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 c. 3200 BC and the Maykop culture in the North Caucasus c. 3500 BC, and spans the entire 3rd and 2nd millennia BC (including the Únětice 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 from the 4th millennium BC (prior to the introduction of tin bronze), and continued as the dominant form of bronze across Europe through most of the 3rd millennium BC. Britain was the first region in Europe to fully adopt tin-bronze technology and switch all metalwork from copper and arsenical bronze to full tin-bronze in the period 2200-2100 BC. 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 , 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.
History
Aegean
The Aegean Bronze Age begins around 3200 BC when civilizations first established a far-ranging trade network. This network imported tin and charcoal to Cyprus, where copper was mined and alloyed with the tin to produce bronze. Bronze objects were then exported far and wide and supported the trade. Isotopic analysis of the tin in some Mediterranean bronze objects indicates it came from as far away as Great Britain.Waldman, C., & Mason, C. (2006). Encyclopedia of European peoples. Infobase Publishing. pp. 524.
Around 1600 BC, the eruption of Thera destroyed the site of Akrotiri and damaged Minoan sites in eastern Crete. The further impact of this event is poorly understood.
Starting in the 15th century BC, the Mycenaeans began to spread their influence throughout the Aegean and Western Anatolia. By , the palace of Knossos was ruled by a Mycenaean elite who formed a hybrid Minoan-Mycenaean culture. Mycenaeans also colonized several other Aegean islands, reaching as far as Rhodes. Thus the Mycenaeans became the dominant power of the region, marking the beginning of the Mycenaean 'Koine' era (from , common), a highly uniform culture that spread in mainland Greece and the Aegean. The Mycenaean Greeks introduced several innovations in the fields of engineering, architecture and military infrastructure, while trade over vast areas of the Mediterranean was essential for the Mycenaean economy. Their syllabic script, the Linear B, offers the first written records of the Greek language and their religion already included several deities that can be also found in the Olympic 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 as wanax.
Archaeological cultures of the Bronze Age Aegean include:
Northeast Aegean culture Cycladic culture Helladic culture Minoan civilization Mycenaean Greece Postpalatial Bronze Age
Southeast Europe
A study in the journal Antiquity from 2013 reported the discovery of a tin bronze foil from the Pločnik archaeological site dated to , as well as 14 other artefacts from Serbia and Bulgaria 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 the Near 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 using cassiterite tin would be reintroduced to the area again some 1,500 years later.
Bronze Age archaeological cultures in Southeast Europe include:
Yamnaya culture Ezero culture Baden culture Coțofeni culture Vučedol culture Cetina culture Wietenberg culture Monteoru culture Tei culture Castellieri culture Encrusted Pottery culture Vatin culture Noua-Sabatinovka-Coslogeni culture Urnfield culture Gáva-Holigrady culture Glasinac-Mati culture Central Bosnian culture Thracian culture
Eastern Europe
The Maykop culture was the major early Bronze Age culture in the North Caucasus. Some scholars date arsenical bronze artifacts in the region as far back as the mid-4th millennium BC.
The Yamnaya culture was a late 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.
The Catacomb culture, covering several related archaeological cultures, was first to introduce corded pottery decorations into the steppes and showed a profuse use of the polished battle ax, providing a link to the West. Parallels with the Afanasevo culture, including provoked cranial deformations, provide a link to the East. It was preceded by the Yamnaya culture and succeeded by the western Corded Ware culture. The eastern Corded Ware culture (Fatyanovo–Balanovo culture) gave rise to the Abashevo culture, followed by the Sintashta culture, where the earliest known spoked-wheel chariots have been found, dating from . The Catacomb culture in the Pontic steppe was succeeded by the Multi-cordoned Ware culture, and the Srubnaya culture from .
Bronze Age archaeological cultures in Eastern Europe:
Maykop culture Usatove culture Yamnaya culture Catacomb culture Fatyanovo–Balanovo culture Poltavka culture Abashevo culture Potapovka culture Sintashta culture Andronovo culture Srubnaya culture Novosvobodnaya culture Multi-cordoned ware culture Trzciniec culture Seima-Turbino culture Dolmen culture Trialeti culture Koban culture Noua-Sabatinovka-Coslogeni culture Monteoru culture Gáva-Holigrady culture
Central Europe
In Central Europe, the early Bronze Age Únětice culture (2300–1600 BC) includes numerous smaller groups like the Straubing, Adlerberg and Hatvan cultures. Some very rich burials, such as the one located at Leubingen (today part of Sömmerda) 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 in tumuli (barrows). In the eastern Hungarian Körös tributaries, the early Bronze Age first saw the introduction of the Makó culture, followed by the Ottomány culture and Gyulavarsánd culture.
The late Bronze Age Urnfield culture (1300–750 BC) is characterized by cremation burials. It includes the Lusatian culture in eastern Germany and Poland (1300–500 BC) that continues into the Iron Age. The Central European Bronze Age is followed by the Iron Age Hallstatt culture (800–450 BC).
Important sites include: Biskupin (Poland), Nebra (Germany), Zug-Sumpf, Zug (Switzerland), and Vráble (Slovakia).
Bronze Age archaeological cultures in Central Europe include:
Vučedol culture Bell Beaker culture Únětice culture Ottomány culture Rhône culture Mierzanowice culture Hatvan culture Nagyrév culture Nitra culture Mad'arovce culture Trzciniec culture Tumulus culture Vatya culture Encrusted Pottery culture Urnfield culture Lusatian culture
Italy
The Italian 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).
The Early Bronze Age shows the beginning of a new culture in Northern Italy and is distinguished by the Polada 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.
The Middle Bronze Age, known as the Apennine culture in Central and Southern 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. The Middle Bronze Age in Northern Italy was characterised by the Terramare culture.
The Recent Bronze Age, known as the Sub-Apennine period in Central Italy, is a frame of time when sites relocated to defended locations. At this time settlement hierarchy obviously appeared in cities such as Latium and Tuscany. The Final Bronze Age is the period during which the majority of the Italian peninsula was united in the Proto-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.
During the second millennium BC, the Nuragic civilization flourished in the island of Sardinia. It was a rather homogeneous culture, more than 7000 imposing stone tower-buildings known as Nuraghe were built by this culture all over the island, along with other types of monuments such as the megaron temples, the monumental Giants' graves and the holy 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 the Cypriots, the lost waxing technique was introduced to create several hundred bronze statuettes and other tools. The Nuragic civilization survived throughout the early Iron Age when the sanctuaries were still in use, stone statues were crafted and some Nuraghi were reused as temples.
The Castellieri culture developed in Istria 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, ) that characterised the culture.
The Canegrate culture developed from the mid-Bronze Age (13th century BC) until the Iron Age in the Pianura Padana, in what are now western Lombardy, eastern Piedmont, and Ticino. It takes its name from the township of Canegrate, 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 the Swiss Alps passes and the Ticino.