The Bronze Age - briefly about culture and art. Bronze Age: chronology, general characteristics The next era belongs to the Bronze Age

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The Bronze Age is the second, later phase of the Early Metal Age, which replaced the Copper Age and preceded the Iron Age.

In general, the chronological framework of the Bronze Age: 35/33 - 13/11 centuries. BC, but they differ among different cultures.

General periodization

There are early, middle and late stages of the Bronze Age.

At the beginning of the Bronze Age, the zone of cultures with metal covered no more than 8-10 million km², and by its end their area increased to 40-43 million km².

During the Bronze Age, the formation, development and change of a number of metallurgical provinces took place.

Early Bronze Age

The boundary that separated the Copper Age from the Bronze Age was the collapse of the Balkan-Carpathian metallurgical province (1st half of 4 thousand) and the formation of ca. 35/33 centuries

Circumpontic metallurgical province. Within the Circumpontian metallurgical province, which dominated during the early and middle Bronze Ages, copper ore centers of the South Caucasus, Anatolia, the Balkan-Carpathian region, and the Aegean Islands were discovered and began to be exploited.

Hunters
Pastoral nomads
Farmers
Farmers/Early Civilizations
Early civilizations

* Pink border - Bronze Age at 2000 BC.

To the west of it, the mining and metallurgical centers of the Southern Alps, the Iberian Peninsula, and the British Isles functioned; to the south and southeast, metalliferous cultures are known in Egypt, Arabia, Iran and Afghanistan, all the way to Pakistan.

The place and time of the discovery of methods for producing bronze is not known with certainty. It can be assumed that bronze was discovered in several places at the same time.

The earliest bronze items with tin admixtures were discovered in Iraq and Iran and date back to the end of the 4th millennium BC. e. But there is evidence of an earlier appearance of bronze in Thailand in the 5th. millennium b.c. e.

Although this issue is controversial and other analysis results indicate that the same Maykop bronze products were made in the middle of the 3rd millennium BC. e.

With the beginning of the Bronze Age, two blocks of human communities in Eurasia took shape and began to actively interact.

To the south of the central folded mountain belt (Sayano-Altai - Pamir and Tien Shan - Caucasus - Carpathians - Alps), societies with a complex social structure, an economy based on agriculture in combination with livestock husbandry, were formed; cities, writing, and states appeared here.

To the north, in the Eurasian steppe, warlike societies of mobile pastoralists formed.

Middle Bronze Age

In the Middle Bronze Age (26/25 - 20/19 centuries BC) there was an expansion (mainly to the north) of the zone occupied by metal-bearing cultures.

The Circumpontic metallurgical province largely retains its structure and continues to be the central system of producing metallurgical centers in Eurasia.

Late Bronze Age

The beginning of the Late Bronze Age is the collapse of the Circumpontic metallurgical province at the turn of the 3rd and 2nd millennia and the formation of a whole chain of new metallurgical provinces, which to varying degrees reflected the most important features of mining and metallurgical production practiced in the central centers of the Circumpontic metallurgical province.

Among the metallurgical provinces of the Late Bronze Age, the largest was the Eurasian steppe metallurgical province (up to 8 million sq. km.), which inherited the traditions of the Circumpontic metallurgical province.

Adjoining it from the south were the Caucasian metallurgical province and the Iranian-Afghan metallurgical province, which were small in area but distinguished by their special richness and variety of product forms, as well as the nature of the alloys.

From Sayan-Altai to Indochina, production centers of the complex formation of the East Asian metallurgical province spread.

Various forms of high-quality products from the European metallurgical province, which stretched from the Northern Balkans to the Atlantic coast of Europe, are concentrated mainly in rich and numerous hoards.

Adjoining it from the south was the Mediterranean metallurgical province, which differed significantly from the European metallurgical province in production techniques and product forms.

In the 13th/12th centuries. BC e. a Bronze Age catastrophe occurs: cultures disintegrate or change in almost the entire space from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, over the course of several centuries - until the 10th/8th centuries. BC e. Grand migrations of peoples are taking place. The transition to the Early Iron Age begins. Bronze Age relapses persisted longest in Celtic territory (Atlantic Europe).

Bronze Age in the steppe zone

The Kurgan hypothesis dates back to the Late Bronze Age the split of the previously unified Proto-Indo-European community that inhabited the Black Sea steppes. The designations for bronze in various Indo-European languages come from the same root. Maria Gimbutas and her followers associate such Early Bronze Age cultures as the Catacomb and Yamnaya with the Proto-Indo-Europeans.

By the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC. e. The spread of Indo-European tribes to the east and west begins.

The Andronovo culture, associated with the Indo-Iranians, occupies vast areas of Central Eurasia (see Sintashta, Arkaim). The key to the success of the spread of the Indo-Europeans was the presence of such innovative technologies as the chariot and the sword.

