Geographical Regions in Bronze Age Europe:
– Aegean Bronze Age:
– Started around 3200 BC with a well-established trade network.
– Mycenaeans became a dominant power, introducing innovations in various fields.
– Southeast Europe:
– Tin bronze production in the Balkans from the 4th millennium BC, disappearing by the end of the 5th millennium BC.
– Reintroduction of tin bronzes using cassiterite tin 1500 years later.
– Caucasus:
– The Maykop culture was a major early Bronze Age culture in the North Caucasus.
– Arsenical bronze artifacts in the region date back to the mid-4th millennium BC.
– Eastern Europe:
– Various cultures like Yamnaya, Catacomb, Abashevo, Sintashta, and Srubnaya with distinct characteristics and advancements.
– Introduction of spoked-wheel chariots by the Sintashta culture around 2000 BC.
– Northern Europe:
– Distinctive artifacts like lur horns, ceremonial helmets, and gold jewelry.
– Introduction of early Indo-European language around 2000 BC.
– British Isles:
– Bronze Age period in Great Britain from 2100 to 700 BC.
– Development of the Wessex culture in southern Britain.
– Western Mediterranean:
– Flourishing of the Argaric culture in southeastern Iberia.
– Transition to Iberian oppida settlements due to increased precipitation.
– Atlantic Europe:
– Cultural complex of Atlantic Bronze Age with high cultural similarity among coastal communities.
– Major metal production centers in various regions like southern England, Ireland, north-western France, and western Iberia.
Technological Advancements and Artifacts in Bronze Age Europe:
– Tin bronzes:
– Arsenical bronze production followed by tin bronze in Europe.
– Tin bronzes using cassiterite tin reintroduced in Southeast Europe.
– Significant artifacts:
– Trundholm sun chariot, Nebra sky disk, Avanton gold hat, Minoan rhyton, Bronze boat model.
– Bronze Age beginnings:
– Rise of tin bronzes in Eurasia around 6500 years ago.
– Mycenaeans as a prominent ancient civilization.
– Cultural influences:
– Mycenaeans’ lasting impact on art and architecture.
– Flourishing of El Argar culture in southeastern Iberia.
– Environmental changes:
– Impact of Holocene environmental changes on human settlements.
– Influence of hydrogeological and paleoclimatic factors on the Motillas Culture.
Social and Cultural Aspects of Bronze Age Europe:
– Mycenaean influence:
– Spread of Mycenaean influence and innovations in engineering, architecture, and military infrastructure.
– Mycenaean Koine era marked by uniform culture in mainland Greece and the Aegean.
– Inequalities and social structures:
– Regional sequences illustrating social inequalities in prehistoric southern Spain.
– Production of inequalities in different regions discussed in the Journal of World Prehistory.
– Ancient Irish societies:
– Insights from the Hoards of the Irish Later Bronze Age.
– Significance of the Prehistoric Archaeology of Ireland in understanding ancient Irish cultures.
Archaeological Studies and Resources in Bronze Age Europe:
– Encyclopedias and handbooks:
– Insights from the Encyclopedia of European peoples and the Oxford Handbook of the Bronze Age Aegean.
– Broad view of the Barbarian world from the Ancient Europe encyclopedia.
– Research and publications:
– Reevaluation of early chariots and religion in the European Journal of Archaeology.
– Detailed studies on prehistoric environments in the British Archaeological Reports.
– Valuable insights:
– Archaeological research around Sierra de Atapuerca in Spain.
– Projection of archaeological research in a GIS geospatial database for understanding past landscapes.
Cultural Exchange and Development in Bronze Age Europe:
– Trade and exchange networks:
– Isotopic analysis showing trade networks in the Aegean Bronze Age.
– Maritime exchange of metal products in Atlantic Bronze Age.
– Technological advancements:
– Introduction of spoked-wheel chariots in the Sintashta culture.
– Development of early state society in the Western Mediterranean.
– Evolution of cultures:
– Transition from the Argaric culture to Iberian oppida settlements.
– Evolution of Nordic Bronze Age into Germanic Pre-Roman Iron Age.
The European Bronze Age is characterized by bronze artifacts and the use of bronze implements. The regional Bronze Age succeeds the Neolithic and Copper Age and is followed by the Iron Age. It starts with the Aegean Bronze Age in 3200 BC and spans the entire 2nd millennium BC (including the Unetice culture, Ottomány culture, British Bronze Age, Argaric culture, Nordic Bronze Age, Tumulus culture, Nuragic culture, Terramare culture, Urnfield culture and Lusatian culture), lasting until c. 800 BC in central Europe.
Arsenical bronze was produced in some areas from the 4th millennium BC onwards, prior to the introduction of tin bronze. Tin bronze foil had already been produced in southeastern Europe on a small scale in the Chalcolithic era, with examples from Pločnik in Serbia dated to c. 4650 BC, as well as 14 other artefacts from Bulgaria and Serbia dated to before 4000 BC, showing that early tin bronze developed independently in Europe 1500 years before the first tin bronze alloys in the Near 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 using cassiterite tin were subsequently reintroduced to the area some 1500 years later.
