keys2009" /> However, recent genetic testings of sites in south Siberia and [[Kazakhstan]] ([[Andronovo]] horizon) would rather support spreading of the bronze technology via [[Indo-European migrations]] eastwards, as this technology had been well known for quite a while in western regions.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Lalueza-Fox |first1=C. |last2=Sampietro |first2=M. L. |last3=Gilbert |first3=M. T. |last4=Castri |first4=L. |last5=Facchini |first5=F. |last6=Pettener |first6=D. |last7=Bertranpetit |first7=J. |year=2004 |title=Unravelling migrations in the steppe: Mitochondrial DNA sequences from ancient central Asians |journal=Proceedings. Biological Sciences |volume=271 |issue=1542 |pages=941–947 |doi=10.1098/rspb.2004.2698 |pmc=1691686 |pmid=15255049}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Keyser |first1=Christine |last2=Bouakaze |first2=Caroline |last3=Crubézy |first3=Eric |last4=Nikolaev |first4=Valery G. |last5=Montagnon |first5=Daniel |last6=Reis |first6=Tatiana |last7=Ludes |first7=Bertrand |year=2009 |title=Ancient DNA provides new insights into the history of south Siberian Kurgan people |journal=Human Genetics |volume=126 |issue=3 |pages=395–410 |doi=10.1007/s00439-009-0683-0 |pmid=19449030 |s2cid=21347353}}</ref>

It is further conjectured that the same migrations spread the [[Uralic]] group of languages across Europe and Asia, with extant members of the family including [[Hungarian language|Hungarian]], [[Finnish language|Finnish]] and [[Estonian language|Estonian]].<ref name="Keys2009" />

=== East Asia ===

==== China ====
{{main|Erlitou culture|Shang dynasty|Sanxingdui|Lower Xiajiadian culture}}
[[File:Gefuding Gui.jpg|thumb|A [[Shang dynasty]] two-handled bronze ''gefuding gui'' (1600–1046&nbsp;BC)]]
[[File:Pu with openwork interlaced dragons design.jpg|thumb|[[Spring and Autumn period]] ''pu'' bronze vessel with interlaced [[Chinese dragon|dragon]] design ({{circa|770|481&nbsp;BC|lk=no}})]]

In China, the earliest bronze artefacts have been found in the [[Majiayao culture]] site (3100–2700&nbsp;BC).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Martini |first=I. Peter |title=Landscapes and Societies: Selected Cases |publisher=Springer |year=2010 |isbn=978-90-481-9412-4 |page=310}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Higham |first=Charles |author-link=Charles Higham (archaeologist) |title=Encyclopedia of ancient Asian civilizations |publisher=Infobase |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-8160-4640-9 |page=200}}</ref>

The term "Bronze Age" has been transferred to the archaeology of China from that of Western Eurasia, and there is no consensus or universally used convention delimiting the "Bronze Age" in the context of [[Chinese prehistory]].<ref>The archaeological term "Bronze Age" was first introduced for Europe in the 1830s and soon extended to the Near East. By the 1860s, there was some debate as to whether the term should be extended to China ([[John Lubbock, 1st Baron Avebury|John Lubbock]], ''Prehistoric Times'' (1868), cited after ''The Athenaeum'' No. 2121, 20 June 1868, [https://books.google.com/books?id=VpRGAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA870 p. 870]).</ref> The "Early Bronze Age" in China is sometimes taken to be coterminous with the reign of the [[Shang dynasty]] (16th–11th centuries&nbsp;BC),<ref>Robert L. Thorp, ''China in the Early Bronze Age: Shang Civilization'', University of Pennsylvania Press (2013).</ref> and the Later Bronze Age with the subsequent [[Zhou dynasty]] (11th–3rd centuries&nbsp;BC), from the 5th century, called [[Iron Age China]] although there is an argument to be made that the Bronze Age never properly ended in China, as there is no recognisable transition to an Iron Age.<ref>" Without entering on the vexed question whether or not there ever was a bronze age in any part of the world distinguished by the sole use of that metal, in China and Japan to the present day, amid an iron age, bronze is in constant use for cutting instruments, either alone or in combination with steel."
''The Rectangular Review'', Volume 1 (1871), [https://books.google.com/books?id=CXwtAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA408 p. 408]</ref> Together with the jade art that precedes it, bronze was seen as a fine material for ritual art when compared with iron or stone.<ref>[[Wu Hung]] (1995). ''Monumentality in Early Chinese Art and Architecture''. pp. 11, 13 {{ISBN?}}</ref>

Bronze metallurgy in China originated in what is referred to as the [[Erlitou]] period, which some historians argue places it within the Shang.<ref>Chang, K. C.: "Studies of Shang Archaeology", pp. 6–7, 1. Yale University Press, 1982.</ref> Others believe the Erlitou sites belong to the preceding [[Xia dynasty]].<ref>Chang, K. C.: "Studies of Shang Archaeology", p. 1. Yale University Press, 1982.</ref> The United States [[National Gallery of Art]] defines the Chinese Bronze Age as {{circa|2000|771&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}, a period that begins with the Erlitou culture and ends abruptly with the disintegration of [[Western Zhou]] rule.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Teaching Chinese Archaeology, Part Two |url=http://www.nga.gov/education/chinatp_pt2.shtm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080213205159/http://www.nga.gov/education/chinatp_pt2.shtm |archive-date=13 February 2008 |access-date=24 September 2016 |publisher=Nga.gov}}</ref>

There is reason to believe that bronze work developed inside of China apart from outside influence.<ref>Li-Liu; The Chinese Neolithic, Cambridge University Press, 2005.
[http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/shzh/hd_shzh.htm ''Shang and Zhou Dynasties: The Bronze Age of China'' Heilbrunn Timeline] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150210074557/http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/shzh/hd_shzh.htm |date=10 February 2015}} Retrieved 13 May 2010</ref> However, the discovery of the Europoid [[Tarim mummies]] in Xinjiang has caused some archaeologists such as [[Johan Gunnar Andersson]], Jan Romgard, and An Zhimin to suggest a possible route of transmission from the West eastwards. According to An Zhimin, "It can be imagined that initially, bronze and iron technology took its rise in West Asia, first influenced the Xinjiang region, and then reached the Yellow River valley, providing external impetus for the rise of the Shang and Zhou civilizations." According to Jan Romgard, "bronze and iron tools seem to have traveled from west to east as well as the use of wheeled wagons and the domestication of the horse." There are also possible links to [[Seima-Turbino culture]], "a transcultural complex across northern Eurasia", the Eurasian steppe, and the Urals.<ref>{{Cite journal |first=Jan |last=Romgard |year=2008 |title=Questions of Ancient Human Settlements in Xinjiang and the Early Silk Road Trade, with an Overview of the Silk Road Research Institutions and Scholars in Beijing, Gansu, and Xinjiang |url=http://sino-platonic.org/complete/spp185_silk_road.pdf |journal=Sino-Platonic Papers |pages=30–32 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120206060414/http://sino-platonic.org/complete/spp185_silk_road.pdf |archive-date=6 February 2012 |access-date=21 May 2012 |number=185}}</ref> However, the oldest bronze objects found in China so far were discovered at the [[Majiayao]] site in [[Gansu]] rather than at [[Xinjiang]].<ref>{{Cite journal |year=2003 |title=A Discussion on Early Metals and the Origins of Bronze Casting in China |url=http://www.kaogu.cn/en/Chinese%20Archaeology/3/A%20Discussion%20on%20Early%20Metals%20and%20the%20Origins%20of%20Bronze%20Casting%20in%20China.pdf |journal=Chinese Archaeology |volume=3 |issue=1 |pages=157–165 |doi=10.1515/char.2003.3.1.157 |s2cid=164920328 |surname=Bai |given=Yunxiang}}</ref>

