The Bronze Age

The Bronze Age is a historical period characterized by the use of bronze, and in some areas proto-writing, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second principal period of the three-age Stone-Bronze-Iron system, as proposed in modern times by Christian Jörgensen Thomsen, for classifying and studying ancient societies. An ancient civilization is defined to be in the Bronze Age either by producing bronze artifacts or by having developed a Bronze Age writing system. The start of the Bronze Age in many places has been marked by the introduction of bronze tools or weapons, and sometimes proto-writing systems.

Key Regions and Developments

• Europe: The Bronze Age began with the Aegean civilizations which flourished around 3200 BC; thus it can be called an "Aegean" rather than simply "European" age.
• Ancient China: Bronzes were made from about 2000 BC. The Chinese had no writing during this time but they did have advanced metallurgy which included casting bronze using molds. This allowed for much more intricate shapes than were possible with earlier methods such as hammering metals into shape.
• The Middle East: Early civilizations such as Sumer (in present day Iraq) and Elam (in present day Iran) developed. These cultures relied heavily on irrigation to support their agriculture and also developed early forms of writing.
• Africa: Cultures such as Nok in Nigeria produced iron artifacts from as early as 600 BC while others like Ife and Benin flourished later on starting around 1200 AD. It should be noted that Iron working was known in Africa prior to the arrival of Europeans however it was not widely used before this time due to its expense relative to other materials like wood or stone.
• The Americas: Some regions saw little change while others experienced considerable growth. For example, Mesoamerica is home to some of the earliest complex societies including those at Olmec, Zapotec, Maya, and Aztec sites. South America saw less development during this time but still notable progress occurred with polities such as Chavin de Huantar developing in Peru around 900 BC.

Common Themes

One common theme across all these cultures was increased trade, which helped facilitate cultural exchange and technological innovation. For instance, new methods for working metals were often shared between different groups leading to faster spread of ideas. Additionally, long distance trade networks allowed for importation/exportation of valuable resources (like gold or lapis lazuli) which could help finance ambitious projects like temple construction.