The influence of Caucasian newcomers from the west marked the Bronze Age cultures in Southern Siberia - primarily Karasuk and Tagar. Findings of identical weapons over an area of thousands of kilometers (the so-called Seima-Turbino phenomenon) allow archaeologists to assume that over the native peoples of the forest belt of Eurasia since the 16th century. BC e. dominated by a certain mobile elite elite

Bronze Age in the Middle East

In the Middle East, the following dates correspond to 3 periods (the dates are very approximate):

RBV - Early Bronze Age (3500-2000 BC)
SBV - Middle Bronze Age (2000-1600 BC)
PBB - Late Bronze Age (1600-1200 BC)

Each main period can be divided into shorter subcategories: as an example, RBV I, RBV II, SBV IIa etc.

The Bronze Age in the Middle East began in Anatolia (modern Turkey). The mountains of the Anatolian Plateau had rich deposits of copper and tin. Copper was also mined in Cyprus, Ancient Egypt, Israel, Iran and around the Persian Gulf.

Copper was commonly mixed with arsenic, yet the region's growing demand for tin led to the creation of trade routes leading out of Anatolia. Copper was also imported via sea routes to Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia.

The Early Bronze Age is characterized by urbanization and the emergence of city-states, as well as the emergence of writing (Uruk, 4th millennium BC). In the Middle Bronze Age, there was a significant balance of power in the region (Amorites, Hittites, Hurrians, Hyksos and possibly Israelites).

The Late Bronze Age was characterized by competition between the powerful states of the region and their vassals (Ancient Egypt, Assyria, Babylonia, Hittites, Mitannians).

Extensive contacts were established with the Aegean civilization (Achaeans), in which copper played an important role.

The Bronze Age in the Middle East ended with a historical phenomenon, which among professionals is usually called the bronze collapse. This phenomenon affected the entire Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East.

Iron appeared in the Middle East, as well as in Anatolia, already in the Late Bronze Age. The entry into force of the Iron Age was marked more by political motives than by a breakthrough in the field of metallurgy.

Bronze Age divisions

The Ancient Near Eastern Bronze Age can be divided as follows:

Bronze Age architecture

Photo gallery

Start date: 3500/3300 BC e.

Expiration date: 1300/1100 BC e.

Helpful information

Bronze Age

Europe

The Bronze Age saw the penetration of Indo-European tribes into Europe, which put an end to the centuries-long development of Old Europe. The main cultures of the Bronze Age in Europe are Unetica, Burial Fields, Terramar, Lusatian, Belogrudov.

Aegean Islands

The first city-states formed in the 17th-16th centuries. BC e. - Mycenae, Tiryns, Pylos - had close cultural and trade ties with Crete, Mycenaean culture borrowed a lot from the Minoan civilization, the influence of which is felt in cult rituals, social life, and artistic monuments; undoubtedly, the art of building ships was adopted from the Cretans.

In the XV-XIII centuries. BC e. The Achaeans conquered Crete and the Cyclades, colonized many islands in the Aegean Sea, founded a number of settlements in the interior of Greece, on the site of which the famous ancient city-states later grew - Corinth, Athens, Delphi, Thebes. This period is considered the heyday of the Mycenaean civilization.

The Aegean civilization established a large trading network. This network imported tin and charcoal to Cyprus, where the tin was fused with copper to produce bronze. Bronze was in great demand not only in the Mediterranean, but also beyond its borders. Isotope analysis of some copper samples showed that some of it was imported from as far away as Great Britain. At that time, the craft of navigation was widely developed.

Navigation by that time had reached a level not reached until about 1750 AD. e. For example, sailors of the Aegean Sea were able to determine the longitude at which they were located. It is clear that the Minoan civilization, centered at Knossos, coordinated and protected this trade.

Central and South Asia

The Bronze Age in the Indian subcontinent began in the 34th century BC, during the birth of the Indus Valley Civilization.

Archaeological excavations have shown that the Harappans were familiar with copper, bronze, lead and tin and developed new methods for processing and obtaining them.

An intermediate position between the Indus and Mesopotamian was occupied by the so-called. Margian civilization.

East Asia

China

Bronze objects were discovered at the site of the Majiayao Culture (3100-2700 BC), but China's Bronze Age is officially considered to have begun during the Xia Dynasty. The Erlitou culture, Shang dynasty and Sanxingdui culture used bronze ritual vessels, agricultural tools and weapons.

Indochina

Bronze artifacts dating back to 2100 BC were discovered in Ban Chang (Thailand). uh..

Bronze drums were widely used in Dong Son culture. They have been produced since approximately 600 BC. e. and until the third century BC. e. This culture was located in areas near the Red River in northern Vietnam, but drums have also been found across the area stretching from Indonesia to southern China.