The production of Erlitou represents the earliest large-scale metallurgy industry in the Central Plains of China. The influence of the Seima-Turbino metalworking tradition from the north is supported by a series of recent discoveries in China of many unique perforated spearheads with downward hooks and small loops on the same or opposite side of the socket, which could be associated with the Seima-Turbino visual vocabulary of southern Siberia. The metallurgical centres of northwestern China, especially the [[Qijia culture]] in Gansu and [[Longshan culture]] in [[Shaanxi]], played an intermediary role in this process.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Meicun Lin |date=2016-06-30 |title=Seima-Turbino Culture and the Proto-Silk Road |url=http://dlib.eastview.com/browse/doc/48032340 |journal=Chinese Cultural Relics |language=en |volume=3 |issue=1–002 |pages=241–262 |doi=10.21557/CCR.48032340 |issn=2330-5169|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

Iron use in China dates as early as the [[Zhou dynasty]] ({{circa|1046|lk=no}}{{snd}}256&nbsp;BC), but remained minimal. Chinese literature authored during the 6th century&nbsp;BC attests to knowledge of iron smelting, yet bronze continues to occupy the seat of significance in the archaeological and historical record for some time after this.<ref>Barnard, N. "Bronze Casting and Bronze Alloys in Ancient China", p.&nbsp;14. The Australian National University and Monumenta Serica, 1961.</ref> W. C. White argues that iron did not supplant bronze "at any period before the end of the Zhou dynasty (256&nbsp;BC)" and that bronze vessels make up the majority of metal vessels through the [[History of the Han dynasty|Eastern Han period]], or to 221&nbsp;BC.<ref>White, W. C. "Bronze Culture of Ancient China", p.&nbsp;208. University of Toronto Press, 1956.</ref><!-- It is unclear what White referred to: The former Han dynasty was 206–25 BCE, and the later Han dynasty ended in 220 AD. On iron, readers may prefer to refer to this newer book: Wagner, Donald B. Iron, and Steel in Ancient China. Leiden, Netherlands; New York: E.J. Brill, 1993. -->

The Chinese bronze artefacts generally are either utilitarian, like spear points or [[adze]] heads, or [[Chinese ritual bronzes|"ritual bronzes"]], which are more elaborate versions in precious materials of everyday vessels, as well as tools and weapons. Examples are the numerous large sacrificial tripods known as ''[[Ding (vessel)|dings]]''; there are many other distinct shapes. Surviving identified Chinese ritual bronzes tend to be highly decorated, often with the ''[[taotie]]'' motif, which involves stylised animal faces. These appear in three main motif types: those of demons, symbolic animals, and abstract symbols.<ref>{{Cite book |last=von Erdberg |first=Elizabeth |title=Ancient Chinese Bronzes: Terminology and Iconology |publisher=Siebenbad-Verlag |year=1993 |isbn=978-3-87747-063-3 |page=20}}</ref> Many large bronzes also bear [[Chinese bronze inscriptions|cast inscriptions]] that are the bulk of the surviving body of early [[Chinese writing]] and have helped historians and archaeologists piece together the history of China, especially during the Zhou dynasty.

The bronzes of the Western Zhou document large portions of history not found in the extant texts that were often 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.<ref>Shaughnessy, E. L. "Sources of Western Zhou History", pp. xv–xvi. University of California Press, 1982.</ref> 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.<ref>Shaughnessy, E. L. "Sources of Western Zhou History", pp. 76–83. University of California Press, 1982.</ref> 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.<ref>Shaughnessy, E. L. "Sources of Western Zhou History", p. 107.</ref>

==== Japan ====
{{Main|Yayoi period}}
[[File:Dotaku LACMA M.58.9.3 (1 of 2).jpg|thumb|upright=.6|2nd-century&nbsp;BC Yayoi [[dōtaku]] bronze bell]]

The Japanese archipelago saw the introduction of bronze during the early [[Yayoi period]] ({{circa|300&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}), which saw the introduction of metalworking and agricultural practices brought by settlers arriving from the continent. Bronze and iron smelting spread to the Japanese archipelago through contact with other ancient East Asian civilisations, particularly immigration and trade from the ancient Korean peninsula, and ancient mainland China. Iron was mainly used for agricultural and other tools, whereas ritual and ceremonial artefacts were mainly made of bronze.{{clarify|reason=What about weapons? |date=July 2023}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=Kyoto National Museum |url=https://www.kyohaku.go.jp/eng/exhibitions/feature/b/seidou_2024/ |access-date=2023-08-02 |website=Kyoto National Museum}}</ref>

==== Korea ====
{{main|Gojoseon|Mumun pottery period}}
[[File:화순 대곡리 청동기 일괄.jpg|thumb|Bronze artefacts from Daegok-ri, [[Hwasun County|Hwasun]], Korea]]
On the Korean Peninsula, the Bronze Age began {{circa|1000–800&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Eckert |first1=Carter J. |title=Korea, Old and New: A History |last2=Lee |first2=Ki-Baik |last3=Lew |first3=Young Ick |last4=Robinson |first4=Michael |last5=Wagner |first5=Edward W. |publisher=Korea Institute, Harvard University |year=1990 |isbn=978-0-9627713-0-9 |page=9}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=1000 BC to 300 AD: Korea |url=http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/tps/1000bce_ko.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111012085309/http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/tps/1000bce_ko.htm |archive-date=12 October 2011 |access-date=24 September 2016 |website=Asia for Educators |publisher=Columbia University}}</ref> Initially centred around [[Liaoning bronze dagger culture|Liaoning]] and southern Manchuria, Korean Bronze Age culture exhibits unique typology and styles, especially in ritual objects.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Korea Information - History |url=https://www.koreanculture.org/korea-information-history |access-date=2025-09-02 |website=Korean Cultural Center New York |language=en-US}}</ref>

The [[Mumun pottery period]] is named after the Korean name for undecorated or plain cooking and storage vessels that form a large part of the pottery assemblage over the entire length of the period, but especially between 850 and 550&nbsp;BC. The Mumun period is known for the origins of intensive agriculture and complex societies in both the Korean Peninsula and the Japanese Archipelago.

The Middle Mumun pottery period culture of the southern [[Korean Peninsula]] gradually adopted bronze production ({{circa|700–600&nbsp;BC|lk=no}} after a period when [[Liaoning bronze dagger culture|Liaoning-style bronze daggers]] and other bronze artefacts were exchanged as far as the interior part of the Southern Peninsula ({{circa|900–700&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}). 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]]. Bronze was an important element in ceremonies and for mortuary offerings until 100&nbsp;BC.
{{Clear}}

=== South Asia ===
(Dates are approximate, consult linked articles for details)
<timeline>
ImageSize = width:800 height:50
PlotArea = width:720 height:25 left:65 bottom:20
AlignBars = justify

Colors =
 id:age value:rgb(0.95,0.85,0.5) #
 id:filler value:gray(0.8) # background bar
 id:black value:black

Period = from:-3300 till:-1000
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal
ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:500 start:-3300
ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:100 start:-3300

PlotData =
 align:center textcolor:black fontsize:8 mark:(line,black) width:15 shift:(0,-5)

 bar:India color:age
 from: -3300 till: -1550 shift:(0,7) text:[[Bronze Age India]]
 from: -3300 till: -2700 text:[[Indus Valley Civilization|Early Indus]]
 from: -2700 till: -1900 text:[[Mature Harappan]]
 from: -1900 till: -1550 text:[[Cemetery H culture|Late Harappa]]
 from: -1500 till: -1200 text:[[Vedic period#Early Vedic period (c. 1500 – c. 1200 BCE)|Rigvedic]]
</timeline>

