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{{Short description|Historical period (c. 3300–1200 BC)}}
{{Other uses}}
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{{Use British English|date=May 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}
[[File:AlacaStandarte.jpg|thumb|One of the [[Alaca Höyük bronze standards]] from a pre-Hittite tomb dating to the third millennium BC, from the [[Museum of Anatolian Civilizations]], [[Ankara]]]]
{{Bronze Age|260}}
{{History of technology sidebar}}

The '''Bronze Age''' is a historic period, lasting from approximately 3300 BC to 1200 BC. It is characterized by the use of [[bronze]], the use of writing in some areas, and other features of early urban [[civilization]]. The Bronze Age is the second principal period of the [[three-age system]] proposed in 1836 by [[Christian Jürgensen Thomsen]] for classifying and studying ancient societies and history. It is also considered the second phase of three, in the [[Metal Ages]].<ref name=Britannica>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/history-of-Europe/The-Metal-Ages |title=The Metal Ages |publisher=Encyclopedia Britannica }}</ref>

An ancient civilization 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. Bronze is harder and more durable than other metals available at the time, allowing Bronze Age civilizations to gain a technological advantage.

While terrestrial [[iron]] is naturally abundant, the higher temperature required for smelting, {{cvt|1250|C}}, in addition to the greater difficulty of working with the metal, placed it out of reach of common use until the end of the second millennium BC. Tin's lower melting point of {{cvt|231.93|C}} and copper's relatively moderate melting point of {{cvt|1085|C}} placed both these metals within the capabilities of Neolithic [[pottery]] [[kiln]]s, which date back to 6,000&nbsp;BC and were able to produce temperatures of at least {{cvt|900|C}}.<ref name="IIIDorn2006">{{cite book | last1=III | first1=James E. McClellan | last2=Dorn | first2=Harold | title=Science and Technology in World History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YnqLfVRJ3AkC | publisher=[[JHU Press]] | publication-place=Baltimore, MD | date=2006-04-14 | isbn=978-0-8018-8360-6 |edition=2nd |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=YnqLfVRJ3AkC&lpg=PA17&pg=PA21#v=onepage&q&f=false 21]}}</ref> Copper and tin ores are rare since there were no tin bronzes in [[West Asia]] before trading in bronze began in the [[3rd millennium BC]]. Worldwide, the Bronze Age generally followed the [[Neolithic]] period, with the [[Chalcolithic]] serving as a transition.

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 [[Egyptian hieroglyphs|hieroglyphs]], developed the earliest practical writing systems.

The Bronze Age is said to have ended with the [[Late Bronze Age collapse]], a time of widespread [[societal collapse]] during the 12th century BC, mostly between {{Circa|1200}} and 1150. This collapse affected a large area of the [[Eastern Mediterranean]], including [[North Africa]] and [[Southeast Europe]], as well as the [[Near East]], in particular [[History of Egypt|Egypt]], [[Ancient Libya|eastern Libya]], the [[Balkans]], the [[Aegean Sea#History|Aegean]], [[Anatolia]], and the [[Caucasus]]. It was sudden, violent, and culturally disruptive for many Bronze Age civilizations, and it brought a sharp economic decline to regional powers, most notably ushering in the [[Greek Dark Ages]].

== Metal use ==
{{More|Tin sources and trade in ancient times}}

[[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 characterized by the widespread use of [[bronze]], even if only by elites in the early years, though the introduction and development of bronze technology were not universally synchronous.<ref>Bronze was independently discovered in the [[Maykop culture]] of the [[North Caucasus]] as early as the mid-[[4th millennium 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.</ref> Human-made tin bronze technology requires set production 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 of developing trade networks. A 2013 report suggests that the earliest tin-alloy bronze was a foil dated to the mid-5th millennium 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 = jovanov0ic>{{cite journal | last1 = Radivojevic | first1 = M | last2 = Rehren | first2 = T | last3 = Kuzmanovic-Cvetkovic | first3 = J | last4 = Jovanovic | first4 = M | last5 = Northover | first5 = JP | year = 2013 | title = Tainted ores and the rise of tin bronzes in Eurasia, {{circa}}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 BC. Cultures in the ancient Near East practiced intensive year-round agriculture, developed [[writing system]]s, invented the [[potter's wheel]], created [[Centralized government|centralized governments]] (usually in the form of [[Hereditary monarchy|hereditary monarchies]]), written law codes, [[city-state]]s and nation-states and empires, embarked on advanced architectural projects, introduced [[social stratification]], economic and civil administration, [[slavery]], and practiced organized [[War|warfare]], medicine, and religion. Societies in the region laid the foundations for [[astronomy]], [[mathematics]], and [[astrology]].

{{anchor|Periodization}}

The following dates are approximate. For details, consult linked articles.
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===Near East Bronze Age divisions===
The Bronze Age in the Near East can be conveniently divided into Early, Middle and Late periods. The dates and phases below are applicable solely to the Near East, not universally.<ref>The Near East period dates and phases are unrelated to the bronze chronology of other regions of the world.</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 BC''. p. 9.</ref> However, some archaeologists propose a "high chronology" which extend periods such as Intermediate Bronze Age by 300 to 500-600 years, based on material analysis of [[Southern Levant|southern Levantine]] cities such as [[Tel Hazor|Hazor]], [[Jericho]] and [[Beit She'an]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lev |first=Ron |last2=Bechar |first2=Shlomit |last3=Boaretto |first3=Elisabetta |date=2021 |title=HAZOR EB III CITY ABANDONMENT AND IBA PEOPLE RETURN: RADIOCARBON CHRONOLOGY AND ITS IMPLICATIONS |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/radiocarbon/article/hazor-eb-iii-city-abandonment-and-iba-people-return-radiocarbon-chronology-and-its-implications/5D6333E543D45C821BE88ED81F013FF9 |journal=Radiocarbon |volume=63 |issue=5 |via=Cambridge Core}}</ref>

*Early Bronze Age (EBA): 3300–2100 BC
** 3300–3000: EBA I
** 3000–2700: EBA II
** 2700–2200: EBA III
** 2200–2100: EBA IV
*Middle Bronze Age (MBA) or Intermediate Bronze Age (IBA): 2100–1550 BC
** 2100–2000: MBA I
** 2000–1750: MBA II A
** 1750–1650: MBA II B
** 1650–1550: MBA II C
*Late Bronze Age (LBA): 1550–1200 BC
** 1550–1400: LBA I
** 1400–1300: LBA II A
** 1300–1200: LBA II B ([[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 BC, [[Museum of Anatolian Civilizations]], [[Ankara]]]]

The [[Hittite Empire]] was established during the 18th century BC in [[Hattusa]], northern [[Anatolia]]. In the 14th century BC, the Hittite Kingdom at its height, encompassed central Anatolia, southwestern Syria as far as [[Ugarit]], and upper [[Mesopotamia]]. After 1180 BC, amid general turmoil in the [[Levant]], which is conjectured to have been associated with the sudden arrival of the [[Sea Peoples]],<ref name="AK2013">{{cite book |title=The Philistines and Other 'Sea Peoples' in Text and Archaeology |series=Society of Biblical Literature Archaeology and biblical studies |volume=15 |first=Ann E. |last=Killebrew |publisher=Society of Biblical Literature |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-58983-721-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gBCl2IQfNioC&pg=PA1 |page=2 |access-date=20 June 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150903212143/https://books.google.com/books?id=gBCl2IQfNioC&pg=PA1 |archive-date=3 September 2015 |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 name="Drews48">{{cite book |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. |first=Robert |last=Drews |year=1993 |pages=48–61 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=0691025916 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221123124537/https://books.google.com/books?id=bFpK6aXEWN8C&pg=PA48 |archive-date=23 November 2022 |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 BC.