America

South America

The first finds of arsenic bronze items in South America date back to the Mochica culture (mid-1st millennium AD, northern Peru). The Tiwanaku and Wari cultures smelted classic tin bronze. The Inca state of Tawantinsuyu can already be considered a civilization of the advanced Bronze Age.

Mesoamerica

Sporadic finds of bronze objects (possibly of South American origin) were made in western Mexico. In general, the term “Bronze Age” does not apply to the cultures of Mesoamerica (see Mesoamerican chronology).

North Africa

If ancient Egypt and a number of neighboring cultures of northeast Africa (for example, Nubia) played an important role in the history of the Bronze Age, then in the rest of Africa the art of metalworking appeared much later.

Despite the fact that European cultures of the Bronze Age penetrated into northern Africa (for example, traces of the Bell-Beaker culture were discovered in Morocco), metallurgy penetrates there only during the time of Phoenician colonization, around 1100 BC. e., and in central Africa metallurgy appeared even later, during the European Middle Ages.

Bronze Age architecture

In the Bronze Age, monumental architecture gained predominant importance, the emergence of which is associated with the development of religious ideas, with the cult of ancestors and nature, that is, with the spiritual ideas of society.

Megalithic structures were erected by the efforts of the entire primitive community and were an expression of the unity of the clan.

Bronze Age

a historical and cultural period characterized by the spread of bronze metallurgy in advanced cultural centers and its transformation into the leading material for the production of tools and weapons. In other territories, at the same time, the development of the Neolithic continued or a transition to the development of metal was made. Approximate chronological framework of the Middle Ages: end of the 4th - beginning of the 1st millennium BC. e. Bronze, an alloy of copper with other metals (lead, tin, arsenic, etc.), differs from copper in its fusibility (700-900°C), higher casting qualities and significantly greater strength, which determined its distribution. B.v. preceded by the Copper Age, otherwise Chalcolithic, or Chalcolithic, - transitional period from stone (see Stone Age) to metal (metal objects dating back to the 7th millennium BC have been found).

The oldest bronze tools were found in Southern Iran, Turkey and Mesopotamia and date back to the 4th millennium BC. e. Later they spread to Egypt (from the end of the 4th millennium BC), India (late 3rd millennium BC), China (from the middle of the 2nd millennium BC) and in Europe (from the 2nd millennium BC). In America B. c. had an independent history, here the metallurgical center was the territory of Peru and Bolivia (the so-called late Tiwanaku culture, 6-10 centuries AD). Question about B. v. in Africa has not yet been resolved due to insufficient archaeological knowledge, but the emergence here of a number of independent centers of bronze foundry production no later than the 1st millennium BC is considered undoubted. e. The art of bronze casting in Africa flourished in the 11th-17th centuries. in the countries of the Guinea coast.

The unevenness of historical development, which emerged in previous periods, in the B. century. appears quite sharply. In advanced centers with a developed manufacturing economy in the Bronze Age, early class societies took shape and the most ancient states were formed (in the countries of the Near East). The productive economy spread in a number of vast areas (for example, the Eastern Mediterranean) and outside these centers, causing their rapid economic progress, the emergence of large ethnic associations, and the beginning of the decomposition of the clan system. At the same time, in large areas remote from the advanced centers, the old, Neolithic way of life, the archaic culture of hunters and fishermen, was preserved, but metal tools and weapons also penetrated here, which to a certain extent influenced the general development of the population of these areas. In the Middle Ages, history played a major role in accelerating the pace of economic and social development of individual regions. the establishment of strong exchange ties, especially between areas of metal deposits (for example, the Caucasus and Eastern Europe). For Europe, the so-called The Amber Route, along which amber was exported from the Baltic states to the south, and weapons, jewelry, etc. penetrated to the north.

In Asia B. c. was a time of further development of previously established urban civilizations (Mesopotamia, Elam, Egypt, Syria) and the formation of new ones (Harappa in India, Yin China). Outside this zone of ancient class societies and states, cultures develop in which metal products, including bronze, are distributed, and the primitive system undergoes intensive decomposition (in Iran, Afghanistan).

A similar picture in the era of B. century. can also be observed in Europe. On Crete (Knossos, Phaistos, etc.) B. c. (late 3rd-2nd millennium BC) - the time of the formation of early class society. This is evidenced by the remains of cities, palaces, and the appearance of local writing (21-13 centuries BC). In mainland Greece, a similar process occurs somewhat later, but here too in the 16th-13th centuries. BC e. an early class society already exists (royal palaces in Tiryns, Mycenae, Pylos, royal tombs in Mycenae, the writing system of the so-called B system, which is considered the oldest Greek letter of the Achaeans). The Aegean world was in the era of B. century. a kind of cultural center of Europe, on the territory of which there existed a number of cultures of farmers and pastoralists who had not yet gone beyond the framework of the primitive system in their development. At the same time, the accumulation of intra-community wealth and the process of property and social differentiation also occur among them. This is evidenced by the finds of treasures of community bronze casters and treasures of jewelry that belonged to the family nobility.