==== Indus Valley ====
{{Main|Indus Valley Civilisation}}
[[File:The Dancing Girl, in a photogravure by Alfred Nawrath,1938.jpg|thumb|upright|''[[Dancing Girl (prehistoric sculpture)|Dancing girl]]'' from [[Mohenjo-daro]], {{circa|2500&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}]]
The Bronze Age on the [[Indian subcontinent]] began {{circa|3300&nbsp;BC|lk=no}} with the beginning of the [[Indus Valley Civilization]]. Inhabitants of the Indus Valley, the [[Harappa]]ns, developed new techniques in metallurgy and produced copper, bronze, lead, and tin. The Late Harappan culture (1900–1400&nbsp;BC), overlapped the transition from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age; thus it is difficult to date this transition accurately. It has been claimed that a 6,000-year-old copper amulet manufactured in [[Mehrgarh]] in the shape of a wheel spoke is the earliest example of [[lost-wax casting]] in the world.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Bertrand |first1=L. |last2=Jarrige |first2=J.-F. |last3=Réfrégiers |first3=M. |last4=Robbiola |first4=L. |last5=Séverin-Fabiani |first5=T. |last6=Mille |first6=B. |last7=Thoury |first7=M. |date=15 November 2016 |title=High spatial dynamics-photoluminescence imaging reveals the metallurgy of the earliest lost-wax cast object |journal=Nature Communications |volume=7 |article-number=13356 |bibcode=2016NatCo...713356T |doi=10.1038/ncomms13356 |issn=2041-1723 |pmc=5116070 |pmid=27843139}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Centre for Cultural Resources and Training (CCRT) |url=http://ccrtindia.gov.in/induscivilisculp.php |access-date=2020-07-08 |website=ccrtindia.gov.in}}</ref>

The civilisation's cities were noted for their urban planning, baked brick houses, elaborate drainage systems, water supply systems, clusters of large non-residential buildings, and new techniques in handicraft (carnelian products, seal carving) and metallurgy (copper, bronze, lead, and tin).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wright |first=Rita P. |author-link=Rita P. Wright |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gAgFPQAACAAJ |title=The Ancient Indus: Urbanism, Economy, and Society |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-521-57219-4 |pages=115–125}}</ref> The large cities of [[Mohenjo-daro]] and [[Harappa]] likely grew to contain between 30,000 and 60,000 people,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dyson |first=Tim |author-link=Tim Dyson |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3TRtDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA29 |title=A Population History of India: From the First Modern People to the Present Day |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2018 |isbn=978-0-19-882905-8 |page=29 |quote=Mohenjo-daro and Harappa may each have contained between 30,000 and 60,000 people (perhaps more in the former case). Water transport was crucial for the provisioning of these and other cities. That said, the vast majority of people lived in rural areas. At the height of the Indus valley civilization the subcontinent may have contained 4–6 million people.}}</ref> and the civilisation during its florescence may have contained between one and five million people.<ref>{{Cite book |last=McIntosh |first=Jane |author-link=Jane McIntosh |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1AJO2A-CbccC |title=The Ancient Indus Valley: New Perspectives |publisher=ABC-ClIO |year=2008 |isbn=978-1-57607-907-2 |page=387 |quote=The enormous potential of the greater Indus region offered scope for huge population increase; by the end of the Mature Harappan period, the Harappans are estimated to have numbered somewhere between 1 and 5 million, probably well below the region's carrying capacity.}}</ref>

=== Southeast Asia ===
The [[Vilabouly Complex, Laos|Vilabouly Complex]] in Laos is a significant archaeological site for dating the origin of bronze metallurgy in Southeast Asia.

==== Thailand ====
In [[Ban Chiang]], Thailand, bronze [[artifact (archaeology)|artefacts]] have been discovered that date to 2100&nbsp;BC.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://penn.museum/documents/publications/expedition/PDFs/43-2/Science.pdf |title=Bronze from Ban Chiang, Thailand: A view from the Laboratory |publisher=Penn Museum |access-date=24 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110427023505/http://penn.museum/documents/publications/expedition/PDFs/43-2/Science.pdf |archive-date=27 April 2011 }}</ref> However, according to the radiocarbon dating on the human and pig bones in Ban Chiang, some scholars propose that the initial Bronze Age in Ban Chiang was in the late 2nd millennium.<ref name="Higham2011" /> In [[Nyaung-gan]], Myanmar, bronze tools have been excavated along with ceramics and stone artefacts. Dating is still currently broad (2300–500&nbsp;BC).<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Pryce |first1=Thomas Oliver |title=A first absolute chronology for Late Neolithic to Early Bronze Age Myanmar: new AMS 14C dates from Nyaung'gan and Oakaie |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/first-absolute-chronology-for-late-neolithic-to-early-bronze-age-myanmar-new-ams-14c-dates-from-nyaunggan-and-oakaie/B07D5550EA305C72B89A52D4DFBB108C |journal=Antiquity |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |access-date=9 February 2025 |date=27 June 2018|volume=92 |issue=363 |pages=690–708 |doi=10.15184/aqy.2018.66 }}</ref> [[Ban Non Wat]], excavated by [[Charles Higham (archaeologist)|Charles Higham]], was a rich site with over 640 graves excavated that gleaned many complex bronze items that may have had social value connected to them.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Higham |first=C. F. W. |year=2011 |title=The Bronze Age of Southeast Asia: New insight on social change from Ban Non Wat |journal=Cambridge Archaeological Journal |volume=21 |issue=3 |pages=365–389 |doi=10.1017/s0959774311000424 |s2cid=162729367}}</ref>

Ban Chiang, however, is the most thoroughly documented site and has the clearest evidence of metallurgy when in Southeast Asia. With a rough date range from the late 3rd millennium&nbsp;BC to the 1st millennium&nbsp;AD, this site has artefacts such as burial pottery (dated 2100–1700&nbsp;BC) and fragments of bronze and copper-base bangles. This technology suggested on-site casting from the beginning. The on-site casting supports the theory that bronze was first introduced in Southeast Asia from a different country.<ref name="White1995">{{Cite journal |last=White |first=J. C. |year=1995 |title=Incorporating Heterarchy into Theory on Socio-political Development: The Case from Southeast Asia |journal=Archeological Papers of the American Anthropological Association |volume=6 |issue=1 |pages=101–123 |citeseerx=10.1.1.522.1061 |doi=10.1525/ap3a.1995.6.1.101 |s2cid=129026022}}</ref> Some scholars believe that copper-based metallurgy was disseminated from northwest and central China south and southwest via areas such as [[Guangdong]] and [[Yunnan]] and finally into southeast Asia {{circa|1000&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}.<ref name="Higham2011">{{Cite journal |last1=Higham |first1=C. |last2=Higham |first2=T. |last3=Ciarla |first3=R. |last4=Douka |first4=K. |last5=Kijngam |first5=A. |last6=Rispoli |first6=F. |year=2011 |title=The Origins of the Bronze Age of Southeast Asia |journal=Journal of World Prehistory |volume=24 |issue=4 |pages=227–274 |doi=10.1007/s10963-011-9054-6 |s2cid=162300712}}</ref> Archaeology also suggests that Bronze Age metallurgy may not have been as significant a catalyst in social stratification and warfare in Southeast Asia as in other regions, and that social distribution shifted away from chiefdoms to a [[heterarchical]] network.<ref name="White1995" /> Data analyses of sites such as [[Ban Lum Khao]], Ban Na Di, Non-Nok Tha, Khok Phanom Di, and Nong Nor have consistently led researchers to conclude that there was no entrenched hierarchy.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=O'Reilly |first=D. J. W. |year=2003 |title=Further evidence of heterarchy in Bronze Age Thailand |journal=Current Anthropology |volume=44 |issue=2 |pages=300–306 |doi=10.1086/367973 |s2cid=145310194}}</ref>

