Bronze Age, period in the development of technology when metals were first used regularly in the manufacture of tools and weapons. Pure copper and bronze, an alloy of copper and tin, were used indiscriminately at first; this early period is sometimes called the Copper Age. The earliest use of cast metal can be deduced from clay models of weapons; casting casting or founding, shaping of metal by melting and pouring into a mold. Most castings, especially large ones, are made in sand molds.
..... Click the link for more information. was certainly established in the Middle East by 3500 B.C. Following the Neolithic period Neolithic period or New Stone Age. The term neolithic is used, especially in archaeology and anthropology, to designate a stage of cultural evolution or technological development characterized by the use of stone tools, the existence of
..... Click the link for more information. , the development of a metallurgical industry coincided with the rise of urbanization. The organized operations of mining, smelting, and casting undoubtedly required the specialization of labor and the production of surplus food to support a class of artisans, while the search for raw materials stimulated the exploration and colonization of new territories. This process culminated in the civilizations of Mesopotamia Mesopotamia (mĕs'əpətā`mēə) [Gr.
..... Click the link for more information. and Sumer Sumer (s
..... Click the link for more information. . Later, the Minoan civilization Minoan civilization (mĭnō`ən), ancient Cretan culture representing a stage in the development of the Aegean civilization .
..... Click the link for more information. and the Mycenaean civilization Mycenaean civilization (mīsēnē`ən), an ancient Aegean civilization known from the excavations at Mycenae and other sites.
..... Click the link for more information. opened extensive trade routes in central Europe, where tin and copper were mined. This activity fostered native industries and political unification, especially in Hungary, Austria, and the Alpine region. It laid the foundations of the Iron Age Iron Age, period in the development of industry that begins with the general use of iron and continues into modern times. In Asia, Egypt, and Europe it was preceded by the Bronze Age . It did not begin in the Americas until the coming of the Europeans.
..... Click the link for more information. civilization, which was to follow under Greek, Etruscan, and Scythian influences. In the New World the earliest bronze was cast in Bolivia c.A.D. 1100. The Inca Inca (ĭng`kə), pre-Columbian empire, W South America.
..... Click the link for more information. civilization used bronze tools and weapons but never mastered iron.

Bibliography

See V. G. Childe, The Prehistory of European Society (1958, repr. 1962); J. W. Alsop, From the Silent Earth (1964); G. Clark, World Prehistory: An Outline (2d ed. 1969); A. H. Jones, Bronze Age Civilization (1975); B. Fell, Bronze-Age America (1982).

Bronze Age

Third phase in the development of material culture among the ancient peoples of Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, following the Paleolithic and Neolithic periods and preceding the Iron Age. The term also denotes the first period in which metal was used. The date at which the age began varied by region; in Greece and China it began before 3000 BC, in Britain not until c. 1900 BC. The beginning of the period is sometimes called the Chalcolithic (Copper-Stone) Age, referring to the initial use of pure copper (along with its predecessor, stone). By 3000 BC the use of copper was well known in the Middle East, had extended westward into the Mediterranean area, and was beginning to infiltrate Europe. Only in the 2nd millennium BC did true bronze come to be widely used. The age was marked by increased specialization and the invention of the wheel and the ox-drawn plow. From c. 1000 BC the ability to heat and forge iron brought the Bronze Age to an end.