In the countries of the Danube basin in the Middle Ages, the transition to a patriarchal clan system apparently was completed. Archaeological cultures of the early Byelorussian century. (late 3rd - early 2nd millennium BC) represent to a large extent a continuation of local Chalcolithic cultures, all of them mainly agricultural. At the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC. e. The so-called Unetica culture, characterized by a high level of bronze casting, spreads throughout Central Europe, and in the 15-13th centuries. BC e. - Kurgan burial culture. In the 2nd half of the 2nd millennium BC. e. The Lusatian culture emerges: several of its local variants occupy an even larger territory than the Unetice culture. This culture in most areas is characterized by a special type of cemeteries (see Burial fields of the culture) containing corpses burned. In Central and Northern Europe at the end of the 3rd and 1st half of the 2nd millennium, cultures close to each other were widespread in several local variants, characterized by stone drilled “battle” axes and corded ornamentation of ceramics. From the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC. e. there is a spread of monuments of bell-shaped beaker culture over a vast territory from modern Spain to Poland, Transcarpathia and Hungary (See Bell-shaped beaker culture). The population that left these monuments moved from west to east among local tribes. In B. c. Italy should note monuments such as the late stage of the Remedello culture (See Remedello culture). From the middle of the 2nd millennium BC. e. in Northern Italy they are spreading, perhaps under the influence of the so-called Swiss lake pile settlements. Terramars - settlements on stilts, built not over the lake, but on damp flooded areas of river valleys (especially the Po River). B.v. on the territory of France, in most places, settlements are characterized by farmers who left a huge number of mounds with complex burial structures, often of the megalithic type (see Megalithic cultures). In northern France, as well as along the coast of the North Sea, megalithic structures continued to be built - Dolmens, Menhirs, Cromlech and. Particularly noteworthy is the cromlech - the temple of the sun in Stonehenge in England (its early buildings date back to the 19th century BC). The development of metallurgy is associated with the appearance in southern Spain from the end of the 3rd millennium BC. e. a highly developed culture with large settlements surrounded by walls with towers (Los Millares and others).

Bronze Age on the modern territory of the USSR. As in Western Europe, the tribes that lived here developed within the framework of the primitive system. The highest level was reached by the settled agricultural tribes of the southwest of Central Asia, where at the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC. e. A local proto-urban civilization of the ancient Eastern type is emerging, revealing connections with the cultures of Iran and Harappa (Namazga-Tepe V). However, the Caucasus with its rich ore base was of even greater importance in this era. The Caucasus was one of the largest metallurgical centers in Eurasia, supplying at the turn of the 3rd-2nd millennium BC. e. copper products from the steppe regions of Eastern Europe. In the 3rd millennium BC. e. Transcaucasia was an area of distribution of settled agricultural and pastoral communities - carriers of the so-called Kuro-Araks culture, in a number of respects associated with the ancient bronze culture of Asia. From the middle of the 3rd millennium to the end of the 2nd millennium BC. e. In the North Caucasus, cultures of pastoral tribes flourished with rich burials of leaders (Maikop culture, North Caucasian culture). In Transcaucasia there is an original culture with painted ceramics - the Trialeti culture of the 18th-15th centuries. BC e. (see Trialeti). In the 2nd millennium BC. e. Transcaucasia was the center of a highly developed bronze metallurgy, very similar to the production of the Hittites and Assyria. At that time, the North Caucasian culture was widespread in the North Caucasus, developing in contact with the Catacomb culture (See Catacomb culture), and in the Western Caucasus - the dolmen culture. In the 2nd half of the 2nd millennium BC. e. - early 1st millennium BC. e. on the basis of the previous cultures of the Middle Bronze Age, new cultures with a high level of metallurgy are emerging: in Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan - the Central Transcaucasian archaeological culture, in Western Georgia - the Colchis culture, in the Central Caucasus - the Koban culture, in the North-West - the Kuban culture, in Dagestan and Chechnya - Kayakent-Khorochoev culture.

In the steppe zone of the European part of the USSR at the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC. e. tribes of the Catacomb culture settled, who knew advanced pastoralism, agriculture, and bronze casting. Along with them, tribes of the ancient Yamnaya culture continued to exist (see Yamnaya culture). The progress of the latter and the development of the Urals metallurgical center determined in the middle of the 2nd millennium BC. e. the formation of the timber-frame culture in the Trans-Volga region (See Timber-frame culture). Well armed with bronze “hang-butted” axes, spears and daggers, and already knowing a riding horse, the tribes of the Srubnaya culture spread into the steppes and penetrated far in the north to the areas of the modern cities of Murom, Penza, Ulyanovsk, Buguruslan, and in the east - to the river. Ural. They own the richest treasures of foundry masters found by archaeologists in the form of bronze products, semi-finished products and foundry molds, as well as treasures of products made of precious metals - the property of the tribal nobility. Tribes of the Srubnaya culture in the 1st half of the 1st millennium BC. e. were subordinated to their related Scythians and merged with them.