==== Vietnam ====
{{further|Dong Son culture}}
Dating to the Neolithic, the first bronze drums, called the [[Dong Son drum]]s, were uncovered in and around the [[Red River Delta]] regions of northern Vietnam and Southern China. These relate to the [[Dong Son culture]] of Vietnam.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Taylor |first=Keith Weller |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rCl_02LnNVIC&q=Dong+Son+Culture+of+Vietnam&pg=PA313 |title=The Birth of Vietnam |publisher=University of California Press |year=1991 |isbn=978-0-520-07417-0}}</ref>

Archaeological research in Northern Vietnam indicates an increase in rates of infectious disease following the advent of metallurgy; skeletal fragments in sites dating to the early and mid-Bronze Age evidence a greater proportion of lesions than in sites of earlier periods.<ref name="Oxenham2005">{{Cite journal |last1=Oxenham |first1=M. F. |last2=Thuy |first2=N. K. |last3=Cuong |first3=N. L. |year=2005 |title=Skeletal evidence for the emergence of infectious disease in bronze and iron age northern Vietnam |journal=American Journal of Physical Anthropology |volume=126 |issue=4 |pages=359–376 |doi=10.1002/ajpa.20048 |pmid=15386222|bibcode=2005AJPA..126..359O }}</ref> There are a few possible implications of this. One is the increased contact with bacterial and/or fungal pathogens due to increased population density and land clearing/cultivation. Another implication is decreased levels of immunocompetence in the Metal Age due to changes in diet caused by agriculture. The last implication is that there may have been an emergence of infectious diseases that evolved into a more virulent form in the metal period.<ref name="Oxenham2005" />

== Europe ==
{{Main|Bronze Age Europe}}
A few examples of named Bronze Age cultures in Europe roughly in relative order—dates are approximate.
<timeline>
ImageSize = width:800 height:145
PlotArea = width:720 height:105 left:65 bottom:20
AlignBars = justify
Colors =
 id:era value:rgb(1,0.85,0.5) #

Period = from:-3300 till:-300
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal
ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:500 start:-3300
ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:100 start:-3300

PlotData =
 align:center textcolor:black fontsize:8 mark:(line,black) width:15 shift:(0,-5)

 bar:Europe color:era width:25
 from: -3200 till: -600 shift:(0,15) text:[[Bronze Age Europe]]
 from: -3200 till: -2850 text:[[Aegean Civilization|Aegean Bronze]]
 from: -2850 till: -2500 text:[[Corded Ware]]
 from: -2500 till: -2150 text:[[Beaker culture|Beaker]]
 from: -2150 till: -1600 text:[[Unetice culture|Unetice]]
 from: -1600 till: -1250 text:[[Tumulus culture|Tumulus]]
 from: -1250 till: -750 text:[[Urnfield]]
 from: -1250 till: -600 shift:(40,0) text:[[Lusatian culture|Lusatian]]
 bar:Britain color:era
 from: -2700 till: -700 shift:(0,15) text:[[Bronze Age Britain]]
 from: -2700 till: -2500 shift:(0,2) text:Mount~Pleasant link:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Pleasant_Phase
 from: -2500 till: -1900 text:[[Beaker culture|Beaker]]
 from: -1900 till: -1500 text:[[Bedd Branwen Period|Bedd Branwen]]
 from: -1500 till: -1300 shift:(0,3) text:Acton~Park link:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acton_Park_Phase
 from: -1300 till: -1200 shift:(0,0) text:Knighton~Heath link:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knighton_Heath_Period
 from: -1200 till: -850 text:[[Urnfield]]
 from: -850 till: -700 shift:(0,2) text:Ewart~Park link:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ewart_Park_Phase
 bar:Scand. color:era
 from: -1700 till: -500 shift:(0,15) text:[[Nordic Bronze Age]]
 from: -1700 till: -1500 text:Phase I
 from: -1500 till: -1300 text:Phase II
 from: -1300 till: -1100 text:Phase III
 from: -1100 till: -900 text:Phase IV
 from: -900 till: -700 text:Phase V
 from: -700 till: -500 text:Phase VI
</timeline>
The chosen cultures overlapped in time and the indicated periods do not fully correspond to their estimated extents.

=== Southeast Europe ===
{{main|Old Europe (archaeology)|Varna culture}}
{{further|Prehistory of Southeastern Europe#Bronze Age|Bronze Age in Romania}}
[[File:Valchitran-treasure.jpg|thumb|[[Valchitran Treasure]] dated 1600–1100&nbsp;BC]]
[[File:Spoked wheel from Arokalja.jpg|thumb|Bronze chariot wheel, [[Urnfield culture]], {{circa|13th–12th century&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Molloy |first=Barry |display-authors=etal |year=2023 |title=Early Chariots and Religion in South-East Europe and the Aegean During the Bronze Age: A Reappraisal of the Dupljaja Chariot in Context |journal=European Journal of Archaeology |volume=27 |issue=2 |pages=149–169 |doi=10.1017/eaa.2023.39 |doi-access=free}}</ref>]]

Radivojevic et al. (2013) reported the discovery of a tin bronze foil from the [[Pločnik (archaeological site)|Pločnik archaeological site]] dated to {{circa|4650&nbsp;BC|lk=no}} as well as 14 other artefacts from Serbia and Bulgaria dated before 4000&nbsp;BC, showing that early tin bronze was more common than previously thought and developed independently in Europe 1500 years before the first tin bronze alloys in the Near East. The production of complex tin bronzes lasted for about 500 years in the Balkans. The authors reported that evidence for the production of such complex bronzes disappears at the end of the 5th millennium&nbsp;BC, coinciding with the "collapse of large cultural complexes in north-eastern Bulgaria and Thrace". Tin bronzes using [[cassiterite]] tin were reintroduced to the area some 1500 years later.<ref name="Radivojevic2013"/>

The oldest golden artefacts in the world are dated between 4600 and 4200&nbsp;BC, and were found in the Necropolis of Varna. These artefacts are on display in the [[Varna Archaeological Museum]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Grande |first=Lance |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RnE9Fa4pbn0C&dq=varna+necropolis+oldest&pg=PA290 |title=Gems and Gemstones: Timeless Natural Beauty of the Mineral World |date=15 November 2009 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-30511-0 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221101113823/https://books.google.com/books?id=RnE9Fa4pbn0C&pg=PA290&dq=varna+necropolis+oldest&hl=en#v=onepage&q=varna%20necropolis%20oldest&f=false |archive-date=2022-11-01 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Curry |first=Andrew |title=Mystery of the Varna Gold: What Caused These Ancient Societies to Disappear? |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/varna-bulgaria-gold-graves-social-hierarchy-prehistoric-archaelogy-smithsonian-journeys-travel-quarterly-180958733/ |website=Smithsonian Magazine}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Daley |first=Jason |title=World's Oldest Gold Object May Have Just Been Unearthed in Bulgaria |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/oldest-gold-object-unearthed-bulgaria-180960093/ |magazine=Smithsonian Magazine}}</ref>

The [[Dabene Treasure]] was unearthed from 2004 to 2007 near [[Karlovo]] in central Bulgaria. The treasure consists of 20,000 gold jewellery items from 18 to 23 carats. The most important of them was a dagger made of gold and [[platinum]] with an unusual edge. The treasure was dated to the end of the 3rd millennium&nbsp;BC. Scientists suggest that the Karlovo valley used to be a major crafts centre that exported golden jewellery across Europe. It is considered one of the largest prehistoric golden treasures in the world.{{citation needed|date=November 2024}}

=== Aegean ===
{{Main|Aegean civilization}}
[[File:MaskOfAgamemnon.jpg|thumb|The gold [[Mask of Agamemnon]] produced during the [[Mycenaean civilisation]], from [[Mycenae]], Greece, 1550&nbsp;BC]]

The Aegean Bronze Age began {{circa|3200&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}, when civilisations first established a far-ranging trade network. This network imported tin and charcoal to [[Alashiya|Cyprus]], where copper was mined and alloyed with tin to produce bronze. Bronze objects were then exported far and wide. [[Isotope|Isotopic]] analysis of tin in some Mediterranean bronze artefacts suggests that they may have originated from [[Bronze Age Britain]].<ref>Carl Waldman, Catherine Mason. ''Encyclopedia of European peoples: Volume 1''. 2006. p.&nbsp;524.</ref>

Knowledge of navigation was well-developed by this time and reached a peak of skill not exceeded (except perhaps by [[Polynesia#Navigation|Polynesian]] sailors) until 1730 when the invention of the [[Marine chronometer|chronometer]] enabled the precise determination of longitude.