[[Arzawa]] in Western Anatolia, during the second half of the [[second millennium 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 [[Hittite Kingdom|Middle and New Hittite Kingdoms]], 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]], around 1400 BC. Arzawa has been associated with the much more obscure [[Assuwa]] generally located to its north. It probably bordered it, and may even have been an alternative term for it (at least 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 BC)]]
[[File:Thutmose III sphinx E10897-Louvre 042005 06.jpg|thumb|upright|Sphinx-lion of [[Thutmose III]] 1479–1425 BC]]

In [[Ancient Egypt]], the Bronze Age began in the [[Protodynastic Period of Egypt|Protodynastic period]], {{c.}} 3150 BC. The archaic ''Early Bronze Age of Egypt'', known as the [[Early Dynastic Period of Egypt]],<ref name="KSnPG">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. 14.</ref> immediately followed the unification of Lower and Upper Egypt, {{c.}} 3100 BC. It is generally taken to include the [[First Dynasty of Egypt|First]] and [[Second Dynasty of Egypt|Second Dynasties]], lasting from the Protodynastic Period of Egypt until about 2686 BC, or the beginning of the [[Old Kingdom of Egypt|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="KSnPG"/> is the name given to the period in the 3rd millennium BC when Egyptian civilization attained its first continuous peak of complexity and achievement—the first of three "Kingdom" periods which mark 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 the [[New Kingdom of Egypt|New Kingdom]]).

The [[First Intermediate Period of Egypt]],<ref>Hansen, M.;H. (2000). ''A comparative study of thirty city-state cultures: An investigation conducted by the Copenhagen Polis Centre''. Copenhagen: 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 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 competing for power bases: [[Herakleopolis 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 of Egypt|Eleventh Dynasty]].

==== Nubia ====
The Bronze Age in [[Nubia]] started as early as 2300 BC.<ref name="ReferenceC">{{cite journal|last1=Childs|first1=S. Terry|last2=Killick|first2=David|title=Indigenous African Metallurgy: Nature and Culture|journal=Annual Review of Anthropology|date=1993|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 modern-day [[Sudan]] around 2600 BC.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> A furnace for bronze casting found in [[Kerma]] dated to 2300–1900 BC.<ref name="ReferenceC"/>

==== Middle Bronze dynasties ====
The [[Middle Kingdom of Egypt]] lasted from 2055 to 1650 BC. During this period, the [[Ancient Egyptian religion|Osiris funerary cult]] rose to dominate Egyptian popular religion. The period comprises two phases: the 11th Dynasty, which ruled from Thebes and the [[Twelfth Dynasty of Egypt|12th]]<ref>Othmar Keel and Christoph Uehlinger. ''Gods, goddesses, and images of God in ancient Israel'', 1998. p. 17. "The first phase (Middle Bronze Age IIA) runs roughly parallel to the Egyptian Twelfth Dynasty".</ref> and [[Thirteenth Dynasty of Egypt|13th Dynasties]] centered on [[el-Lisht]]. The unified kingdom was previously considered to comprise the 11th and 12th Dynasties, but historians now consider at least part of the 13th Dynasty to have belonged to the Middle Kingdom.

During the [[Second Intermediate Period]],<ref>Bruce G. Trigger. ''Ancient Egypt: A Social History''. 1983. p. 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|15th]] and [[Sixteenth Dynasty of Egypt|16th dynasties]]. The Hyksos first appeared in Egypt during the 11th Dynasty, began their climb to power in the 13th Dynasty, and emerged from the Second Intermediate Period in control of [[Avaris]] and the [[Nile Delta|Delta]]. By the 15th Dynasty, they ruled lower Egypt, and they were expelled at the end of the [[Seventeenth Dynasty of Egypt|17th Dynasty]].

==== Late Bronze dynasties ====
The [[New Kingdom of Egypt]], also referred to as the Egyptian Empire, lasted from the 16th to the 11th century 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, i.e. the [[Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt|19th]] and [[Twentieth Dynasty of Egypt|20th Dynasties]] (1292–1069 BC), is also known as the [[Ramesside period]], after the eleven pharaohs that took the name of Ramesses.

=== Iranian plateau ===
[[File: Elam cool.jpg|thumb|upright=.8|Late 3rd Millennium 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 Old Elamite period (Middle Bronze Age), Elam consisted of kingdoms on the [[Iranian Plateau]], centered in [[Anshan (Persia)|Anshan]], and from the mid-2nd millennium BC, it was centered in [[Susa]] in the [[Khuzestan]] lowlands. Its culture played a crucial role in the [[Gutian people|Gutian Empire]] and especially during the [[Iranian peoples|Iranian]] [[Achaemenid dynasty]] that succeeded it.

The [[Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex|Oxus civilization]]<ref>{{cite book |author1-link=Ormonde Maddock Dalton |last1=Dalton |first1=O. M. |author2-link=Augustus Wollaston Franks |last2=Franks |first2=A. W. |last3=Read |first3=C. H. |year=1905 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p14VAAAAYAAJ |title=The treasure of the Oxus |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221123124518/https://books.google.com/books?id=p14VAAAAYAAJ |archive-date=23 November 2022 |location=London |publisher=British Museum}}</ref> was a Bronze Age [[Central Asia]]n culture dated to {{c.}} 2300–1700 BC and centered on the upper [[Amu Darya]] (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 center even then. Pottery was wheel-turned. Grapes were grown. The height of this urban development was reached in the Middle Bronze Age {{c.}} 2300 BC, corresponding to level V at Namazga-Depe.<ref>{{cite book |first=V. M. |last=Masson |chapter=10. Bronze Age in Khorasan and Transoxiana |editor1-first=A. H. |editor1-last=Dani |editor2-first=Vadim Mikhaĭlovich |editor2-last=Masson |title=History of civilizations of Central Asia |volume=1: The dawn of civilization: earliest times to 700 BC}}</ref> This Bronze Age culture is called the [[Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex]] (BMAC).

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) {{c.}} 2500–2000 BC. The economy was agricultural. In several places, dams were found, 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 BC}}, Bronze Age I, [[National Museum of Iran]]]]
[[Konar Sandal]] is associated with the hypothesized "[[Jiroft culture]]", a 3rd-millennium-BC culture postulated based on a collection of artifacts confiscated in 2001.

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

In modern scholarship, the chronology of the Bronze Age Levant is divided into: 
*Early/Proto Syrian; corresponding to the Early Bronze. 
*Old Syrian; corresponding to the Middle Bronze. 
*Middle Syrian; corresponding to the Late Bronze. 
The term Neo-Syria is used to designate the early [[Iron Age]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8qvY8pxVxcwC&pg=PA57|title= A Comparative Study of Thirty City-state Cultures: An Investigation |volume=21 |author=Mogens Herman Hansen |page=57 |year=2000 |publisher= Kgl. Danske Videnskabernes Selskab |access-date=5 June 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150620001516/https://books.google.com/books?id=8qvY8pxVxcwC&pg=PA57 |archive-date=20 June 2015 |isbn= 978-8778761774}}</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 [[Akkadian Empire|Akkadians]] conquered large areas of the Levant and were followed by the [[Amorites|Amorite kingdoms]], {{c.}} 2000–1600 BC, which arose in [[Mari, Syria#The Lim dynasty|Mari]], [[Yamhad]], [[Qatna]], [[Assyria]].<ref>under [[Shamshi-Adad I]]</ref> From the 15th century 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 civilization) comes from a [[carnelian]] bead identified with the Middle Kingdom pharaoh [[Senusret I]], 1971–1926 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 got to Ugarit. In the [[Amarna letters]], messages from Ugarit {{c.}} 1350 BC written by [[Ammittamru I]], and [[Niqmaddu II]] and his queen, have been discovered. From the 16th to the 13th century BC, Ugarit remained in constant touch with Egypt and Cyprus ([[Alashiya]]).

[[Mitanni]] was a loosely organized state in northern Syria and south-east Anatolia from {{c.}} 1500–1300 BC. Founded by an [[Indo-Aryan peoples|Indo-Aryan]] ruling class that governed a predominantly [[Hurrians|Hurrian]] population, Mitanni came to be a regional power after the Hittite destruction of [[Kassites|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 BC, it had outposts centered 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 and was reduced to a province of the [[Middle Assyrian Empire]].