From 16-15 centuries. BC e. The Komarov culture spreads across the territory of modern Western Ukraine, Podolia, as well as Southern Belarus. In the northern regions, it has a number of features characteristic of the so-called Trzyniec culture (See Trzyniec culture) of Poland. The Volga-Oka interfluve, the Vyatka Trans-Volga region and neighboring territories in the 2nd millennium BC. e. occupied by hunting and fishing tribes of the late Neolithic, among whom settled tribes of the Fatyanovo culture (See Fatyanovo culture), who were engaged in cattle breeding and produced high-quality spherical pottery, stone-drilled hammer axes, and copper “loop-butted” axes. In the era of B. century. in the region of the Volga-Oka interfluve and on the Kama, bronze spears, celts and daggers of the so-called Seima, or Turbino, type are known (see Seima burial ground, Turbino burial ground), which have become very widespread. Weapons of Seima types were found in the Borodino (Bessarabian) treasure (See Borodino treasure) 14-13 centuries. BC e. in Moldova, as well as in the Urals, Issyk-Kul, and Yenisei.

In Chuvashia, Trans-Volga region, Bashkiria and the Don region there are burial mounds and sites of the Abashevo culture (See Abashevo culture) 2nd half of the 2nd millennium BC. e. In the steppes of Western Siberia, Kazakhstan, Altai and the middle Yenisei from the middle of the 2nd millennium BC. e. there was a broad ethnocultural community called the Andronovo culture (See Andronovo culture). It belonged to agricultural and pastoral tribes.

Complexes of archaeological sites close to these cultures were widespread in the middle and 2nd half of the 2nd millennium BC. e. in Central Asia. Of these, the most famous is the Tazabagyab culture of Khorezm. The strong influence of the steppe tribes found expression in the penetration of the Andronovo culture into the Tien Shan and the southern reaches of Central Asia. Perhaps the spread of the steppe people was partly caused by the decline of sedentary agricultural civilization in the southwest. Central Asia (Namazga VI). Peculiar monuments of the steppe tribes of the Bronze Age were discovered in southwestern Tajikistan (Bishkent). It is suggested that the spread of steppe bronze cultures is associated with the settlement of Indo-Iranian tribes.

In the last quarter of the 2nd millennium BC. e. in Southern Siberia, Transbaikalia, Altai and partly in Kazakhstan, types of bronze tools and weapons are distributed that are especially characteristic of the Karasuk culture (See Karasuk culture) of Altai and Yenisei and the local (so-called tomb) culture of Transbaikalia. They are also known in the cultures of Mongolia, Northern and Central China during the Yin and Zhou eras (14-8 centuries BC).

B.v. It was highlighted as a special stage in the history of culture back in ancient times by the ancient Roman philosopher Lucretius Carus. In archaeological science, the concept of “B. V." introduced in the 1st half of the 19th century. Danish scientists K. Thomsen and E. Worso. Significant contribution to the study of B. century. made at the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th century. Swedish archaeologist O. Montelius, who, using the so-called typological method he created, classified and dated archaeological sites of the Neolithic and Middle Ages. Europe, as well as the French scientist J. Dechelet. At the same time, a comprehensive study of archaeological sites began. The so-called archaeological cultures began to stand out (See Archaeological culture). This direction has also been developed in Russian archaeological science. V. A. Gorodtsov and A. A. Spitsyn identified the most important cultures of B. century. Of Eastern Europe. Soviet archaeologists identified a large number of B. century cultures: in the Caucasus (G. K. Nioradze, E. I. Krupnov, B. A. Kuftin, A. A. Jessen, B. B. Piotrovsky, etc.), on the Volga (P. S. Rykov, I. V. Sinitsyn, O. A. Grakova, etc.), in the Urals (O. N. Bader, A. P. Smirnov, K. V. Salnikov, etc.), in the Middle Asia (S. P. Tolstov, A. N. Bernshtam, V. M. Masson, etc.), in Siberia (S. A. Teploukhov, M. P. Gryaznov, V. N. Chernetsov, S. V. Kiselev , G. P. Sosnovsky, A. P. Okladnikov, etc.). Soviet archaeologists and foreign Marxist archaeologists are studying the archaeological cultures of the Middle Ages. from the standpoint of historical materialism. The economic and social development of those societies of which they are remnants, the social and political features are clarified. and the cultural life of ancient tribes and peoples, their relationships, movements and future fate (A. Ya. Bryusov, H. A. Moora, M. E. Foss, T. S. Passek, M. I. Artamonov, N. Ya. Merpert and others).

