TheEuropean Bronze Age is characterized bybronze artifacts and the use of bronze implements. The regionalBronze Age succeeds theNeolithic andCopper Age and is followed by theIron Age. It starts with theAegean Bronze Age in 3200 BC and spans the entire 2nd millennium BC (including theÚnětice culture,Ottomány culture,British Bronze Age,Argaric culture,Nordic Bronze Age,Tumulus culture,Nuragic culture,Terramare culture,Urnfield culture andLusatian culture), lasting untilc. 800 BC in central Europe.[1]
Arsenical bronze was produced in some areas from the 4th millennium BC onwards, prior to the introduction of tin bronze.[2] Tin bronze foil had already been produced in southeastern Europe on a small scale in theChalcolithic era, with examples fromPločnik in Serbia dated toc. 4650 BC, as well as 14 other artefacts fromBulgaria andSerbia dated to before 4000 BC, showing that early tin bronze developed independently in Europe 1500 years before the first tin bronze alloys in theNear East. This bronze production lasted for c. 500 years in the Balkans but disappeared 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 usingcassiterite tin were subsequently reintroduced to the area some 1500 years later.[3]
TheAegean Bronze Age begins around 3200 BC[1]when civilizations first established a far-rangingtrade network. This network importedtin and charcoal toCyprus, wherecopper was mined and alloyed with the tin to producebronze. Bronze objects were then exported far and wide and supported the trade.Isotopic analysis of the tin in someMediterranean bronze objects indicates it came from as far away asGreat Britain.[4]
Around 1600 BC, theeruption of Thera destroyed the site ofAkrotiri and damagedMinoan sites in easternCrete. The further impact of this event is poorly understood.[5]
Starting in the 15th century BC, theMycenaeans began to spread their influence throughout the Aegean and Western Anatolia. Byc. 1450 BC, the palace ofKnossos was ruled by a Mycenaean elite who formed a hybrid Minoan-Mycenaean culture. Mycenaeans also colonized several other Aegean islands, reaching as far asRhodes.[6][7] Thus the Mycenaeans became the dominant power of the region, marking the beginning of the Mycenaean 'Koine' era (fromGreek:Κοινή, common), a highly uniform culture that spread in mainland Greece and the Aegean.[8] The Mycenaean Greeks introduced several innovations in the fields of engineering, architecture and military infrastructure, while trade over vast areas of theMediterranean was essential for the Mycenaean economy. Their syllabic script, theLinear B, offers the first written records of theGreek language and their religion already included several deities that can be also found in theOlympic Pantheon. Mycenaean Greece was dominated by a warrior elite society and consisted of a network of palace states that developed rigid hierarchical, political, social and economic systems. At the head of this society was the king, known aswanax.[9]
A study in the journalAntiquity from 2013 reported the discovery of a tin bronze foil from thePločnik archaeological site dated toc. 4650 BC, as well as 14 other artefacts fromSerbia andBulgaria dated to before 4000 BC, showed that early tin bronze was more common than previously thought and developed independently in Europe 1,500 years before the first tin bronze alloys in theNear 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 usingcassiterite tin would be reintroduced to the area again some 1,500 years later.[10]
Bronze Age archaeological cultures in Southeast Europe include:
![Bronze chariot wheel, Urnfield culture, Romania, c. 1200 BC[11]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aRomania_Bronze_wheel_1000_BC.jpg)
TheMaykop culture was the major early Bronze Age culture in theNorth Caucasus. Some scholars date arsenical bronze artifacts in the region as far back as the mid-4th millennium BC.[12]
TheYamnaya culture[a] was alate copper age/early Bronze Age culture dating to the 36th–23rd centuries BC. The culture was predominantly nomadic, with some agriculture practiced near rivers and a few hill-forts.
TheCatacomb culture, covering several related archaeological cultures, was first to introducecorded pottery decorations into the steppes and showed a profuse use of the polished battle ax, providing a link to the West. Parallels with theAfanasevo culture, including provoked cranial deformations, provide a link to the East. It was preceded by theYamnaya culture and succeeded by the westernCorded Ware culture. The eastern Corded Ware culture (Fatyanovo–Balanovo culture) gave rise to theAbashevo culture, followed by theSintashta culture, where the earliest known spoked-wheelchariots have been found, dating fromc. 2000 BC. The Catacomb culture in the Pontic steppe was succeeded by theMulti-cordoned Ware culture, and theSrubnaya culture fromc. the 17th century BC.
Bronze Age archaeological cultures in Eastern Europe:
InCentral Europe, the early Bronze AgeÚnětice culture (2300–1600 BC) includes numerous smaller groups like theStraubing,Adlerberg andHatvan cultures. Some very rich burials, such as the one located at Leubingen (today part ofSömmerda) with grave gifts crafted from gold, point to an increase of social stratification already present in the Únětice culture. All in all, cemeteries of this period are rare and of small size. The Únětice culture is followed by the middle Bronze Age (1600–1200 BC)Tumulus culture, which is characterized by inhumation burials intumuli (barrows). In the eastern HungarianKörös tributaries, the early Bronze Age first saw the introduction of theMakó culture, followed by theOttomány culture andGyulavarsánd culture.
