What was the Bronze Age?

In the accepted system of dating human use of tools the Bronze Age is considered the second of three major ages. Human beings used stone tools for various reasons during a period of about 2.5 million years. Approximately 3,000 years before the birth of Christ there is archaeological evidence of a gradual shift to metal tools and weapons – the Bronze Age.

This was followed about 2,000 years later by the Iron Age, during which human beings used tools and weapons made from iron and steel. While scientists have attempted to define specific ages based on tools and cultural artifacts, the truth is that the movement from one age to the next was very gradual. As many history books and scientific studies point out, the changes in tool materials were part of a larger change in culture – religion, art and agriculture.

Limits of the Bronze Age

Archaeologists have found evidence of the smelting of metal from copper ore beginning in about 3,000 B.C. This type of tool-making continued until approximately 1,200 B.C. when people began to craft iron tools in India, Greece and a few other locations (including the western part of Africa).

This designation makes the Bronze Age the shortest of the three major ages, though some extend the date another 400 years to about 800 B.C. in Europe. This means that there were two or three subdivisions in the Bronze Age – early, middle and late. Unlike the Stone Age, the Bronze Age was not only defined by tool materials, it was also defined by changes in culture. As major religions rose in popularity, spread and declined, people changed the way they worked and fought. This helps define the limits of the Bronze and Iron Ages.

Inside the Bronze Age

During the centuries that made up this period of history human beings used copper and tin for tools, weapons, art and for trading. It is believed that many of the bronze items used during this time were impure and may have even been toxic to human beings and animals. Some of the metals contained arsenic, a deadly poison.

Bronze is evident in Western Europe, in the Caucasian mountain region and especially on the Iberian Peninsula (Portugal and Spain). Some scientists propose that the true man-made bronze didn’t appear until a few years later, since there is a naturally occurring mix of metals that qualifies as bronze.

In spite of the differences in theories, there are some accepted dates for the Bronze Age and its subdivisions. These include: Early Bronze Age 3,300 to 3,000 B.C., 3,000 to 2,700 B.C. or 2,700 to 2,200 B.C. These are often designated I, II and III; Middle Bronze Age 2,200 to 2,000 B.C., 2,000 to 1,750 B.C., 1,750 to 1,650 B.C. and 1,650 to 1,550 B.C. These are often designated I, IIA, IIB and IIC; Late Bronze Age 1,550 to 1,400 B.C., 1,400 to 1,300 B.C. or 1,300 to 1,200 B.C. These are often designated I, IIA and IIB.