The [[Israelites]] were an [[ancient Semitic-speaking peoples|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 to 6th centuries BC),<ref>{{cite journal |last=Finkelstein |first=Israel |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 |year=1996 |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 |location=Jerusalem |publisher=Israel Exploration Society |year=1988 |isbn=965-221-007-2 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Finkelstein |editor-first=Israel |editor2-first=Nadav |editor2-last=Naʼaman |title=From nomadism to monarchy: archaeological and historical aspects of early Israel |publisher=Yad Izhak Ben-Zvi |year=1994 |isbn=965-217-117-4 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Finkelstein |first=Israel |title=The archaeology of the United Monarchy: an alternative view |journal=Levant |volume=28 |issue=1 |year=1996 |pages=177–187 |doi=10.1179/lev.1996.28.1.177 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Finkelstein |first1=Israel |first2=Neil Asher |last2=Silberman |title=The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Sacred Texts |publisher=Simon and Schuster |year=2002 |isbn=0-684-86913-6 }}</ref> and lived in the region iäẹn smaller numbers after the fall of the monarchy. The name "Israel" first appears {{c.}} 1209 BC, 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|pastoralists]] who originated in what is now modern Syria (Biblical [[Aram (region)|Aram]]) during the Late Bronze Age and the 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 BC.

=== Mesopotamia ===
{{Main|History of Mesopotamia}}
The [[Bronze Age Mesopotamia|Mesopotamian Bronze Age]] began about 3500 BC and ended with the [[Kassites|Kassite]] period ({{c.}} 1500 BC – {{c.}} 1155 BC). The usual tripartite division into an Early, Middle and Late Bronze Age is not used. Instead, a division primarily based on art-historical 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 BC) became the dominant power in the region, and after its fall the [[Sumer]]ians enjoyed a renaissance with the [[Neo-Sumerian Empire]]. [[Assyria]] became a regional power, under the [[Amorites|Amorite]] king [[Shamshi-Adad I]], with the [[Old Assyrian Empire]] ({{c.}} 1800–1600 BC). 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 BC. The [[Amorite]] dynasty established the [[city-state]] of Babylon in the 19th century BC. Over 100 years later, it briefly took over the other city-states and formed the short-lived First [[Babylonia]]n Empire during what is also called the [[First Babylonian dynasty|Old Babylonian Period]]. Akkad, Assyria, and Babylonia all used the written [[East Semitic languages|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 AD. The [[Akkadian Empire|Akkadian]] and Sumerian traditions played a major role in later Assyrian and Babylonian culture, even though Babylonia, unlike the more militarily powerful Assyria, itself was founded by non-native Amorites and often ruled by other non-indigenous peoples, such as [[Kassites]], [[Arameans|Aramaeans]] and [[Chaldea]]ns, as well as its Assyrian neighbors.

== Asia ==
[[File:World in 2000 BC.svg|thumb|upright=1.5|Map of the world in 2000 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 have come to 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 agropastoralists who developed complex east–west [[trade route]]s between Central Asia and China that introduced [[wheat]] and [[barley]] to China and spread [[millet]] across Central Asia.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Spengler |first=Robert N. |date=2015-09-01 |title=Agriculture in the Central Asian Bronze Age |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/s10963-015-9087-3 |journal=Journal of World Prehistory |language=en |volume=28 |issue=3 |pages=215–253 |doi=10.1007/s10963-015-9087-3 |s2cid=161968192 |issn=1573-7802}}</ref>

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

The [[Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex]] (BMAC), also known as the Oxus civilization, was a Bronze Age civilization in [[Central Asia]], dated to c. 2400–1600 BC,<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 modern-day southeastern Turkmenistan.

A wealth of information indicates that the BMAC had close international relations with the [[Indus Valley Civilisation|Indus Valley]], the [[Iranian plateau|Iranian Plateau]], and possibly even indirectly with Mesopotamia, and all civilizations were very familiar with [[Lost-wax casting|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 |date=2002 |publisher=Rowman Altamira |isbn=978-0-7591-0172-2 |language=en|pages=215–232}}</ref>

According to recent studies,<ref>{{cite journal | biorxiv = 10.1101/292581 |doi=10.1126/science.aat7487|title=The formation of human populations in South and Central Asia |year=2019 |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 |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 |journal=Science |volume=365 |issue=6457 |pmid=31488661 |pmc=6822619 |display-authors=1 }}</ref> the BMAC was not a primary contributor to later South-Asian genetics.

==== Seima-Turbino phenomenon ====
{{Main|Seima-Turbino phenomenon}}
The [[Altai Mountains]] in what is now southern [[Russia]] and central [[Mongolia]] have been identified as the point of origin of a cultural enigma termed the [[Seima-Turbino Phenomenon]].<ref name="BBCKeys">{{cite journal
 | last = Keys
 | first = David
 | author-link = David Keys (author)
 | title = Scholars crack the code of an ancient enigma
 | journal = [[BBC History (magazine)|BBC History Magazine]]
 | volume = 10
 | issue = 1
 | page = 9
 | date = January 2009
 }}</ref> It is conjectured that changes in climate in this region around 2000 BC 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 name="White">{{cite journal|last1=White|first1=Joyce|last2=Hamilton|first2=Elizabeth|title=The Transmission of Early Bronze Technology to Thailand: New Perspectives|journal=Journal of World Prehistory|date=2009|volume=22|issue=4|pages=357–397|doi=10.1007/s10963-009-9029-z|s2cid=9400588}}</ref> across a frontier of some 4,000 miles.<ref name="BBCKeys"/> 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="BBCKeys"/> It is further conjectured that the same migrations spread the [[Uralic languages|Uralic]] group of languages across Europe and Asia: some 39 languages of this group are still extant, including [[Hungarian language|Hungarian]], [[Finnish language|Finnish]] and [[Estonian language|Estonian]].<ref name="BBCKeys"/> 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 |pmc = 1691686|year = 2004|last1 = Lalueza-Fox|first1 = C.|title = Unravelling migrations in the steppe: Mitochondrial DNA sequences from ancient central Asians|journal = Proceedings. Biological Sciences|volume = 271|issue = 1542|pages = 941–947|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.|pmid = 15255049|doi = 10.1098/rspb.2004.2698}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal | doi=10.1007/s00439-009-0683-0| pmid=19449030| title=Ancient DNA provides new insights into the history of south Siberian Kurgan people| journal=Human Genetics| volume=126| issue=3| pages=395–410| year=2009| 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| s2cid=21347353}}</ref>

=== East Asia ===

==== China ====
{{further|Erlitou culture|Shang dynasty|Sanxingdui|Lower Xiajiadian culture}}
[[File:Gefuding Gui.jpg|thumb|A [[Shang dynasty]] two-handled bronze ''gefuding gui'' (1600–1046 BC)]]
[[File:Pu with openwork interlaced dragons design.jpg|thumb|[[Spring and Autumn period]] ''pu'' bronze vessel with interlaced [[Chinese dragon|dragon]] design (c. 770 to 481 BC)]]

In China, the earliest bronze artifacts have been found in the [[Majiayao culture]] site (between 3100 and 2700 BC).<ref>{{cite book|author=Martini, I. Peter|title=Landscapes and Societies: Selected Cases|publisher=[[Springer Science+Business Media|Springer]]|year=2010|isbn=978-90-481-9412-4|page=310}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Higham, Charles|title=Encyclopedia of ancient Asian civilizations|publisher=[[Infobase Publishing]]|year=2004|isbn=978-0-8160-4640-9|page=200|author-link=Charles Higham (archaeologist)}}</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] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221123124518/https://books.google.ch/books?id=VpRGAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA870 |date=23 November 2022 }}).</ref> "Early Bronze Age" in China is sometimes taken as equivalent to the "[[Shang dynasty]]" period (16th to 11th centuries BC),<ref>Robert L. Thorp, ''China in the Early Bronze Age: Shang Civilization'', University of Pennsylvania Press (2013).</ref> and the "Later Bronze Age" as equivalent to the "[[Zhou dynasty]]" period (11th to 3rd centuries BC, from the 5th century, also dubbed "[[Iron Age China|Iron Age]]"), although there is an argument to be made that the "Bronze Age" proper never ended in China, as there is no recognizable 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] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221123124519/https://books.google.ch/books?id=CXwtAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA408 |date=23 November 2022 }}.</ref> Significantly, 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]] ({{zh|w=Erh-li-t'ou}}) period, which some historians argue places it within the [[Shang dynasty]].<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|Xia]] ({{zh|w=Hsia}}) dynasty.<ref>Chang, K.C.: "Studies of Shang Archaeology", p. 1. Yale University Press, 1982.</ref> The U.S. [[National Gallery of Art]] defines the Chinese Bronze Age as the "period between about 2000 BC and 771 BC", a period that begins with the Erlitou culture and ends abruptly with the disintegration of [[Western Zhou dynasty|Western Zhou]] rule.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nga.gov/education/chinatp_pt2.shtm |title=Teaching Chinese Archaeology, Part Two|publisher=Nga.gov |access-date=24 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080213205159/http://www.nga.gov/education/chinatp_pt2.shtm |archive-date=13 February 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

