What was the Bronze Age?
The Bronze Age was the period when people made tools and weapons from bronze, an alloy of copper and tin. It began around 3300 BC in the Middle East and lasted until about 1200 BC in many regions.
Bronze is harder and more durable than pure copper. Making it required mining copper and tin, which were often found in different places, so long-distance trade networks developed. Bronze tools, weapons, armor and art spread across Europe, Asia and North Africa.
The Bronze Age saw the rise of the first great civilizations, including Sumer, Egypt, the Indus Valley, Shang dynasty China, the Minoans on Crete and the Mycenaeans in Greece. Writing, cities, palaces and large kingdoms all developed during this period.
The Bronze Age collapse
Around 1200 to 1150 BC, many civilizations in the eastern Mediterranean collapsed. Cities were destroyed, trade networks broke down and writing disappeared in some areas. Historians suggest causes including drought, earthquakes, invasions by groups called the Sea Peoples and the breakdown of trade.
Did You Know?
The Nebra sky disk, found in Germany, is a bronze disk about 3,600 years old and is one of the oldest known depictions of the night sky.