The Bronze Age era is characterized by the use of bronze, in some areas proto-writing, and other early features of urban civilization. - Bronze was probably invented in the [[Fertile Crescent]] around 3300 BCE. It was superseded by the Iron age around 1200 BCE. An ancient civilization is defined to be in the Bronze Age either by producing bronze by smelting its own copper and alloying with tin, arsenic, or other metals, or by trading for bronze from production areas elsewhere. Bronze itself is harder and more durable than other metals available at the time, allowing Bronze Age civilizations to gain a technological advantage, for example allowing for the creation of the [[2020-12-07 Waterwheels|wheel]] and axle. ## Impacts The Bronze Age was marked by the rise of states or kingdoms—large-scale societies joined under a central government by a powerful ruler. Bronze Age states interacted with each other through trade, warfare, migration and the spread of ideas. ## Contemporaneous Inventions - [[2020-12-21 Bathing|baths & toilets]] ## Civilizations - [[Greek]] * kingdom of Athens * [[who the Minoans were and theories for their decline]] - All four [[river valley civilization|river valley civilizations]]: * [[China]] — the Shang Dynasty (1600-1046 BCE) and Zhou Dynasty (1046-256 BCE). * [[Mesopotamia]] (Sumer and Babylonia) * [[Harappan]] in India * [[Egypt]] ## Specifics - [[the transition to and from the bronze age on the Central Eurasian Plains]] is particularly relevant to the rise of the [[Mongols]]. - 2021-01-10 discusses the use of iron in funerary rites during the transition out of the bronze age. There are also some good resources about the "Bronze Age" collapse. ## References - [History.com](https://www.history.com/topics/pre-history/bronze-age)