The [[Minoan civilisation]] based in [[Knossos]] on the island of [[Crete]] appears to have coordinated and defended its Bronze Age trade. Ancient empires valued [[luxury good]]s in contrast to [[staple foods]], leading to famine.<ref>Lancaster, H. O. (1990). Expectations of life: A study in the demography, statistics, and history of world mortality. New York: Springer-Verlag. p.&nbsp;228.</ref>

==== Aegean collapse ====
{{Main|Bronze Age collapse|Greek Dark Ages}}
[[File:Bronze Age End.svg|thumb|upright=1.4|Invasions, destruction and possible population movements during the collapse of the Bronze Age, {{circa|1200&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}]]

Bronze Age collapse theories have described aspects of the end of the Bronze Age in this region. At the end of the Bronze Age in the Aegean region, the [[Mycenaean Greece|Mycenaean]] administration of the regional trade empire followed the decline of Minoan primacy.<ref>[[Robert Drews|Drews, R.]] (1993). ''The end of the Bronze Age: Changes in warfare and the catastrophe ca. 1200 B.C.'' Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press</ref> Several Minoan [[client states]] lost much of their population to famine and pestilence. This would indicate that the trade network may have failed, preventing the trade that would previously have relieved such famines and prevented illness caused by malnutrition. It is also known that in this era, the [[breadbasket]] of the Minoan empire—the area north of the [[Black Sea]]—also suddenly lost much of its population and thus probably some capacity to cultivate crops. 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.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Neer |first=Richard T. |title=Greek Art and Archaeology |publisher=Thames & Hudson |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-500-28877-1 |location=New York |page=63}}</ref>

The Aegean collapse has been attributed to the exhaustion of the [[Geography of Cyprus|Cypriot]] forests causing the end of the bronze trade.<ref>Swiny, S., Hohlfelder, R. L., & Swiny, H. W. (1998). Cities on the Sea. Res maritime: Cyprus and the eastern Mediterranean from prehistory to late antiquity: proceedings of the Second International Symposium "Cities on the Sea", Nicosia, Cyprus, 18–22 October 1994. Atlanta, GA: Scholars Press.</ref><ref>Creevey, B. (1994). The forest resources of Bronze Age Cyprus.</ref><ref>A. Bernard Knapp, Steve O. Held, and Sturt W. Manning. The prehistory of Cyprus: Problems and prospects.</ref> These forests are known to have existed in 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 50 years.

The Aegean collapse has also been attributed to the fact that as iron tools became more common, the main justification for the tin trade ended, and that trade network ceased to function as it did formerly.<ref>Lockard, Craig A. (2009). ''Societies, Networks, and Transitions: To 600''. Wadsworth Publishing Company. p. 96.</ref> The colonies of the Minoan empire then suffered drought, famine, war, or some combination of the three, and had no access to the distant resources of an empire by which they could easily recover.

The [[Thera eruption]] occurred {{circa|1600&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}, {{cvt|110|km}} north of Crete. Speculation includes that a [[tsunami]] from Thera (more commonly known today as [[Santorini]]) destroyed Cretan cities. A tsunami may have destroyed the Cretan navy in its home harbour, which then lost crucial naval battles; so that in the [[Minoan chronology|LMIB/LMII]] event ({{circa|1450&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}) the cities of Crete burned and the [[Mycenaean civilisation]] conquered [[Knossos]]. If the eruption occurred in the late 17th century&nbsp;BC as most chronologists believe, then its immediate effects belong to the Middle 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.{{citation needed|date=August 2020}} One such theory highlights the role of Cretan expertise in administering the empire, post-Thera. If this expertise was concentrated in Crete, then the Mycenaeans may have made political and commercial mistakes in administering the Cretan empire.{{citation needed|date=August 2020}}

Archaeological findings, including some on the island of Thera, suggest that the centre of the Minoan civilisation at the time of the eruption was actually on Thera rather than on Crete.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Antonopoulos |first=John |date=1992-03-01 |title=The great Minoan eruption of Thera volcano and the ensuing tsunami in the Greek Archipelago |journal=Natural Hazards |volume=5 |issue=2 |pages=153–168 |bibcode=1992NatHa...5..153A |doi=10.1007/BF00127003 |issn=1573-0840 |s2cid=129836887}}</ref> According to this theory, the catastrophic loss of the political, administrative and economic centre due to 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 conquest. Indeed, the Santorini eruption is usually dated to {{circa|1630&nbsp;BC|lk=no}},<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Rackham |first1=Oliver |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k4dHmA9jq4wC&pg=PA8 |title=The Making of the Cretan Landscape |last2=Moody |first2=Jennifer |publisher=Manchester University Press |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-7190-3647-7}}</ref> while the Mycenaean Greeks first enter the historical record a few decades later, {{circa|1600&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}.{{citation needed|date=August 2020}} The later Mycenaean assaults on Crete ({{circa|1450&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}) and Troy ({{circa|1250&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}) would have been a continuation of the steady encroachment of the Greeks upon the weakened Minoan world.{{citation needed|date=August 2020}}

=== Central Europe ===
[[File:Nebra disc 1.jpg|thumb|[[Nebra sky disc]] from the [[Aunjetitz culture]], present-day Germany (1800–1600&nbsp;BC)]]
In Central Europe, the Early Bronze Age [[Unetice culture]] (2300–1600&nbsp;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]]. Cemeteries of this period are small and rare. The Unetice culture was followed by the Middle Bronze Age (1600–1200&nbsp;BC) [[tumulus culture]], 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 [[Otomani culture|Otomani]] and Gyulavarsand cultures.

The late Bronze Age [[Urnfield]] culture (1300–700&nbsp;BC) was characterised by cremation burials. It included the [[Lusatian culture]] in eastern Germany and Poland (1300–500&nbsp;BC) that continues into the Iron Age. The Central European Bronze Age was followed by the Iron Age [[Hallstatt culture]] (700–450&nbsp;BC). Important sites include [[Biskupin]] in Poland, [[Nebra (Unstrut)|Nebra]] in Germany, [[Vráble]] in Slovakia, and Zug-Sumpf in Switzerland.

German prehistorian [[Paul Reinecke]] described Bronze A1 (Bz A1) period (2300–2000&nbsp;BC: triangular daggers, flat axes, stone wrist-guards, flint arrowheads) and Bronze A2 (Bz A2) period (1950–1700&nbsp;BC: daggers with metal hilt, flanged axes, halberds, pins with perforated spherical heads, solid bracelets) and phases Hallstatt A and B (Ha A and B).

=== Southern Europe ===
[[File:Nuraghe Santu Antine 02.jpg|thumb|[[Nuraghe Santu Antine]] in [[Torralba, Sardinia|Torralba]], [[Sardinia]], [[Italy]]]]

The [[Apennine culture]] was a technology complex in central and southern Italy spanning both the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age proper. The [[Camuni]] were an ancient people of uncertain origin who lived in [[Val Camonica]], in present-day [[Lombardy]], during the Iron Age, although groups of hunters, shepherds, and farmers are known to have lived in the area since the Neolithic.

Located in [[Sardinia]] and [[Corsica]], the [[Nuragic civilisation]] lasted from the early Bronze Age (18th century&nbsp;BC) to the 2nd century&nbsp;AD, when the islands were already [[Romanised]]. They take their name from the characteristic Nuragic towers, which evolved from the pre-existing megalithic culture, which built [[dolmen]]s and [[menhir]]s.