There is reason to believe that bronze work developed inside 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 Europoid [[Tarim mummies|mummies in Xinjiang]] has caused some scholars such as [[Johan Gunnar Andersson]], Jan Romgard, and {{Interlanguage link|An Zhimin|zh}} 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 seems 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 phenomenon|Seima-Turbino culture]], "a transcultural complex across northern Eurasia," the Eurasian steppe, and the Urals.<ref>{{cite journal|journal=Sino-Platonic Papers |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 |author=Jan Romgard |number=185 |year=2008 |access-date=21 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120206060414/http://sino-platonic.org/complete/spp185_silk_road.pdf |archive-date=6 February 2012 |pages=30–32 |url-status=dead }}</ref> However, the oldest bronze objects found in China so far were discovered at the [[Majiayao culture|Majiayao]] site in [[Gansu]] rather than at [[Xinjiang]].<ref>{{citation| title = A Discussion on Early Metals and the Origins of Bronze Casting in China| surname = Bai|given = Yunxiang| journal = Chinese Archaeology | year = 2003 | volume = 3 | issue = 1 | pages = 157–165|url = http://www.kaogu.cn/en/Chinese%20Archaeology/3/A%20Discussion%20on%20Early%20Metals%20and%20the%20Origins%20of%20Bronze%20Casting%20in%20China.pdf| postscript = . | doi = 10.1515/char.2003.3.1.157| s2cid = 164920328}}</ref>

The [[Shang dynasty]] (also known as the Yin dynasty)<ref>Thorp, R.L. (2005). China in the Early Bronze Age: Shang Civilization. Philadelphia: Univ. of Pennsylvania Press.</ref> of the [[Yellow River Valley]] rose to power after the [[Xia dynasty]] around 1600 BC. While some direct information about the Shang dynasty comes from Shang-era inscriptions on bronze artifacts, most comes from [[oracle bone]]s—turtle shells, cattle scapulae, or other bones—which bear [[glyph]]s that form the first significant corpus of recorded Chinese characters.

The production of [[Erlitou culture|Erlitou]] in Henan represents the earliest large-scale metallurgy industry in the Central Plains of China. The influence of the Saima-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 centers of northwestern China, especially [[Qijia culture|Qijia]] in [[Gansu]] and [[Longshan culture|Kexingzhuang]] culture in [[Shaanxi]], played an intermediary role in this process.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Peng |first1=Peng |title=Metalworking in Bronze Age China: The Lost-Wax Process |date=2020 |publisher=Cambria Press |url=https://www.cambriapress.com/pub.cfm?bid=741}}</ref>

Iron has been found from the [[Zhou dynasty]], but its use was minimal. Chinese literature dating to the 6th century 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. 14. The Australian National University and Monumenta Serica, 1961.</ref> Historian W.C. White argues that iron did not supplant bronze "at any period before the end of the Zhou dynasty (256 BC)" and that bronze vessels make up the majority of metal vessels through the [[Han dynasty|Later Han period]], or to 221 BC{{sic|?}}.<ref>White, W.C.: "Bronze Culture of Ancient China", p. 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 220 CE. 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 artifacts 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]] in Chinese; there are many other distinct shapes. Surviving identified Chinese ritual bronzes tend to be highly decorated, often with the ''[[taotie]]'' motif, which involves highly stylized 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 |page = 20|publisher = Siebenbad-Verlag|date = 1993 |isbn =978-3877470633}}</ref> Many large bronzes also bear [[Chinese bronze inscriptions|cast inscriptions]] that are the great 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 (1046–256 BC).

The bronzes of the Western Zhou dynasty 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=0.6|2nd century BC Yayoi [[dōtaku]] bronze bell]]
[[File:YayoiBronzeSpearTip1-2ndCenturyKyushu.jpg|thumb|2nd-century BC Yayoi bronze spearhead]]

The Japanese archipelago saw the introduction of bronze during the beginning of the Early [[Yayoi period]] (≈300 BC), which saw the introduction of metalworking and agricultural practices brought in by settlers arriving from the continent. Bronze and iron smelting techniques spread to the Japanese archipelago through contact with other ancient East Asian civilizations, 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 artifacts 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 |language=en}}</ref>

==== Korea ====
{{main|Gojoseon|Mumun pottery period}}
{{further interlanguage link|Bronze Age in Korea|ko|한국의 청동기 시대}}
[[File:화순 대곡리 청동기 일괄.jpg|thumb|Bronze artifacts from Daegok-ri, [[Hwasun County|Hwasun]], Korea]]

The beginning of the Bronze Age on the peninsula is around 1000–800 BC.<ref>{{cite book|first1=Carter J.|last1= Eckert|title=Korea, Old and New: A History|date= 1990|page = 9|isbn = 978-0962771309|first2= Ki-Baik |last2= Lee|first3= Young Ick|last3= Lew|first4= Michael |last4=Robinson |first5= Edward W.|last5= Wagner |publisher= Korea Institute, Harvard University}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/tps/1000bce_ko.htm |title=1000 BC to 300 AD: Korea |work=Asia for Educators |publisher=Columbia University |access-date=24 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111012085309/http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/tps/1000bce_ko.htm |archive-date=12 October 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Initially centered 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|url=http://koreanhistory.info/BronzeAgeKorea.htm|title=Bronze Age Korea |website=KoreanHistory.info}}</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 850–550 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 ({{c.}} 700–600? BC) after a period when [[Liaoning bronze dagger culture|Liaoning-style bronze daggers]] and other bronze artifacts were exchanged as far as the interior part of the Southern Peninsula ({{c.}} 900–700 BC). The bronze daggers lent prestige and authority to the personages who wielded and were buried with them in high-status megalithic burials at south-coastal centers such as the [[Igeum-dong site]]. Bronze was an important element in ceremonies and for mortuary offerings until 100 BC.
{{Clear}}

=== South Asia ===
(Dates are approximate, consult linked articles for details)
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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:Dancing Girl of Mohenjo-daro.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Dancing Girl (sculpture)|''Dancing girl'']] of [[Mohenjo-daro]], {{circa|2500 BC}} (replica).]]
The Bronze Age on the [[Indian subcontinent]] began around 3300 BC 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, which dates from 1900 to 1400 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|language=en|volume=7|pages=13356|doi=10.1038/ncomms13356|pmid=27843139|pmc=5116070|issn=2041-1723|bibcode=2016NatCo...713356T}}</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 civilization'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.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gAgFPQAACAAJ|title=The Ancient Indus: Urbanism, Economy, and Society|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press & Assessment|Cambridge University Press]]|year=2010|isbn=978-0-521-57219-4|pages=115–125|author-link=Rita P. Wright}}</ref> The large cities of [[Mohenjo-daro]] and [[Harappa]] very likely grew to contain between 30,000 and 60,000 individuals,<ref>{{cite book|last=Dyson|first=Tim|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.|author-link=Tim Dyson}}</ref> and the civilization itself during its florescence may have contained between one and five million individuals.<ref>{{cite book|last=McIntosh|first=Jane|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.|author-link=Jane McIntosh}}</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]], ([[Southeast Asia]]) bronze [[artifact (archaeology)|artifacts]] have been discovered dating to 2100 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=Museum.upenn.edu |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 |url-status=dead }}</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=":0"/> In [[Nyaung-gan|Nyaunggan]], [[Burma]], bronze tools have been excavated along with ceramics and stone artifacts. Dating is still currently broad (3500–500 BC).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://myanmartravelinformation.com/mti-archealogical-sites/nyaunggan.htm |title=Nyaunggan City&nbsp;– Archaeological Sites in Myanmar |publisher=Myanmartravelinformation.com |access-date=24 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927220855/http://myanmartravelinformation.com/mti-archealogical-sites/nyaunggan.htm |archive-date=27 September 2007 |url-status=dead }}</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 | last1 = Higham | first1 = 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 BC to the first millennium AD, this site alone has artifacts such as burial pottery (dating from 2100 to 1700 BC) and fragments of bronze and copper-base bangles. This technology suggested on-site casting from the very beginning. The on-site casting supports the theory that bronze was first introduced in Southeast Asia from a different country.<ref name="White 1995 101–123">{{cite journal|last=White|first=J.C.|title=Incorporating Heterarchy into Theory on Socio-political Development: The Case from Southeast Asia|journal=Archeological Papers of the American Anthropological Association|date=1995|volume=6|issue=1|pages=101–123|doi=10.1525/ap3a.1995.6.1.101|citeseerx=10.1.1.522.1061|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 province]] and [[Yunnan province]] and finally into southeast Asia around 1000 BC.<ref name=":0">{{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 chiefdom-states to a [[heterarchy|heterarchical]] network.<ref name="White 1995 101–123"/> 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 | last1 = O'Reilly | first1 = 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 back to the [[Neolithic Age]], 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|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rCl_02LnNVIC&q=Dong+Son+Culture+of+Vietnam&pg=PA313|title=The Birth of Vietnam|last=Taylor|first=Keith Weller|date= 1991|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0520074170|language=en}}</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="Oxenham 2005 359–376">{{cite journal|last=Oxenham|first=M.F.|author2=Thuy, N.K. |author3=Cuong, N.L. |title=Skeletal evidence for the emergence of infectious disease in bronze and iron age northern Vietnam|journal=American Journal of Physical Anthropology|date=2005|volume=126|issue=4|pages=359–376|doi=10.1002/ajpa.20048|pmid=15386222}}</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. The other one is decreased levels of immunocompetence in the Metal age due to changes in diet caused by agriculture. The last is that there may have been an emergence of infectious diseases that evolved into a more virulent form in the metal period.<ref name="Oxenham 2005 359–376"/>