The late Bronze AgeUrnfield culture (1300–750 BC) is characterized by cremation burials. It includes theLusatian culture in easternGermany andPoland (1300–500 BC) that continues into theIron Age. The Central European Bronze Age is followed by the Iron AgeHallstatt culture (800–450 BC).
Important sites include:Biskupin (Poland),Nebra (Germany), Zug-Sumpf,Zug (Switzerland), andVráble (Slovakia).
Bronze Age archaeological cultures in Central Europe include:
TheItalian Bronze Age is conditionally divided into four periods: The Early Bronze Age (2300–1700 BC), the Middle Bronze Age (1700–1350 BC), the Recent Bronze Age (1350–1150 BC), the Final Bronze Age (1150–950 BC).[13]
The Early Bronze Age shows the beginning of a new culture in Northern Italy and is distinguished by thePolada culture. Polada settlements were mainly widespread in wetland locations such as around the large lakes and hills along the Alpine margin. The cities of Toppo Daguzzo and La Starza were known as the center of the Proto-Apennine stage of Palma Campania culture spread in southern Italy at this time.[14]
The Middle Bronze Age known as theApennine culture in Central andSouthern Italy was the period when settlements were established both on lowland and upland areas.Hierarchy among the social groups was experienced during this period according to the evidence of the tombs. The two-tier grave found at Toppo Daguzzo is an example of elite groups growth. On the top level, nearly 10 fractured skeletons have been found without any grave objects, while at the lower level eleven burials were found accompanied by different valuable pieces: 6 males with bronze weapons, 4 females with beads and a child.[14][15] The Middle Bronze Age in Northern Italy was characterised by theTerramare culture.
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The Recent Bronze Age, known as the Sub-Apennine period inCentral Italy, is a frame of time when sites relocated to defended locations. At this time settlement hierarchy obviously appeared in cities such asLatium andTuscany.[14] The Final Bronze Age is the period during which the majority of the Italian peninsula was united in theProto-Villanovan culture. Pianello di Genga is an exception to the small cemeteries characterized for the Protov-Villanovan culture. More than 500 burials were found in this cemetery which is known for its two centuries of usage by different communities.[14][16]
During the second millennium BC, theNuragic civilization flourished in the island ofSardinia. It was a rather homogeneous culture, more than 7000 imposing stone tower-buildings known asNuraghe were built by this culture all over the island, along with other types of monuments such as the megaron temples, the monumentalGiants' graves and theholy well temples. Sanctuaries and larger settlements were also built starting from the late second millennium BC to host these religious structures along with other structures such ritual pools, fountains and tanks, large stone roundhouses with circular benches used for the meeting of the leaders of the chiefdoms and large public areas. Bronze tools and weapons were widespread and their quality increased thanks to the contacts between the Nuragic people and Eastern Mediterranean peoples such as theCypriots, the lost waxing technique was introduced to create several hundred bronze statuettes and other tools. The Nuragic civilization survived throughout the earlyIron Age when the sanctuaries were still in use, stone statues were crafted and some Nuraghi were reused as temples.
TheCastellieri culture developed inIstria 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:cjastelir) that characterised the culture.
TheCanegrate culture developed from the mid-Bronze Age (13th century BC) until the Iron Age in the Pianura Padana, in what are now westernLombardy, easternPiedmont, andTicino. It takes its name from the township ofCanegrate, 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 theSwiss Alps passes and the Ticino.
TheGolasecca culture developed starting from the late Bronze Age in thePo plain. It takes its name from Golasecca, a locality next to the Ticino, where in the early 19th century abbotGiovanni Battista Giani [it] excavated its first findings comprising some 50 tombs with ceramics and metal objects. Remains of the Golasecca culture span an area of about 20,000 km2 (4,900,000 acres) south to the Alps, between the Po,Sesia, andSerio rivers, dating to the 9th–4th centuries BC.
In northernGermany,Denmark,Sweden andNorway, Bronze Age cultures manufactured many distinctive and artistic artifacts. This includeslur horns, horned ceremonial helmets, sun discs, gold jewelry and some unexplained finds like thebronze "gong" from Balkåkra in Sweden. Some linguists believe that an earlyIndo-European language was introduced to the area probably around 2000 BC, which eventually becameProto-Germanic, the last common ancestor of theGermanic languages. This would fit with the apparently unbroken evolution of the Nordic Bronze Age into the most probably ethnolinguistically GermanicPre-Roman Iron Age.
The age is divided into the periods I–VI, according toOscar Montelius. Period Montelius V, already belongs to theIron Age in other regions.