In bourgeois science, along with the idealistic trend, there are trends that approach the materialist understanding of historical processes (English scientists G. Child, G. Clarke); scientists in these trends pay attention to the work of Marxist archaeologists, especially in the historical and economic field.

Lit.: World History, vol. 1, M., 1955; Gorodtsov V. A., Cultures of the Bronze Age in Central Russia (Report of the Historical Museum for 1914), M., 1916; Jessen A.A., From the history of ancient metallurgy of the Caucasus, in the collection: Izv. state Academy of the History of Material Culture, V. 120, M.-L., 1935; Kuftin B.A., Archaeological excavations in Trialeti, vol. 1, Tb., 1941; Piotrovsky B.B., Archeology of Transcaucasia, Leningrad, 1949; Kiselev S.V., Ancient history of Southern Siberia, M., 1951; him. Study of the Bronze Age on the territory of the USSR for 40 years, “Soviet Archaeology”, 1957, No. 4; his, The Bronze Age of the USSR, in the collection: New in Soviet Archeology, M., 1965; Smirnov A.P., Essays on the ancient and medieval history of the peoples of the Middle Volga and Kama region, M., 1952; Popova T. B., Tribes of the Catacomb Culture, M., 1955; Krivtsova-Grakova O. A., Steppe Volga region and the Black Sea region in the Late Bronze Age, M., 1955; Merpert N. Ya., From the ancient history of the Middle Volga region, in the book: Materials and research in the archeology of the USSR, vol. 61, M., 1958; Okladnikov A.P., Neolithic and Bronze Age of the Baikal region, part 3, M., 1955; his, Distant Past of Primorye, Vladivostok, 1959; Krupnov E.I., Ancient history of the North Caucasus, M., 1960; Tolstov S.P., On the ancient deltas of Oxus and Jaxartes, M., 1962; Martirosyan A. A., Armenia in the Bronze and Early Iron Ages, Yerevan, 1964; Central Asia in the Age of Stone and Bronze, M.-L., 1966; Masson V.M., Proto-urban civilization of the south of Central Asia, “Soviet Archaeology”, 1967, No. 3; Salnikov K.V., Essays on the ancient history of the southern Urals, M., 1967; Drawings of the ancient history of the Ukrainian RSR, K., 1957; Pendlebury D., Archeology of Crete, trans. from English, M., 1950; McKay E., The Ancient Culture of the Indus Valley, trans. from English, M., 1951; Child G., At the Origins of European Civilization, trans. from English, M., 1952; him. The Ancient East in the light of new excavations, trans. from English, M., 1956; Clark J. G. D., Prehistoric Europe. Economic essay, trans. from English, M., 1953; Dechelette J., Manuel d'archeologie prehisto-rique, celtique et gallo-romaine, 2, P., 1910; Montelius 0., Die älteren Kulturperioden im Orient undin Europa, 1-2, Stockh., 1903-23; F i I i p J., Pravěké Československo Úvod do studia dějin praveku, Praha, 1948; Kostrzewski J., Wielkopolska w pradziejach, 3 wyd., Warsz.-Wroclaw, 1955; M i Idenberger G., Mitteldeutsch-lands Ur- und Frühgeschichte, B.-Lpz., 1959; Berghe L. Vanden, Archéologie de I"lran ancien, Leiden, 1959; Schaeffer C., Stratigraphie comparée et chronologie de l'Asie occidentale, Oxf. , 1948; Milojčić V., Chronologie der jüngeren Steinzeit Mittel-und Sudosteuropas, B., 1949; Piggott S., Ancient Europe, from the beginnings of agriculture to classical antiquity, Chi., 1966: Gimbutas M., Bronze age cultures in Central and Eastern Europe, The Hague -, 1965; Mozsolics A., Bronzefunde des Karpatenbeckens, Bdpst, 1967.

S. V. Kiselev, V. M. Masson.

Great Soviet Encyclopedia. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia. 1969-1978 .

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The Bronze Age is the second, later phase of the Early Metal Age, which replaced the Copper Age and preceded the Iron Age. In general, the chronological framework of the Bronze Age: 35/33 - 13/11 centuries. BC e., but they differ among different cultures.

There are early, middle and late stages of the Bronze Age. At the beginning of the Bronze Age, the zone of cultures with metal covered no more than 8-10 million km², and by its end their area increased to 40-43 million km². During the Bronze Age, the formation, development and change of a number of metallurgical provinces took place.

The primary center of the origin of metallurgy is now associated with a significant region of the Middle East, stretching from Anatolia and the Eastern Mediterranean in the west to the Iranian Plateau in the east. There, bronze is found in the monuments of the so-called “pre-ceramic Neolithic” (late 8th - 7th millennium BC). The most famous among them are Chayenu Tepezi and Catal Guyuk in Anatolia, Tell Ramad in Syria, Tell Magzalia in northern Mesopotamia. The inhabitants of these settlements did not know ceramics, but had already begun to master agriculture, cattle breeding and metallurgy. The oldest copper finds in Europe, dating back to the second quarter of the 5th millennium BC, also do not go beyond the Neolithic. It is noteworthy that the first copper products are concentrated in the Balkan-Carpathian region, from where they subsequently move to the middle and southern part of Eastern Europe.