==== Myanmar ====
{{Main|Nyaung-gan}}

== Europe ==
{{Main|Bronze Age Europe}}

A few examples of named Bronze Age cultures in Europe in roughly relative order.
(Dates are approximate, consult linked articles for details)
<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 culture|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 culture|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 culture|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>

:''<small>The chosen cultures overlapped in time and the indicated periods do not fully correspond to their estimated extents.</small>''

=== 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]] from 1600 to 1100 BC]]
[[File:Spoked wheel from Arokalja.jpg|thumb|Bronze chariot wheel, [[Urnfield culture|Romania]], {{Circa|13th-12th century BC}}<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/european-journal-of-archaeology/article/early-chariots-and-religion-in-southeast-europe-and-the-aegean-during-the-bronze-age-a-reappraisal-of-the-dupljaja-chariot-in-context/DC2A0FC7066548E7C0FED0C9024169B3 |journal=European Journal of Archaeology |date=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 |last1=Molloy |first1=Barry |display-authors=etal |pages=1–21 |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]] securely dated to c. 4650 BC as well as 14 other artifacts from [[Serbia]] and [[Bulgaria]] dated to before 4000 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 c. 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, coinciding with the "collapse of large cultural complexes in north-eastern Bulgaria and Thrace in the late fifth millennium BC". Tin bronzes using [[cassiterite]] tin were reintroduced to the area some 1500 years later.<ref name="jovanov0ic" />

The oldest golden artifacts in the world (4600 BC - 4200 BC) were found in the Necropolis of Varna. These artefacts are on display in the [[Varna Archaeological Museum]]<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=RnE9Fa4pbn0C&dq=varna+necropolis+oldest&pg=PA290] {{Webarchive|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|date=2022-11-01}} Gems and Gemstones: Timeless Natural Beauty of the Mineral World, By Lance Grande</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/varna-bulgaria-gold-graves-social-hierarchy-prehistoric-archaelogy-smithsonian-journeys-travel-quarterly-180958733/|title=Mystery of the Varna Gold: What Caused These Ancient Societies to Disappear?|first1=Smithsonian|last1=Magazine|first2=Andrew|last2=Curry|website=Smithsonian Magazine}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/oldest-gold-object-unearthed-bulgaria-180960093/|title=World's Oldest Gold Object May Have Just Been Unearthed in Bulgaria|first1=Smithsonian|last1=Magazine|first2=Jason|last2=Daley|website=Smithsonian Magazine}}</ref>

The [[Dabene Treasure]] was unearthed from 2004 to 2007 near [[Karlovo]], [[Plovdiv Province]], central [[Bulgaria]]. The whole treasure consists of 20,000 gold jewelry 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 B.C. Scientists suggest that the Karlovo valley used to be a major crafts center that exported golden jewelry all over Europe. It is considered one of the largest prehistoric golden treasures in the world.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://ancient-treasure.info/ancient-civilizations-treasures/dabene-civilization.html|title=Gold treasure from Dabene. Ancient Civilization from 3th millennium BC}}</ref>

=== Aegean ===
{{Main|Aegean civilization}}
[[File:MaskOfAgamemnon.jpg|alt=|thumb|Gold '[[Mask of Agamemnon]]' produced during the [[Mycenaean civilization]], from [[Mycenae]], Greece, 1550 BC]]

The Aegean Bronze Age began around 3200 BC, when civilizations 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 and supported the trade. [[Isotope|Isotopic]] analysis of tin in some [[Mediterranean]] bronze artifacts suggests that they may have originated from [[Bronze Age Britain|Great Britain]].<ref>Carl Waldman, Catherine Mason. ''Encyclopedia of European peoples: Volume 1''. 2006. p. 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 civilization]] 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. 228.</ref>

==== Aegean collapse ====
{{Main|Bronze Age collapse|Greek Dark Ages}}
[[File:Bronze Age End.svg|thumb|Invasions, destruction and possible population movements during the collapse of the Bronze Age, {{c.}} 1200 BC]]

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, New Jersey: Princeton University Press</ref> Several Minoan [[client states]] lost much of their population to famine and/or 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.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Middle Bronze Age History, Trade, Notes, Further reading, Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia|language=en-US|work=Wiki|url=https://xn--ell-dma.vn/en/Middle_Bronze_Age-2082468060|access-date=2022-02-24|archive-date=31 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220331132409/https://xn--ell-dma.vn/en/Middle_Bronze_Age-2082468060|url-status=dead}}</ref> Drought and famine in Anatolia may have also led to the Aegean collapse by disrupting trade networks, and therefore preventing the Aegean from accessing bronze and luxury goods.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Greek Art and Archaeology|last=Neer|first=Richard T.|publisher=Thames and Hudson Inc.|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>Cities on the Sea., Swiny, S., Hohlfelder, R.L., & Swiny, H.W. (1998). 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 fifty 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 Pub Co. 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 {{c.}} 1600 BC, {{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 harbor, which then lost crucial naval battles; so that in the [[Minoan chronology|LMIB/LMII]] event ({{c.}} 1450 BC) the cities of [[Crete]] burned and the [[Mycenaean civilization]] took [[Knossos]] over. If the eruption occurred in the late 17th century BC (as most chronologists now think) 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 center of the Minoan civilization 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|url=https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00127003|journal=Natural Hazards|language=en|volume=5|issue=2|pages=153–168|doi=10.1007/BF00127003|bibcode=1992NatHa...5..153A |s2cid=129836887|issn=1573-0840}}</ref> According to this theory, the catastrophic loss of the political, administrative and economic center 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 {{c.}} 1630 BC,<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|date=1996|publisher=Manchester University Press|isbn=978-0-7190-3647-7|language=en}}</ref> while the Mycenaean Greeks first enter the historical record a few decades later, {{c.}} 1600 BC.{{citation needed|date=August 2020}} The later Mycenaean assaults on Crete ({{c.}} 1450 BC) and Troy ({{c.}} 1250 BC) 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|alt=|thumb|[[Nebra sky disc]], [[Únětice culture|Aunjetitz culture]], [[History of Germany#Prehistory|Germany]], 1800–1600 BC]]
[[File:Britishmuseumhungarianbronzeswords.jpg|thumb|256x256px|Bronze swords, [[Urnfield culture]], [[History of Hungary before the Hungarian conquest|Hungary]], 1200 BC]]
In [[Central Europe]], the early Bronze Age [[Unetice culture]] (2300–1600 BC) includes numerous smaller groups like the [[Straubing]], [[Adlerberg]] and [[Hatvan]] cultures. Some very rich burials, such as the one located at [[Leubingen]] with grave gifts crafted from gold, point to an increase of social stratification already present in the [[Unetice culture]]. All in all, cemeteries of this period are small and rare. The Unetice culture was followed by the middle Bronze Age (1600–1200 BC) [[tumulus culture]], characterised by inhumation burials in [[tumuli]] (barrows). In the eastern [[Hungary|Hungarian]] [[Körös River|Körös]] tributaries, the early Bronze Age first saw the introduction of the [[Mako culture]], followed by the [[Otomani culture|Otomani]] and [[Gyulavarsand culture]]s.

