The Bronze Age

Many archaeologists divide human evolution into periods of time called Ages. Each Age represents a significant change in human evolution, whether it be a significant technological development or a significant cultural development. 

Some Ages range from many thousands of years, others only a few thousand years. The time periods are broken down further and also vary greatly depending on the region and civilisation studied.

Danish scholar Christian J Thomsen proposed dividing human history into three Ages after discovering that iron tools were commonly found in uppermost layers of archaeological sites, then bronze tools below that with stone tools found at deeper levels. 

Evidence suggests that human ancestors have been using tools for over 2.5 million years. The Stone Age is the longest time period ranging from 2.5 million years ago until around 5,000 years ago. 

The Bronze Age began when humans from many countries began creating and using metal. Depending on the region the Bronze Age began approximately 5,000 years ago and lasted until around 3,000 years ago.

The Iron Age followed the Bronze Age and saw the introduction of iron into human culture and marked a significant change in the way humans waged war. This Age began approximately 3,000 years ago and ended around 2,000 years ago.

One of the most significant developments is the appearance of writing, counting and measuring length. Making a record of ideas and numbers completely changed how information was shared and was the beginning of arithmetic, astronomy and large scale commerce.

Like today, everyday life looked very different for each person during the Bronze Age. Day to day life changed if you were rich or poor, lived in a warm country or a cold country and whether you were male or female. 

The examples below are taken from knowledge gathered from archaeological sites in England. 

People lived in roundhouses. Fires were built in the centre and the single entrance usually faced east to allow morning sunlight into the dark space.

Evidence suggests that throughout England and Europe men stayed in the place of their birth whereas women travelled far and wide. This played an important role in the spread of new ideas, technologies and even objects across Europe. 

The Bronze Age saw people begin to specialize in one craft such as tool making, cloth weaving and farming. 

This changed the societal structure greatly, as those who produced more desirable merchandise could be considered higher in the social structure to those who performed more ‘menial’ tasks.

The Bronze Age saw the development of the first permanent villages. In Greece and what is now Iraq massive cities were built. The city of Ur, in Mesopotamia (now Iraq) housed over 65,000 people, which was 0.1% of the entire world’s population.

Animals such as cows and oxen were used to plow the fields as well as for meat and humans domesticated the horse during this time period. Dogs were domesticated long before the Bronze Age and were used for various jobs such as herding.

Some sites show evidence of foxes also being a domesticated animal during this time.