The first appearance of copper products was largely associated with the manufacture of jewelry from nuggets and malachite and therefore had little influence on the development of human society.

The entire periodization and relative chronology of the cultures of the Chalcolithic and Bronze Ages of Western Asia and Balkan-Danube Europe is built, first of all, on a stratigraphic basis. The predominant use of this method is explained by the fact that the main monuments with which archaeologists have to deal here are the so-called “those” - huge residential hills that arose from settlements that existed for a long time in one place. Houses in such villages were built from short-lived mud brick or clay.

In Western and Eastern Europe, Siberia, Kazakhstan, and most of Central Asia, there are no telli. The periodization of the monuments of the Early Metal Age, represented here mainly by single-layer settlements and burial grounds, is constructed largely using the typological method.

Chronology of cultures III-II millennium BC, i.e. mainly Bronze Age, is still largely based on the historical dates of the oldest written sources. For periods preceding the 3rd millennium BC, the only criterion for a correct chronological assessment can be considered the dates of radiocarbon analyzes.

It is very difficult to indicate a clear chronological framework for the Chalcolithic and Bronze Ages for the territory of Russia and the former USSR. Across the vast expanses of Eurasia, noticeable fluctuations are found in the dates of the onset and development of the Early Metal Age.

The unevenness makes itself felt when trying to delineate the time boundaries of the Bronze Age. In the Caucasus and the south of Eastern Europe it lasts from the end of the 4th to the beginning of the 1st millennium BC, and in the north of Eastern Europe and the Asian part of Russia it fits into the 2nd - beginning of the 1st millennium BC.

The economic specificity of archaeological cultures of the Early Metal Age also manifests itself differently in different regions. In the southern zone - in the Middle East, the Mediterranean, southern Europe, Central Asia, the Caucasus - powerful centers of metallurgy and metalworking, as a rule, are associated with the brightest centers of agriculture and cattle breeding. At the same time, there is a process of formation of their specialized forms, which in a given natural environment and at a given level of development of metal tools provide the greatest productivity. For example, in the arid, arid zone of the Middle East and southern Central Asia, it was during the Early Metal Age that irrigation agriculture arose. In the forest-steppe zone of Europe, slash-and-burn and fallow farming are spreading, and in the Caucasus, terrace farming is spreading.

Cattle breeding comes in a wide variety of forms. In South-Eastern Europe, traces of meat and dairy farming and domestic farming with a predominance of cattle and pigs in the herd are clearly visible. In the Caucasus and in the Zagros zone of Mesopotamia, a transhumance form of cattle breeding is being formed based on the breeding of sheep and goats. A specific form of mobile cattle breeding developed in the steppes of Eastern Europe.

A different picture is observed in the northern part of Eurasia: the appearance of metal tools did not cause noticeable economic changes here and were clearly less important than in the south. In the north, during the Early Metal Age, there was a process of improvement and intensification of traditional forms of appropriating economy (hunting and fishing) and only the first steps were taken in the development of cattle breeding. The development of agriculture begins here only at the very end of the Bronze Age.

In the socio-historical sphere, the era of early metal is associated with the decomposition of primitive communal relations.

Large Chalcolithic settlements eventually develop into Bronze Age cities, which are distinguished not only by a high concentration of population, but also by the highest level of development of crafts and trade, and the emergence of complex monumental architecture. The development of cities is accompanied by the emergence of writing and the emergence of the first Bronze Age civilizations in history.

The earliest Bronze Age civilizations arose in the great river valleys of the subtropics of the Old World. The corresponding period is characterized by archaeological materials from Egypt in the Nile Valley (starting from the second dynastic period), Susa “N” and “D” in Elam in the Karun and Kerkh valleys, late Uruk and Jemdet Nasr in the Tigris and Euphrates valleys in Mesopotamia, Harappa in the Indus Valley in Hindustan, later - Shang-Yin in China in the Yellow River Valley. Among the extraterrestrial civilizations of the Bronze Age, one can name only the Hittite kingdom in Asia Minor, the Ebla civilization in Syria, and the Cretan-Mycenaean civilization of the Aegean basin of Europe.

Bronze Age- an era of human history identified on the basis of archaeological data, characterized by the leading role of bronze products, which was associated with the improvement of the processing of metals such as copper and tin obtained from ore deposits, and the subsequent production of bronze from them. The Bronze Age is the second, later phase of the Early Metal Age, which replaced the Copper Age and preceded the Iron Age. In general, the chronological framework of the Bronze Age: 35/33 - 13/11 centuries. BC uh., but they differ among different cultures.