The towers are unanimously considered the best-preserved and largest megalithic remains in Europe. Their purpose is still debated: some scholars consider them monumental tombs, others as [[Giants' grave|Houses of the Giants]], other as fortresses, ovens for metal fusion, prisons, or finally temples for a solar cult. Near the end of the 3rd millennium&nbsp;BC, Sardinia exported to Sicily a culture that built small dolmens, trilithic or polygonal shaped, that served as tombs, as in the Sicilian dolmen of "Cava dei Servi". From this region, they reached [[Malta]] and other countries of Mediterranean basin.<ref>Piccolo, Salvatore, ''op. cit.'', pp. 1 onwards.</ref>

The [[Terramare]] was an early [[Indo-European]] civilisation in the area of what is now [[Pianura Padana]] in northern Italy, before the arrival of the [[Celts]], and in other parts of Europe. They lived in square villages of wooden [[stilt houses]]. These villages were built on land, but generally near a stream, with roads forming a [[grid plan]]. The whole complex was of the nature of a fortified settlement. The Terramare culture was widespread in the [[Pianura Padana]], especially along the [[Panaro (river)|Panaro]] river, between [[Modena]] and [[Bologna]], and in the rest of Europe. The civilisation developed in the Middle and Late Bronze Age during the 17th–13th centuries&nbsp;BC.

The [[Castellieri culture]] developed in [[Istria]] during the Middle Bronze Age. It lasted for more than a millennium, from the 15th century&nbsp;BC until the Roman conquest in the 3rd century&nbsp;BC. It takes its name from the fortified boroughs (''Castellieri'', {{langx|fur|cjastelir}}) that characterised the culture.

The [[Canegrate culture]] developed from the mid-Bronze Age (13th century&nbsp;BC) until the Iron Age in the Pianura Padana, in what are now western [[Lombardy]], eastern [[Piedmont]], and [[Ticino]]. It takes its name from the township of [[Canegrate]], where, in the 20th century, some fifty tombs with ceramics and metal objects were found. The Canegrate culture migrated from the northwest part of the Alps and descended to Pianura Padana from the [[Swiss Alps]] passes and the Ticino.

The [[Golasecca culture]] developed starting from the late Bronze Age in the [[Po plain]]. It takes its name from Golasecca, a locality next to the Ticino, where in the early 19th century abbot {{ill|Giovanni Battista Giani|it}} excavated its first findings comprising some 50 tombs with ceramics and metal objects. Remains of the Golasecca culture span an area of about {{cvt|20000|km2|acre}} south to the Alps, between the Po, [[Sesia]], and [[Serio (river)|Serio]] rivers, dating to the 9th–4th centuries&nbsp;BC.

=== Western Europe ===

==== Great Britain ====
{{Main|Bronze Age Britain}}
[[File:Tarian Rhyd y Gors- Rhyd y Gors Shield.jpg|thumb|Bronze shield, [[Bronze Age Britain]], 1300–1000&nbsp;BC]]

In Great Britain, the Bronze Age is considered to have been the period from {{circa|2100|lk=no}} to 750&nbsp;BC. Migration brought new people to the islands from the continent.<ref name="Barras2019">{{Cite news |last=Barras |first=Colin |date=27 March 2019 |title=Story of most murderous people of all time revealed in ancient DNA |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24132230-200-story-of-most-murderous-people-of-all-time-revealed-in-ancient-dna/ |work=[[New Scientist]]}}</ref> Tooth enamel isotope research on bodies found in early Bronze Age graves around [[Stonehenge]] indicates that at least some of the migrants came from the area of present-day Switzerland. Another example site is [[Must Farm]] near [[Whittlesey]], host to the most complete Bronze Age wheel ever to be found. The [[Beaker culture]] displayed different behaviours from 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 and 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 ({{circa|1400–1100&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}) to exploit these conditions. [[Devon]] and [[Cornwall]] were major sources 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.

The burials, which until this period had usually been communal, became more individual. For example, whereas in the Neolithic a large [[chambered cairn]] or [[long barrow]] housed the dead, Early Bronze Age people buried their dead in individual barrows (commonly known and marked on modern British [[Ordnance Survey]] maps as tumuli), or sometimes in [[cist]]s covered with [[cairn]]s.

The greatest quantities of bronze objects in England were discovered in [[East Cambridgeshire]], with the most important finds being the 6,500-piece [[Isleham Hoard]].<ref>Hall & Coles, pp.&nbsp;81–88.</ref> Alloying of copper with tin to make bronze was practised soon after the discovery of copper. The techniques needed to deliberately alloy copper with zinc to form brass first arrived in Great Britain late in the first millennium BC.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Craddock |first1=Paul |last2=Cowell |first2=Michael |last3=Stead |first3=Ian |date=September 2004 |title=Britain's First Brass |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquaries-journal/article/abs/britains-first-brass/AEC54C662CC845964E413F91F046D30A |journal=The Antiquaries Journal |language=en |volume=84 |pages=339–346 |doi=10.1017/S000358150004587X |issn=1758-5309|url-access=subscription }}</ref> One copper mine at Great Orme in North Wales, reached a depth of 70 metres.<ref>{{Cite book |last=O'Brien |first=W. |title=Bronze Age Copper Mining in Britain and Ireland |publisher=Shir |year=1997 |isbn=978-0-7478-0321-8}}</ref> At [[Alderley Edge]] in Cheshire, carbon dating has established mining at around 2280 to 1890&nbsp;BC with a 95% probability.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Timberlake |first1=S. |title=The Archaeology of Alderley Edge: Survey, excavation and experiment in an ancient mining landscape |last2=Prag |first2=A. J. N. W. |publisher=John and Erica Hedges |year=2005 |isbn=978-1-84171-715-9 |location=Oxford |page=396 |doi=10.30861/9781841717159}}</ref> The earliest identified metalworking site (Sigwells, Somerset) came much later, dated by globular urn-style pottery to {{circa|the 12th century&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}. The identifiable [[sherds]] from over 500 mould fragments included a perfect fit of the hilt of a sword in the Wilburton style held in [[Somerset County Museum]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Tabor |first=Richard |title=Cadbury Castle: A hillfort and landscapes |publisher=The History Press |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-7524-4715-5 |location=Stroud |pages=61–69}}</ref>

==== Atlantic Bronze Age ====
{{Main|Atlantic Bronze Age}}
[[File:Zwaard van Jutphaas (24466600427).jpg|thumb|The Sword of Jutphaas, [[Hilversum culture]], Netherlands, {{circa|1500&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}]]

The Atlantic Bronze Age as cultural geographic region is a cultural complex ({{circa|2100|{{\}}800{{\}}700 cal.&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}) that includes different cultures in the context of the Atlantic Iberian Peninsula (Portugal, Andalucía, Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria, País Vasco, Navarra and Castilla and León), the Atlantic France, Britain and Ireland, while the [[Atlantic Bronze Age]] as cultural complex of the final phase of the Bronze Age period is dated between {{circa|1350}} and 700&nbsp;BC. It is marked by economic and cultural exchange. Commercial contacts extend to Denmark and the Mediterranean. The Atlantic Bronze Age was defined by many distinct regional centres of metal production, unified by a regular maritime exchange of products.

