Bronze_Age Prehistory

ox-drawn plow, egypt, ca. 1200 bce.

the bronze age earliest period in civilizations have reached end of prehistory, introducing written records. bronze age or parts thereof considered part of prehistory regions , civilizations adopted or developed system of keeping written records during later periods. invention of writing coincides in areas beginnings of bronze age. after appearance of writing, people started creating texts including written accounts of events , records of administrative matters.

the term bronze age refers period in human cultural development when advanced metalworking (at least in systematic , widespread use) included techniques smelting copper , tin naturally occurring outcroppings of ores, , combining them cast bronze. these naturally occurring ores typically included arsenic common impurity. copper/tin ores rare, reflected in fact there no tin bronzes in western asia before 3000 bc. bronze age forms part of three-age system prehistoric societies. in system, follows neolithic in areas of world.

while copper common ore, deposits of tin rare in old world, , had traded or carried considerable distances few mines, stimulating creation of extensive trading routes. in many areas far apart china , england, valuable new material used weapons long time apparently not available agricultural tools. of seems have been hoarded social elites, , deposited in extravagant quantities, chinese ritual bronzes , indian copper hoards european hoards of unused axe-heads.

by end of bronze age large states, called empires, had arisen in egypt, china, anatolia (the hittites) , mesopotamia, of them literate.