Bronze Age
Smelting began here
The Bronze Age is the period of human history, roughly 3300–1200 BCE in the Near East and Mediterranean, when bronze became the dominant material for tools and weapons.
It falls between the Stone Age and Iron Age in the traditional three-age system of archaeology.
The term appears in discussions of ancient civilizations, trade networks, and technological development: Bronze Age collapse, Bronze Age burial sites. (Lowercase bronze age describes any such period generically.)
Ancient Cretan civilization
- MycenaeanAncient Greek Bronze Age culture
- HittiteAncient Anatolian civilization
- ShangEarly Chinese dynasty
- MesopotamianOf the two-rivers land
Egyptian · Assyrian · Phoenician · Nubian · Aegean · palatial · city-states · kingdoms
Act of unearthing
- stratigraphyStudy of rock layers
- radiocarbon datingDetermining age via isotope decay
- burial moundsEarthen heaps over graves
- tumuliAncient burial mounds
settlements · hoards · grave goods · pottery · ceramics · sites · typology · seriation
Reddish-brown metallic element
- tinElement fifty, Sn
- alloyMetallic combination
- smeltingExtracting metal from ore
- castingShaping through liquid form
forge · furnace · crucible · anvil · ingot · ore · slag · bellows
Ancient Greek war epic
- Trojan WarLegendary Greek-versus-Troy conflict
- OdysseyEpic of homecoming
- GilgameshMesopotamian epic protagonist
- MinosAncient Cretan sovereign
Theseus · Minotaur · labyrinth · Agamemnon · Achilles · Troy · heroes · epics
Hilted fighting blade
- daggerShort pointed stabbing blade
- axeBladed tool for chopping
- spearheadLead an effort
- shieldHandheld defensive armor
helmet · torc · bracelet · fibula · brooch · cauldron · mirror · razor
Rotating circular frame
- chariotAncient horse-drawn fighter's vehicle
- writingRecorded language on surface
- cuneiformStylus-impressed ancient script
- hieroglyphicsSymbolic picture-based writing
plow · irrigation · loom · glassmaking · faience · shipbuilding · seals · urban planning
Minoan
Ancient Cretan civilization
- MycenaeanAncient Greek Bronze Age culture
- HittiteAncient Anatolian civilization
- ShangEarly Chinese dynasty
Mesopotamian · Egyptian · Assyrian · Phoenician · Nubian · Aegean · palatial · city-states · kingdoms · dynasties
excavation
Act of unearthing
- stratigraphyStudy of rock layers
- radiocarbon datingDetermining age via isotope decay
- burial moundsEarthen heaps over graves
tumuli · settlements · hoards · grave goods · pottery · ceramics · sites · typology · seriation · preservation
copper
Reddish-brown metallic element
casting · forge · furnace · crucible · anvil · ingot · ore · slag · bellows · hammering
Iliad
Ancient Greek war epic
- Trojan WarLegendary Greek-versus-Troy conflict
- OdysseyEpic of homecoming
- GilgameshMesopotamian epic protagonist
Minos · Theseus · Minotaur · labyrinth · Agamemnon · Achilles · Troy · heroes · epics · legends
sword
Hilted fighting blade
shield · helmet · torc · bracelet · fibula · brooch · cauldron · mirror · razor · chisel
wheel
Rotating circular frame
- chariotAncient horse-drawn fighter's vehicle
- writingRecorded language on surface
- cuneiformStylus-impressed ancient script
hieroglyphics · plow · irrigation · loom · glassmaking · faience · shipbuilding · seals · urban planning · record keeping
- Historical AgesDark Ages, Middle Ages, Neolithic, Paleolithic, Mesolithic
- historical erasMiddle Ages, Renaissance, Victorian era, Medieval, Tudor era
- Anatolian historyAnatolia, Hittites, Hittite, Troy, Ephesus
- Ancient LevantCanaan, Canaanites, Phoenicia, Phoenicians, Levant
- British PrehistoryStonehenge, stone circles, henges, hill forts, burial mounds
- bronzebronzeware, bronzesmith, alloy, copper alloy, tin alloy
Bronze AgeIron Age
Post-bronze historical period
Stone Age · Neolithic · Industrial Age · Paleolithic · Digital Age
Bronze Agemodern times
The contemporary era
Digital Age · nuclear age · jet age · computer age · twenty-first century