Highlight early, middle and late stages of the Bronze Age. During the Bronze Age, the formation, development and change of a number of metallurgical provinces took place.

-Early armor. century

The boundary that separated the Copper Age from the Bronze Age was the collapse of the Balkan-Carpathian metallurgical province (1st half of 4 thousand) and the formation of ca. 35/33 centuries Circumpontic metallurgical province. Within the Circumpontian metallurgical province, which dominated during the early and middle Bronze Ages, copper ore centers of the South Caucasus, Anatolia, the Balkan-Carpathian region, and the Aegean Islands were discovered and began to be exploited. To the west of it, the mining and metallurgical centers of the Southern Alps, the Iberian Peninsula, and the British Isles functioned; to the south and southeast, metalliferous cultures are known in Egypt, Arabia, Iran and Afghanistan, all the way to Pakistan.

The place and time of the discovery of methods for producing bronze is not known with certainty. It can be assumed that bronze was discovered in several places at the same time. The earliest bronzes with tin impurities were found in Iraq and Iran and dated the end4 thousand BC e.

IN Middle Bronze Age (26/25 −20/19 centuries BC) There is an expansion (mainly to the north) of the zone occupied by metalliferous cultures. The Circumpontic metallurgical province largely retains its structure and continues to be the central system of producing metallurgical centers in Eurasia.

- Beginning of the Late Bronze Age is the collapse of the Circumpontic metallurgical province at the turn of 3 and 2 thousand and the formation of a whole chain of new metallurgical provinces, which to varying degrees reflected the most important features of mining and metallurgical production practiced in the central centers of the Circumpontic metallurgical province.

Among the metallurgical provinces of the Late Bronze Age, the largest was the Eurasian steppe metallurgical province(up to 8 million sq. km.), inheriting the traditions of the Circumpontic metallurgical province. Adjoining it from the south were the Caucasian metallurgical province and the Iranian-Afghan metallurgical province, which were small in area but distinguished by their special richness and variety of product forms, as well as the nature of the alloys. From Sayan-Altai to Indochina, production centers of the complex formation of the East Asian metallurgical province spread. Various forms of high-quality products from the European metallurgical province, which stretched from the Northern Balkans to the Atlantic coast of Europe, are concentrated mainly in rich and numerous hoards. Adjoining it from the south was the Mediterranean metallurgical province, which differed significantly from the European metallurgical province in production techniques and product forms.

The Bronze Age is an era of human history identified on the basis of archaeological data, characterized by the leading role of bronze products, which was associated with the improvement of the processing of metals such as copper and tin obtained from ore deposits, and the subsequent production of bronze from them. The Bronze Age is the second, later phase of the Early Metal Age, which replaced the Copper Age and preceded the Iron Age. In general, the chronological framework of the Bronze Age: 35/33 - 13/11 centuries. BC e., but they differ among different cultures. There are early, middle and late stages of the Bronze Age. At the beginning of the Bronze Age, the zone of cultures with metal covered no more than 8-10 million km², and by its end their area increased to 40-43 million km². During the Bronze Age, the formation, development and change of a number of metallurgical provinces took place.

Stages of the Bronze Age

Early Bronze Age

The Maykop culture in the North Caucasus is the probable place of the invention of bronze. The line that separated the Copper Age from the Bronze Age was the collapse of the Balkan-Carpathian metallurgical province (1st half of 4 thousand) and the formation of ca. 35/33 centuries Circumpontic metallurgical province. Within the Circumpontian metallurgical province, which dominated during the early and middle Bronze Age, copper ore centers of the South Caucasus, Anatolia, and the Balkan-Carpathian region were discovered and began to be exploited. To the west of it, the mining and metallurgical centers of the Southern Alps and the Iberian Peninsula functioned. The place and time of the discovery of methods for producing bronze is not known with certainty. It can be assumed that bronze was discovered in several places at the same time. The earliest bronze items with tin admixtures were discovered in Iraq and Iran and date back to the end of the 4th millennium BC. e. But there is evidence of an earlier appearance of bronze in Thailand in the 5th. millennium b.c. e.

Middle Bronze Age

In the Middle Bronze Age (26/25 - 20/19 centuries BC) there was an expansion (mainly to the north) of the zone occupied by metal-bearing cultures. The Circumpontic metallurgical province largely retains its structure and continues to be the central system of producing metallurgical centers in Eurasia.

Late Bronze Age

Among the metallurgical provinces of the Late Bronze Age, the largest was the Eurasian steppe metallurgical province (up to 8 million square km), which inherited the traditions of the Circumpontic metallurgical province. Adjoining it from the south were the Caucasian metallurgical province and the Iranian-Afghan metallurgical province, which were small in area but distinguished by their special richness and variety of product forms, as well as the nature of the alloys.