==== Ireland ====
{{Main|Prehistoric Ireland#Bronze Age|Atlantic Bronze Age}}
The Bronze Age in Ireland began {{circa|2000&nbsp;BC|lk=no}} 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 [[stitching awl|awls]] in copper. The period is divided into three phases: Early Bronze Age (2000–1500&nbsp;BC), Middle Bronze Age (1500–1200&nbsp;BC), and Late Bronze Age (1200{{snd}}{{circa|500&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}). Ireland is known for a relatively large number of Early Bronze Age burials. The country's [[stone circle]]s and [[stone rows]] were built during this period.<ref>Power (1992), p. 23.</ref>

One of the characteristic types of artefacts of the Early Bronze Age in Ireland is the flat axe. There are five main types of flat axes: Lough Ravel crannog ({{circa|2200&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}), Ballybeg ({{circa|2000&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}), Killaha ({{circa|2000&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}), Ballyvalley ({{circa|2000–1600&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}), Derryniggin ({{circa|1600&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}), and a number of metal ingots in the shape of axes.<ref>Waddell; Eogan.</ref>

=== Northern Europe ===
{{Main|Nordic Bronze Age}}
[[File:Solvognen-00100.jpg|thumb|[[Trundholm sun chariot]], Denmark, {{circa|1500&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}]]
The Bronze Age in Northern Europe spans the 2nd millennium&nbsp;BC, ([[Unetice culture]], [[Urnfield culture]], [[Tumulus culture]], [[Terramare culture]] and [[Lusatian culture]]) lasting until {{circa|600&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}. The [[Northern Bronze Age]] was both a period and a Bronze Age culture in Scandinavian pre-history, {{circa|1700–500&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}, with sites as far east as Estonia. Succeeding the Late Neolithic culture, its ethnic and linguistic affinities are unknown in the absence of written sources. It was followed by the [[Pre-Roman Iron Age]].

Even though Northern European Bronze Age cultures came relatively late, and came into existence via trade, sites present rich and well-preserved objects made of wool, wood and imported Central European bronze and gold. Many rock carvings depict ships, and the large stone burial monuments known as stone ships suggest that shipping played an important role. Thousands of rock carvings depict ships, most probably representing sewn plank-built canoes for warfare, fishing, and trade. These may have a history as far back as the neolithic period and continue into the Pre-Roman Iron Age, as shown by the [[Hjortspring boat]]. There are many mounds and rock carving sites from the period. Numerous artefacts of bronze and gold are found. No written language existed in the Nordic countries during the Bronze Age. The rock carvings have been dated through comparison with depicted artefacts.
{{clear left}}

=== Eastern Europe ===
[[File:Yamnaya Steppe Pastoralists.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Bronze Age spread of [[Yamnaya culture|Yamnaya]] steppe pastoralist ancestry into two subcontinents—Europe and South Asia, and location of the [[Afanasievo culture]], which has the same genetic characteristics as the Yamnayas.<ref name="Barras2019" />]]
The [[Yamnaya culture]] ({{circa|3300–2600&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}) was a Late Copper Age/Early Bronze Age culture of the [[Pontic-Caspian steppe]]<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Kristiansen |first1=Kristian |last2=Allentoft |first2=Morten E. |last3=Willerslev |first3=Eske |year=2017 |title=Re-theorising mobility and the formation of culture and language among the Corded Ware Culture in Europe |journal=Antiquity |volume=91 |issue=356 |pages=334–347 |doi=10.15184/aqy.2017.17 |issn=0003-598X |doi-access=free |hdl-access=free |hdl=1887/70150}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Villalba-Mouco |first1=Vanessa |last2=Oliart |first2=Camila |last3=Haak |first3=Wolfgang |date=2021-11-19 |title=Genomic transformation and social organization during the Copper Age–Bronze Age transition in southern Iberia |journal=Science Advances |volume=7 |issue=47 |article-number=eabi7038 |bibcode=2021SciA....7.7038V |doi=10.1126/sciadv.abi7038 |issn=2375-2548 |pmc=8597998 |pmid=34788096 |hdl-access=free |hdl=10810/54399}}</ref> associated with early [[Indo-Europeans]]. It was followed on the steppe by the [[Catacomb culture]] ({{circa|2800–2200&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}) and the [[Poltavka culture]] ({{circa|2800–2200&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}). The closely related [[Corded Ware culture]] in the [[forest-steppe]] region to the north ({{circa|3000–2350&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}) spread eastwards with the [[Fatyanovo culture]] ({{circa|2900–2050&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}), which subsequently developed into the [[Abashevo culture]] ({{circa|2200–1850&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}) and the [[Sintashta culture]] ({{circa|2200–1750&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}). The earliest known [[chariot]]s have been found in Sintashta burials and there is earlier evidence for chariot use in the Abashevo culture. The Sintashta culture expanded further eastwards into central Asia becoming the [[Andronovo culture]], while the [[Srubnaya culture]] ({{circa|1900–1200&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}) continued the use of chariots in eastern Europe.

=== Caucasus ===
[[Arsenical bronze]] artefacts of the [[Maykop culture]] in the [[North Caucasus]] have been dated to around the 4th millennium&nbsp;BC.<ref>Philip L. Kohl. The making of Bronze Age Eurasia. p.&nbsp;58.</ref> This innovation resulted in the circulation of arsenical bronze technology through southern and eastern Europe.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Gimbutas |year=1973 |title=The Beginning of the Bronze Age in Europe and the Indo-Europeans 3500–2500&nbsp;BC |journal=Journal of Indo-European Studies |volume=1 |page=177}}</ref>
{{Human history and prehistory}}

== Africa ==

=== Sub-Saharan Africa ===
{{See also|Copper metallurgy in Africa}}

Iron and copper smelting appeared around the same time in most parts of Africa.<ref name="Miller1994">{{Cite journal |last1=Miller |first1=Duncan E. |last2=van der Merwe |first2=Nikolaas J. |year=1994 |title=Early Metal Working in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Review of Recent Research |journal=The Journal of African History |volume=35 |issue=1 |pages=1–36 |doi=10.1017/s0021853700025949 |jstor=182719 |s2cid=162330270}}</ref><ref name="Childs2008">{{Cite book |last=Childs |first=S. Terry |title=Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures |publisher=Springer |year=2008 |isbn=978-1-4020-4425-0 |editor-last=Selin |editor-first=Helaine |pages=1596–1601 |chapter=Metallurgy in Africa |doi=10.1007/978-1-4020-4425-0_8776}}</ref> As such, most [[Classical African civilisation]]s outside Egypt did not experience a distinct Bronze Age. Evidence for iron smelting appears earlier or at the same time as copper smelting in [[Nigeria]] {{circa|900–800&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}, [[Rwanda]] and [[Burundi]] {{circa|700–500&nbsp;BC|lk=no}} and [[Tanzania]] {{circa|300&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}.<ref name="Childs2008" /><ref name="Holl2009">{{Cite journal |last=Holl |first=Augustin F. C. |year=2009 |title=Early West African Metallurgies: New Data and Old Orthodoxy |journal=Journal of World Prehistory |volume=22 |issue=4 |pages=415–438 |doi=10.1007/s10963-009-9030-6 |s2cid=161611760}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Alpern |first=Stanley B. |year=2005 |title=Did They or Didn't They Invent It? Iron in Sub-Saharan Africa |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/187874 |journal=History in Africa |volume=32 |pages=41–94 |doi=10.1353/hia.2005.0003 |jstor=20065735 |s2cid=162880295|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

There is a longstanding debate about whether copper and iron metallurgy were independently developed in sub-Saharan Africa or introduced from the outside across the Sahara from North Africa or the Indian Ocean.<ref name="Childs2008" /> Evidence for theories of independent development and outside introduction are scarce and the subject of active scholarly debate.<ref name="Childs2008" /> Scholars have suggested that both the relative dearth of archaeological research in sub-Saharan Africa as well as long-standing prejudices have limited or biased our understanding of pre-historic metallurgy on the continent.<ref name="Holl2009" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Killick |first=David |year=2009 |title=Cairo to Cape: The Spread of Metallurgy Through Eastern and Southern Africa |journal=Journal of World Prehistory |volume=22 |issue=4 |pages=399–414 |doi=10.1007/s10963-009-9025-3 |s2cid=162458882}}</ref><ref name="Chirikure2010">{{Cite journal |last=Chirikure |first=Shadreck |year=2010 |title=On Evidence, Ideas and Fantasy: The Origins of Iron in Sub-Saharan Africa: Thoughts on É. Zagato & A. F. C. Holl's 'On the Iron Front' |journal=[[Journal of African Archaeology]] |volume=8 |issue=1 |pages=25–28 |doi=10.3213/1612-1651-10156 |jstor=43135498}}</ref> One scholar characterised the state of historical knowledge: "To say that the history of metallurgy in sub-Saharan Africa is complicated is perhaps an understatement."<ref name="Chirikure2010" />