The late Bronze Age [[Urnfield]] culture (1300–700 BC) was characterized by cremation burials. It included the [[Lusatian culture]] in eastern [[Germany]] and [[Poland]] (1300–500 BC) that continues into the [[Iron Age]]. The Central European Bronze Age was followed by the Iron Age [[Hallstatt culture]] (700–450 BC).

[[list of archaeological sites|Important sites]] include:
* [[Biskupin]] ([[Poland]])
* [[Nebra (Unstrut)|Nebra]] ([[Germany]])
* [[Vráble]] ([[Slovakia]])
* Zug-Sumpf, [[Canton of Zug|Zug]], [[Switzerland]]

German prehistorian [[Paul Reinecke]] described Bronze A1 (Bz A1) period (2300–2000 BC: triangular daggers, flat axes, stone wrist-guards, flint arrowheads) and Bronze A2 (Bz A2) period (1950–1700 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:Bronzetto nuragico Sulcis.jpg|alt=|thumb|left|[[Nuragic civilization|Nuragic]] figurine, Sardinia, {{Circa|1000 BC}}|243x243px]]
The [[Apennine culture]] (also called Italian Bronze Age) is a technology complex of central and southern Italy spanning the [[Chalcolithic]] and Bronze Age proper. The [[Camuni]] were an ancient people of uncertain origin (according to [[Pliny the Elder]], they were [[Euganei]]; according to [[Strabo]], they were [[Rhaetians]]) who lived in [[Val Camonica]]—in what is now northern [[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 civilization]] lasted from the early Bronze Age (18th century BC) to the 2nd century AD, when the islands were already Romanized. They take their name from the characteristic Nuragic towers, which evolved from the pre-existing megalithic culture, which built [[dolmen]]s and [[menhir]]s.

[[File:Navicella nuragica.jpg|thumb|Bronze votive boat model, [[Nuragic civilization|Nuragic culture]], Sardinia , {{Circa|1000 BC}}]]

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. Around the end of the 3rd millennium 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 languages|Indo-European]] civilization 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 that [[Grid plan|crossed each other at right angles]]. 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 civilization developed in the Middle and Late Bronze Age, between the 17th and the 13th centuries BC.

The [[Castellieri culture]] developed in [[Istria]] during the Middle Bronze Age. It lasted for more than a millennium, from the 15th century BC until the Roman conquest in the 3rd century BC. It takes its name from the fortified boroughs (''Castellieri'', [[Friulian language|Friulian]]: ''cjastelir'') that characterized the culture.

The [[Canegrate culture]] developed from the mid-Bronze Age (13th century BC) until the Iron Age in the Pianura Padana, in what are now western [[Lombardy]], eastern [[Piedmont]], and [[Canton Ticino|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 {{Interlanguage link|Giovanni Battista Giani|it}} excavated its first findings (some fifty tombs with ceramics and metal objects). Remains of the Golasecca culture span an area of c. 20,000 square kilometers south to the Alps, between the Po, [[Sesia]], and [[Serio (river)|Serio]] rivers, dating from the 9th to the 4th century BC.

=== West Europe ===

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

In [[Great Britain]], the Bronze Age is considered to have been the period from around 2100 to 750 BC. [[Human migration|Migration]] brought new people to the islands from the continent.<ref name="Yamnaya">{{cite news |last1=Barras |first1=Colin |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]] |date=27 March 2019}}</ref> Recent 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 modern [[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 behaviors 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 ({{c.}} 1400–1100 BC) 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 [[tumulus|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 recovered in [[Isleham]] (more than [[Isleham Hoard|6500 pieces]]).<ref>Hall and Coles, pp. 81–88.</ref>
Alloying of copper with zinc or tin to make brass or bronze was practiced soon after the discovery of copper itself. One copper mine at Great Orme in North Wales, reached a depth of 70 meters.<ref>{{cite book|author=O'Brien, W.|title=Bronze Age Copper Mining in Britain and Ireland|publisher=Shire Publications Ltd.|year=1997|isbn=978-0-7478-0321-8}}</ref> At [[Alderley Edge]] in [[Cheshire]], carbon dating has established mining at around 2280 to 1890 BC (95% probability).<ref>{{cite book|author=Timberlake, S. and Prag A.J.N.W.|title=The Archaeology of Alderley Edge: Survey, excavation and experiment in an ancient mining landscape|publisher=John and Erica Hedges Ltd.|year=2005|location=Oxford|page=396|doi=10.30861/9781841717159|isbn=978-1841717159}}</ref> The earliest identified [[metalworking]] site (Sigwells, Somerset) came much later, dated by globular urn-style pottery to approximately the 12th century BC. 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 name="Tabor 2008">{{cite book |last=Tabor |first=Richard |title=Cadbury Castle: A hillfort and landscapes |year=2008 |publisher=The History Press |location=Stroud |pages=61–69|isbn=978-0-7524-4715-5}}</ref>

==== Iberian Peninsula ====
[[File:Tesoro de Villena.jpg|alt=|thumb|[[Treasure of Villena|Treasure of Vilena]], Spain, 1000 BC.]]
The Bronze Age began on the Iberian Peninsula in 2100 cal. BC according to radiocarbon datings of several key sites. According to the period sequence,{{sfnp|Marcos Saiz|2006|pp=225–270}}{{sfnp|Marcos Saiz|2016|pp=686–696}}{{sfnp|Marcos Saiz|Díez|2017|pp=45–67}} the Iberian Bronze Age is divided into three sub-periods or phases with different diagnostic markers (lithic tools, decorated ceramics and types of metal tools): Early Bronze Age, Middle Bronze Age and Late Bronze Age. The Early Bronze Age began on the Northern Iberian Plateau in 2100 cal. BC and the Late Bronze Age (equivalent to [[Atlantic Bronze Age]] phase) in 1350 cal. BC.{{sfnp|Marcos Saiz|2006|pp=225–270}}{{sfnp|Marcos Saiz|2016|pp=686–696}}{{sfnp|Marcos Saiz|Díez|2017|pp=45–67}} In the three phases of the Iberian Bronze Age, different cultures emerged, which have been defined by regions with typical names: e.g. [[El Argar]], [[Motillas|Las Motillas]], [[Atlantic Bronze Age|Bronce Atlántico]], [[Prehistoric Iberia#Bronze Age|Bronce Valenciano]], [[Prehistoric Iberia#Bronze Age|Montelavar]], [[Las Cogotas]] and others.{{sfnp|Marcos Saiz|2006|pp=225–270}}{{sfnp|Marcos Saiz|2016|pp=686–696}}

==== Atlantic Bronze Age ====
{{Main|Atlantic Bronze Age}}
[[File:Zwaard van Jutphaas (24466600427).jpg|thumb|'Sword of Jutphaas', [[Hilversum culture|Netherlands]], {{Circa|1500 BC}}|232x232px]]

The Atlantic Bronze Age as cultural geographic region is a cultural complex ({{circa|2100}}-/800/700 cal. BC) that includes different cultures in the contex of the Atlantic Iberian Peninsula (Portugal, Andalucía, Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria, País Vasco, Navarra and Castilla and León), the Atlantic France, Britain and Ireland,{{sfnp|Marcos Saiz|2006|pp=225–270}}{{sfnp|Marcos Saiz|2016|pp=686–696}} while the [[Atlantic Bronze Age]] as cultural complex of the final phase of the Bronze Age period is dated between ca. 1350 and 700 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 centers 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 commenced around 2000 BC when copper was alloyed with tin and used to manufacture Ballybeg type flat axes and associated metalwork. The preceding period is known as the [[Copper Age]] and is characterised by the production of [[flat axes]], [[daggers]], [[halberds]] and [[stitching awl|awls]] in copper. The period is divided into three phases: Early Bronze Age (2000–1500 BC), Middle Bronze Age (1500–1200 BC), and Late Bronze Age (1200–{{c.}} 500 BC). Ireland is 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 name="p23">Power (1992), p. 23</ref> 