Bronze Age archaeological cultures in Southeast Europe include:
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TheAtlantic Bronze Age is a cultural complex of the Bronze Age period of approximately 1300–700 BC that includes different cultures inPortugal,Andalusia,Galicia,France,Britain, andIreland and is marked by economic and cultural exchange that led to the high degree of cultural similarity exhibited by coastal communities, including the frequent use of stones aschevaux-de-frise, the establishment ofcliff castles, or the domestic architecture sometimes characterized by the round houses. Commercial contacts extended fromSweden andDenmark to theMediterranean. The period was defined by a number of distinct regional centres of metal production, unified by a regular maritime exchange of some of their products. The major centres were southern England and Ireland, north-western France, and western Iberia.
TheBronze Age in Ireland commenced in the centuries around 2000 BC when copper was alloyed with tin and used to manufactureBallybeg type flat axes and associated metalwork. The preceding period is known as theCopper Age and is characterised by the production offlat axes,daggers,halberds andawls in copper. The rich copper ores ofTipperary,Kerry and westCork provided the needed raw material.[17] The period is divided into three phases:Early Bronze Age 2000–1500 BC;Middle Bronze Age 1500–1200 BC andLate Bronze Age 1200–c. 500 BC. Ireland is also known for a relatively large number of Early Bronze Age burials.[18][19]
Bronze Age archaeological cultures in Southeast Europe include:
InGreat Britain, the Bronze Age is considered to have been the period from around 2200 to 700 BC.Migration brought new people to the islands from the continent. Recent tooth enamel isotope research on bodies found in early Bronze Age graves aroundStonehenge indicate that at least some of the immigrants came from the area of modernSwitzerland. TheBeaker people displayed different behaviors from the earlierNeolithic people and cultural change was significant, including the introduction of metalworking (copper and gold) from 2500 BC. By 2200 BC the Beaker people had started to produce tin-bronze. Cornwall and Devon in southwest England have the earliest evidence for tin ore exploitation in Europe.[20] Britain was also the first region in Europe to fully adopt tin-bronze technology and switch all metalwork from copper and arsenical bronze to full tin-bronze. This full adoption subsequently occurred across Scandinavia and Central Europe by around 1800 BC and later in southern Iberia, the Aegean (Greece) and Egypt by around 1500/1300 BC.[21]
An analysis of Bronze Age–Early Iron Age tin ingots recovered from four Mediterranean shipwrecks off the coasts of Israel and southern France found that they originated from tin ores in south-west Britain.[22] According to Williams et al. (2025), "the ‘bronzization’ of the East Mediterranean, occurring 1500–1300 BC, was primarily driven by European tin sources, particularly from south-west Britain, rather than Central Asian sources." This situation is reflected in later writings by the Greek historianHerodotus (c. 450 BC), who referred to theCassiterides or 'tin islands' in the distant northwest as the source for Mediterranean tin.[22] The importance of Britain as a source of tin is also reflected in evidence for connections between elites of theWessex culture and elites inMycenaean Greece, notably evidenced in the richBush Barrow burial next toStonehenge.[23][24][25] Copper was also extracted and exported to the continent from sites such as theGreat Orme mine in northernWales, as was gold from Cornwall (notably used to make theNebra Sky Disc associated with theÚnětice culture in central Europe).[26]
During the Bronze Age the climate deteriorated; 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 fertilevalleys. Large livestock ranches developed in the lowlands which appear to have contributed to economic growth and inspired increasing forest clearances. TheDeverel–Rimbury culture began to emerge in the second half of the 'Middle Bronze Age' (c. 1400–1100 BC) to exploit these conditions. Social groups appear to have been tribal but with growing complexity and hierarchies becoming apparent.
Also, the burial of dead (which until this period had usually been communal) became more individual. For example, whereas in the Neolithic a largechambered cairn orlong barrow was used to house the dead, the 'Early Bronze Age' saw people buried in individualbarrows (also commonly known and marked on modern BritishOrdnance Survey maps as Tumuli), or sometimes incists covered withcairns.
The greatest quantities of bronze objects found inEngland were discovered inEast Cambridgeshire, where the most important finds were fromIsleham (more than 6500 pieces).[27]
Preceded by the Chalcolithic sites ofLos Millares, theArgaric culture flourished in southeastern Iberia in from 2200 BC to 1550 BC,[28] when depopulation of the area ensued along with disappearing of copper–bronze–arsenic metallurgy.[29] The most accepted model for El Argar has been that of an early state society, most particularly in terms of class division, exploitation, and coercion,[30] with agricultural production, maybe also human labour, controlled by the larger hilltop settlements,[31] and the elite using violence in practical and ideological terms to clamp down on the population.[32] Ecological degradation, landscape opening, fires, pastoralism, and maybe tree cutting for mining have been suggested as reasons for the collapse.[33]
The culture of themotillas, developed an early system of groundwater supply plants (the so-calledmotillas) in the upperGuadiana basin (in Iberian Peninsula's southernmeseta) in a context of extreme aridification in the area in the wake of the4.2-kiloyear climatic event, which roughly coincided with the transition from the Copper Age to the Bronze Age. Increased precipitation and recovery of the water table from about 1800 BC onward should have led to the forsaking of themotillas (which may have flooded) and the redefinition of the relation of the inhabitants of the territory with the environment, with the development of the Iberianoppida mode of settlement.[34]
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