=== West Africa ===
Copper smelting took place in West Africa prior to the appearance of iron smelting in the region. Evidence for copper smelting furnaces was found near [[Agadez]], Niger that has been dated as early as 2200&nbsp;BC.<ref name="Holl2009" /> However, evidence for copper production in this region before 1000&nbsp;BC is debated.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Killick |first1=David |last2=van der Merwe |first2=Nikolaas J. |last3=Gordon |first3=Robert B. |last4=Grebenart |first4=Danilo |year=1988 |title=Reassessment of the Evidence for Early Metallurgy in Niger, West Africa |journal=Journal of Archaeological Science |volume=15 |issue=4 |pages=367–3944 |bibcode=1988JArSc..15..367K |doi=10.1016/0305-4403(88)90036-2 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name="Miller1994" /><ref name="Holl2009" /> Evidence of copper mining and smelting has been found at [[Akjoujt]], [[Mauretania]], that suggests small-scale production {{circa|800–400&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}.<ref name="Holl2009" />

== Americas ==
{{See also|Metallurgy in pre-Columbian America|Metallurgy in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica}}
The [[Moche culture]] of South America independently discovered and developed bronze smelting.<ref>{{Cite web |title=El bronce y el horizonte medio |url=http://www.lablaa.org/blaavirtual/publicacionesbanrep/bolmuseo/1996/jldi41/jldi01a.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090417064326/http://www.lablaa.org/blaavirtual/publicacionesbanrep/bolmuseo/1996/jldi41/jldi01a.htm |archive-date=17 April 2009 |access-date=22 March 2010 |website=lablaa.org}}</ref> Bronze technology was developed further by the [[Inca]] and used for utilitarian objects and sculpture.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gutierrez |first=Antonio |title=Inca Metallurgy |url=http://incas.homestead.com/inca_metallurgy_copper.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090131034920/http://incas.homestead.com/inca_metallurgy_copper.html |archive-date=31 January 2009 |access-date=24 September 2016 |publisher=Incas.homestead.com}}</ref> A later appearance of limited bronze smelting in western Mexico suggests either contact of that region with [[Andean civilisations]] or separate discovery of the technology. The [[Calchaquí]] people of northwestern Argentina had bronze technology.<ref>Ambrosetti, El bronze de la región calchaquí, Buenos Aires, 1904.[https://archive.org/stream/arqueologaargen01ambrgoog#page/n4/mode/2up]. Retrieved 28 March 2015.</ref>

== Trade ==
Trade and industry played a major role in the development of Bronze Age civilisations.<ref>{{Citation |last=Kristiansen |first=Kristian |title=Theorizing Trade and Civilization |date=2018 |work=Trade and Civilisation: Economic Networks and Cultural Ties, from Prehistory to the Early Modern Era |pages=1–24 |editor-last=Myrdal |editor-first=Janken |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/trade-and-civilisation/theorizing-trade-and-civilization/84347B2C943902B83A066B89B00F1874 |access-date=2025-05-23 |place=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-108-42541-4 |editor2-last=Kristiansen |editor2-first=Kristian |editor3-last=Lindkvist |editor3-first=Thomas}}</ref> With artefacts of the [[Indus Valley Civilisation]] found in ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt, it is clear that these civilisations were not only in touch with one another, but also trading. Early long-distance trade was limited almost exclusively to luxury goods like spices, textiles, and precious metals. Not only did this make cities with ample amounts of these products rich, but it also led to an intermingling of cultures for the first time in history.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kristiansen |first=Kristian |date=26 November 2015 |title=Connected Histories: the Dynamics of Bronze Age Interaction and Trade 1500–1100 BC |journal=Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society |volume=81 |pages=361–392 |doi=10.1017/ppr.2015.17 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

Trade routes were not just on land. 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 also helped encourage [[trade routes]] overland, linking the Indus Valley with the [[Mediterranean]]. This further led to towns appearing where there was an [[Caravanserai|inn]] or port where caravan routes ended.

== See also ==
{{Div col|colwidth=20em}}
* [[Dover Bronze Age Boat]]
* [[Ferriby Boats]]
* [[Hillfort]]
* [[Langdon Bay (Kent)]] hoard
* [[Middle Bronze Age migrations (ancient Near East)]]
* [[Oxhide ingot]]
* [[Shropshire bulla]]
* [[Timeline of human evolution]]
* [[Tollense valley battlefield]]
{{Div col end}}

== Notes ==
{{Reflist}}

== References ==
{{Refbegin|30em}}
* {{Cite book |last=Eogan |first=George |title=The Hoards of the Irish Later Bronze Age |publisher=Dublin University College |year=1983 |isbn=0-901120-77-4}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Bradley |first1=Richard |title=Fenland Survey |last2=Hall |first2=David |last3=Coles |first3=John |last4=Entwistle |first4=Roy |last5=Raymond |first5=Frances |publisher=English Heritage |year=1994 |isbn=1-85074-477-7 |location=London}}
* Pernicka, E., Eibner, C., Öztunah, Ö., Wagener, G. A. (2003). "", In: Wagner, G. A., Pernicka, E. and Uerpmann, H-P. (eds), ''Troia and the Troad: scientific approaches'', Natural science in archaeology, Berlin, Germany; London, England: Springer, {{ISBN|3-540-43711-8}}, pp.&nbsp;
* Piccolo, Salvatore (2013). ''Ancient Stones: The Prehistoric Dolmens of Sicily''. Abingdon (Great Britain): Brazen Head Publishing, {{ISBN|978-09565106-2-4}}
*Power, Denis. ''Archaeological inventory of County Cork, Volume 3: Mid Cork''. Stationery Office, 1992. {{ISBN|978-0-7076-4933-7}}
* Waddell, John (1998). ''The prehistoric archaeology of Ireland'', Galway University Press, 433 p., {{ISBN|1-901421-10-4}}
{{Refend}}

== External links ==
{{Sister project links|auto=yes}}
{{Library resources box |by=no |onlinebooks=yes |others=yes |about=yes |label=Bronze Age
 |viaf= |lcheading= |wikititle= }}
* {{cite EB1911|wstitle=Bronze Age |volume=4 |short=x}}
* [http://www.bronze-age-craft.com/ Bronze Age Experimental Archeology and Museum Reproductions]
* [http://www.umha-aois.com/ Umha Aois – Reconstructed Bronze Age metal casting]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20181119084851/http://web.comhem.se/vikingbronze/umha_aois_06.wmv Umha Aois – ancient bronze casting videoclip]
* [http://www.aegeobalkanprehistory.net/ Aegean and Balkan Prehistory] articles, site-reports and bibliography database concerning the Aegean, Balkans and Western Anatolia
* "[http://penn.museum/sites/mmap/publications/whitejwp.pdf The Transmission of Early Bronze Technology to Thailand: New Perspectives]"
* [http://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence/human-evolution-timeline-interactive Human Timeline (Interactive)] – [[Smithsonian]], [[National Museum of Natural History]] (2016)
* [https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/northamptonshire/4330031.stm Divers unearth Bronze Age hoard off the coast of Devon]

{{Bronze Age footer}}
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{{Three-age system of Archaeology}}
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