One of the characteristic types of artifact of the Early Bronze Age in Ireland is the flat axe. There are five main types of flat axes: Lough Ravel crannog ({{c.}} 2200 BC), Ballybeg ({{c.}} 2000 BC), Killaha ({{c.}} 2000 BC), Ballyvalley ({{c.}} 2000–1600 BC), Derryniggin ({{c.}} 1600 BC), and a number of metal ingots in the shape of axes.<ref>Waddell; Eogan.</ref>

=== Northern Europe ===
{{Main|Nordic Bronze Age}}
[[File:Solvognen-00100.jpg|alt=|thumb|[[Trundholm sun chariot]], Denmark, {{c.}} 1500 BC]]
The Bronze Age in Northern Europe spans the entire [[2nd millennium BC]], ([[Unetice culture]], [[Urnfield culture]], [[Tumulus culture]], [[Terramare culture]] and [[Lusatian culture]]) lasting until {{c.}} 600 BC. The [[Nordic Bronze Age|Northern Bronze Age]] was both a period and a Bronze Age culture in Scandinavian pre-history, {{c.}} 1700–500 BC, 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 artifacts 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 artifacts.
{{clear left}}

=== Eastern Europe ===
[[File:Yamnaya Steppe Pastoralists.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Bronze Age spread of [[Yamnaya culture|Yamnaya]] [[Western Steppe Herders|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="Yamnaya" />]]
The [[Yamnaya culture]] (c.3300–2600 BC) was a Late Copper Age/Early Bronze Age culture of the [[Pontic–Caspian steppe|Pontic-Caspian steppe]],<ref name="Kristiansen2017">{{cite journal | last1=Kristiansen | first1=Kristian | last2=Allentoft | first2=Morten E. |  last3=Willerslev | first3=Eske | title=Re-theorising mobility and the formation of culture and language among the Corded Ware Culture in Europe | journal=Antiquity | publisher=Antiquity Publications | volume=91 | issue=356 | year=2017 | issn=0003-598X | doi=10.15184/aqy.2017.17 | pages=334–347| doi-access=free | hdl=1887/70150 | hdl-access=free }}</ref><ref name="Villalba2021">{{cite journal | last1=Villalba-Mouco | first1=Vanessa | last2=Oliart | first2=Camila | last3=Haak | first3=Wolfgang | title=Genomic transformation and social organization during the Copper Age–Bronze Age transition in southern Iberia | journal=Science Advances | publisher=American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) | volume=7 | issue=47 | date=2021-11-19 | pages=eabi7038 | issn=2375-2548 | doi=10.1126/sciadv.abi7038 | pmid=34788096 | pmc=8597998 | bibcode=2021SciA....7.7038V | hdl=10810/54399 | hdl-access=free }}</ref> and is associated with early [[Indo-European languages|Indo-Europeans]]. It was followed on the steppe by the [[Catacomb culture]] ({{c.}} 2800–2200 BC) and the [[Poltavka culture]] (c.2800–2200 BC). The closely-related [[Corded Ware culture]] in the [[Forest steppe|forest-steppe]] region to the north (c. 3000–2350 BC) spread eastwards with the [[Fatyanovo–Balanovo culture|Fatyanovo culture]] (c.2900–2050 BC), which subsequently developed into the [[Abashevo culture]] (c.2200–1850 BC) and the [[Sintashta culture]] (c. 2200–1750 BC). The earliest known [[Chariot|chariots]] 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]], whilst the [[Srubnaya culture]] (c.1900–1200 BC) continued the use of chariots in eastern Europe.

=== Caucasus ===
[[Arsenical bronze]] artifacts of the [[Maykop culture]] in the [[North Caucasus]] have been dated to around the 4th millennium BC.<ref>Philip L. Kohl. The making of Bronze Age Eurasia. p. 58.</ref> This innovation resulted in the circulation of arsenical bronze technology through southern and eastern Europe.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Gimbutas | year = 1973 | title = The Beginning of the Bronze Age in Europe and the Indo- Europeans 3500–2500 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="ReferenceA">{{cite journal|last1=Miller|first1=Duncan E.|last2=van der Merwe|first2=Nikolaas J.|title=Early Metal Working in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Review of Recent Research|journal=The Journal of African History|date=1994|volume=35|issue=1|pages=1–36|doi=10.1017/s0021853700025949|jstor=182719|s2cid=162330270}}</ref><ref name="Springer">{{cite book|last1=Childs|first1=S. Terry|editor1-last=Selin|editor1-first=Helaine|title=Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures|date=2008|publisher=Springer|location=Netherlands|isbn=978-1-4020-4425-0|pages=1596–1601|chapter=Metallurgy in Africa|doi=10.1007/978-1-4020-4425-0_8776}}</ref> As such, most [[Classical African Civilization|African civilizations]] outside of 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 BC, [[Rwanda]] and [[Burundi]] {{Circa|700}}–500 BC and [[Tanzania]] {{Circa|300 BC}}.<ref name="Springer"/><ref name="ReferenceB">{{cite journal|last1=Holl|first1=Augustin F. C.|title=Early West African Metallurgies: New Data and Old Orthodoxy|journal=Journal of World Prehistory|date=2009|volume=22|issue=4|pages=415–438|doi=10.1007/s10963-009-9030-6|s2cid=161611760}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Alpern|first1=Stanley B.|title=Did They or Didn't They Invent It? Iron in Sub-Saharan Africa|journal=History in Africa|date=2005|volume=32|pages=41–94|doi=10.1353/hia.2005.0003|jstor=20065735|s2cid=162880295|url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/187874}}</ref>

There is a longstanding debate about whether both copper and iron metallurgy were independently developed in sub-Saharan Africa or introduced from the outside across the [[Sahara Desert]] from [[North Africa]] or the [[Indian Ocean]].<ref name="Springer"/> Evidence for theories of independent development and outside introduction are scarce and the subject of active scholarly debate.<ref name="Springer"/> Scholars have suggested that both the relative dearth of archeological 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="ReferenceB"/><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Killick|first1=David|title=Cairo to Cape: The Spread of Metallurgy Through Eastern and Southern Africa|journal=Journal of World Prehistory|date=2009|volume=22|issue=4|pages=399–414|doi=10.1007/s10963-009-9025-3|s2cid=162458882}}</ref><ref name="ReferenceD">{{cite journal|last1=Chirikure|first1=Shadreck|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]]|date=2010|volume=8|issue=1|pages=25–28|doi=10.3213/1612-1651-10156|jstor=43135498}}</ref> One scholar characterized the state of historical knowledge: "To say that the history of metallurgy in sub-Saharan Africa is complicated is perhaps an understatement."<ref name="ReferenceD"/>

=== 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 BC.<ref name="ReferenceB"/> However, evidence for copper production in this region before 1000 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|title=Reassessment of the Evidence for Early Metallurgy in Niger, West Africa|journal=Journal of Archaeological Science|date=1988|volume=15|issue=4|pages=367–3944|doi=10.1016/0305-4403(88)90036-2|bibcode=1988JArSc..15..367K |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name="ReferenceA"/><ref name="ReferenceB"/> Evidence of copper mining and smelting has been found at [[Akjoujt]], [[Mauretania]] that suggests small scale production {{c.}} 800 to 400 BC.<ref name="ReferenceB"/>

== Americas ==
{{See also|Metallurgy in pre-Columbian America|Metallurgy in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica}}
The [[Moche culture|Moche]] civilization of [[South America]] independently discovered and developed bronze smelting.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lablaa.org/blaavirtual/publicacionesbanrep/bolmuseo/1996/jldi41/jldi01a.htm |title=El bronce y el horizonte medio |work=lablaa.org |access-date=22 March 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090417064326/http://www.lablaa.org/blaavirtual/publicacionesbanrep/bolmuseo/1996/jldi41/jldi01a.htm |archive-date=17 April 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Bronze technology was developed further by the [[Inca]]s and widely used  both for utilitarian objects and for sculpture.<ref>{{cite web|author=Antonio Gutierrez |url=http://incas.homestead.com/inca_metallurgy_copper.html |title=Inca Metallurgy |publisher=Incas.homestead.com |access-date=24 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090131034920/http://incas.homestead.com/inca_metallurgy_copper.html |archive-date=31 January 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref>{{rs?|date=January 2024}} A later appearance of limited bronze smelting in western Mexico suggests either contact of that region with [[Andean civilizations|Andean cultures]] 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], accessed 28 March 2015.</ref>

== Trade ==
{{See also|Tin sources and trade in ancient times}}
Trade and industry played a major role in the development of Bronze Age civilizations. With artifacts of the Indus Valley civilization found in ancient [[Mesopotamia]] and [[Ancient Egypt|Egypt]], it is clear that these civilizations 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 extremely rich, but it also led to an intermingling of cultures for the first time in history.<ref name="kristiansen">{{cite journal |last1=Kristiansen |first1=Kristian |title=Connected Histories: the Dynamics of Bronze Age Interaction and Trade 1500–1100 BC |journal=Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society |date=26 November 2015 |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 sprouting up everywhere there was a pit-stop or caravan-to-ship port.

== 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 ==
* Eogan, George (1983). ''The hoards of the Irish later Bronze Age'', Dublin: University College, 331 p., {{ISBN|0-901120-77-4}}
* Hall, David and Coles, John (1994). ''Fenland survey : an essay in landscape and persistence'', Archaeological report '''1''', London : English Heritage, 170 p., {{ISBN|1-85074-477-7}}
* {{cite book |last= Marcos Saiz |first= F. Javier |title= La Sierra de Atapuerca y el Valle del Arlanzón. Patrones de asentamiento prehistóricos |year= 2006 |publisher= Editorial Dossoles. Burgos, Spain |isbn = 9788496606289 |url=https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/libro?codigo=264088}}
* {{cite book |last= Marcos Saiz |first= F. Javier |title= La Prehistoria Reciente del entorno de la Sierra de Atapuerca (Burgos, España) |year= 2016 |publisher= British Archaeological Reports (Oxford, U.K.), BAR International Series 2798 |isbn = 9781407315195 |url= https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/libro?codigo=663925}}
* {{cite journal |last1= Marcos Saiz |first1= F.J. |last2= Díez |first2= J.C. |title= The Holocene archaeological research around Sierra de Atapuerca (Burgos, Spain) and its projection in a GIS geospatial database |year= 2017 |journal= Quaternary International |volume=433 (A) |pages=45–67 |doi=10.1016/j.quaint.2015.10.002 |bibcode=2017QuInt.433...45M |url=https://sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1040618215009593}}  
* Pernicka, E., Eibner, C., Öztunah, Ö., Wagener, G.A. (2003). "Early Bronze Age Metallurgy in the Northeast Aegean", In: Wagner, G.A., Pernicka, E. and Uerpmann, H-P. (eds), ''Troia and the Troad: scientific approaches'', Natural science in archaeology, Berlin; London : Springer, {{ISBN|3-540-43711-8}}, pp.&nbsp;143–172
* Piccolo, Salvatore (2013). ''Ancient Stones: The Prehistoric Dolmens of Sicily''. Abingdon (GB): 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}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite book | last=Childe | first=V.G. | year=1930 | title=The bronze age | location=New York | publisher=The Macmillan Company}}
* {{cite journal | last1 = Figueiredo | first1 = Elin | year = 2010 | title = Smelting and Recycling Evidences from the Late Bronze Age habitat site of Baioes | url = http://repositorio.ul.pt/bitstream/10451/9795/1/Smelting%20and%20recicling%20evidences%20from%20the%20Late%20Bronze%20Age%20habitat%20site%20of%20Bai%c3%b5es.pdf| journal = Journal of Archaeological Science | volume = 37 | issue = 7| pages = 1623–1634 | doi=10.1016/j.jas.2010.01.023| hdl = 10451/9795| s2cid = 53316689 | hdl-access = free }}
* {{cite book | editor=Fong, Wen | url=https://archive.org/details/greatbronzeageof0000unse | title=The great bronze age of China: an exhibition from the People's Republic of China | location=New York | publisher=The Metropolitan Museum of Art | year=1980 | isbn=978-0-87099-226-1 | access-date=13 September 2013 | url-access=registration }}
* {{cite book | last=Kelleher | author-link=Bradford Kelleher | first=Bradford | year=1980 | title=Treasures from the Bronze Age of China: An exhibition from the People's Republic of China, the Metropolitan Museum of Art | location=New York | publisher=Ballantine Books | isbn=978-0-87099-230-8 | url-access=registration | url=https://archive.org/details/treasuresfrombro00metr }}
* {{cite book | author= Wagner, Donald B. | title=Iron and Steel in Ancient China. | publisher= Leiden, Netherlands; New York: E.J. Brill | year=1993}}
* {{cite book | last=Kuijpers | first=M.H.G. | year=2008 | title=Bronze Age metalworking in the Netherlands ({{c.}} 2000–800 BC): A research into the preservation of metallurgy related artefacts and the social position of the smith | location=Leiden | publisher=Sidestone Press|url=http://www.sidestone.com/library/bronze-age-metalworking-in-the-netherlands-c2000-800bc| access-date=2 February 2012| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130205205212/http://www.sidestone.com/library/bronze-age-metalworking-in-the-netherlands-c2000-800bc |archive-date=5 February 2013| isbn=978-9088900150 }}
* {{cite journal|last1=Li |display-authors=etal |year=2010 |title=Evidence that a West-East admixed population lived in the Tarim Basin as early as the early Bronze Age |journal=BMC Biology |volume=8 |page=15 |doi=10.1186/1741-7007-8-15 |pmid=20163704 |pmc=2838831 |doi-access=free }}
* {{cite book | last1=Müller-Lyer |first1=F.C. |author-link= Franz Carl Müller-Lyer| last2=Lake |first2=E.C. |last3=Lake |first3=H.A. |year=1921 |title=The history of social development |location=New York |publisher=Alfred A. Knopf}}
* {{cite book | author= Pittman, Holly |url=http://libmma.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p15324coll10/id/33948|title=Art of the Bronze Age: southeastern Iran, western Central Asia, and the Indus Valley | location=New York | publisher=The Metropolitan Museum of Art | year=1984 | isbn=978-0-87099-365-7| access-date=17 July 2013| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131226083511/http://libmma.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p15324coll10/id/33948 |archive-date=26 December 2013}}
* {{cite journal | last1 = Roberts | first1 = B.W. | last2 = Thornton | first2 = C.P. | last3 = Pigott | first3 = V.C. | year = 2009 | title = Development of Metallurgy in Eurasia | url = https://britishmuseum.academia.edu/BenjaminRoberts/Papers/340888/Development_of_metallurgy_in_Eurasia | journal = Antiquity | volume = 83 | issue = 322| pages = 112–122 | doi = 10.1017/S0003598X00099312 | s2cid = 163062746 }}
* {{cite journal | last1 = Siklosy | display-authors = etal | year = 2009 | title = Bronze Age volcanic event recorded in stalagmites by combined isotope and trace element studies | journal = Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry | volume = 23 | issue = 6| pages = 801–808 | doi = 10.1002/rcm.3943 | pmid = 19219896| bibcode = 2009RCMS...23..801S | doi-access = free }}

== External links ==
{{Sister project links|auto=yes}}
{{Library resources box |by=no |onlinebooks=yes |others=yes |about=yes |label=Bronze Age
 |viaf= |lccn= |lcheading= |wikititle= }}
* {{cite EB1911|wstitle=Bronze Age |volume=4 |short=x}}
* [http://www.bronzeage.de/ Links to the Bronze Age in Europe and beyond] Commented web index, geographically structured (private website)
* [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]
* {{cite web |url=http://galich.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=248&Itemid=1 |trans-title=Ancient bronze idol 13 Cent B.C. |location=Northern Russia |language=ru |title=Галичский клад |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101004134827/http://galich.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=248&Itemid=1 |archive-date=4 October 2010 |access-date=21 December 2009 |url-status=dead }}
* [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 Institution|Smithsonian]], [[National Museum of Natural History]] (August 2016).

; Seafaring
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/northamptonshire/4330031.stm Divers unearth Bronze Age hoard off the coast of Devon]

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[[Category:Bronze Age| ]]
[[Category:Articles which contain graphical timelines]]
[[Category:Historical eras]]