Bronze Age

a historical and cultural period characterized by the spread of bronze in the advanced cultural centers of metallurgy and its transformation into the leading material for the production of tools and weapons. In the rest of the territories at the same time, the development of the Neolithic continued or a transition was made to the development of metal. Approximate chronological framework of the B. century: the end of the 4th - the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. e. Bronze, an alloy of copper with other metals (lead, tin, arsenic, etc.), differs from copper in its fusibility (700-900 ° C), higher casting qualities and much greater strength, which led to its distribution. B. c. preceded by the Copper Age, otherwise Chalcolithic, or Eneolithic, - transitional period from stone (see Stone Age) to metal (metal objects dating back to the 7th millennium BC have been found).

The oldest bronze tools were found in southern Iran, Turkey and Mesopotamia and date back to the 4th millennium BC. e. Later they spread in Egypt (from the end of the 4th millennium BC), India (end of the 3rd millennium BC), China (from the middle of the 2nd millennium BC) and in Europe (from the 2nd millennium BC). In America, B. c. had an independent history, here the metallurgical center was the territory of Peru and Bolivia (the so-called culture of the late Tiwanaku, 6-10 centuries AD). Question about B. in. in Africa has not yet been resolved due to insufficient archaeological knowledge, but the emergence of a number of independent centers of bronze casting production here no later than the 1st millennium BC is considered undoubted. e. The art of bronze casting in Africa flourished in the 11th-17th centuries. in the countries of the Guinean coast.

The uneven historical development that emerged in previous periods appears very sharply. In the advanced centers with a developed manufacturing economy in the Bronze Age, early class societies were formed and ancient states(in the countries of the Near East). The productive economy spread in a number of vast areas (for example, the Eastern Mediterranean) and beyond these centers, causing their rapid economic progress, the emergence of large ethnic associations, and the beginning of the decomposition of the tribal system. At the same time, in large areas remote from the advanced centers, the old, Neolithic way of life, the archaic culture of hunters and fishers, was preserved, but even here metal tools and weapons penetrated, to a certain extent influencing general development the population of these areas. An important role in accelerating the pace of economic and social development in individual regions was played in Byelorussia. the establishment of strong exchange ties, especially between areas of metal deposits (for example, the Caucasus and Eastern Europe). For Europe great importance had a so-called. The amber route, along which amber was exported from the Baltic to the south, and weapons, jewelry, etc. penetrated to the north.

In Asia, B. c. was the time further development previously established urban civilizations (Mesopotamia, Elam, Egypt, Syria) and the formation of new ones (Harappa in India, Yin China). Outside this zone of the most ancient class societies and states, cultures develop in which metal, including bronze, products are distributed, and the primitive system is intensively decomposed (in Iran, Afghanistan).

A similar picture in the era of B. century. can be seen in Europe. On Crete (Knoss, Festus, etc.) (late 3rd-2nd millennium BC) - the time of the formation of an early class society. This is evidenced by the remains of cities, palaces, the appearance of local writing (21-13 centuries BC). In mainland Greece, a similar process occurs somewhat later, but here, in the 16th-13th centuries. BC e. there is already an early class society ( royal palaces in Tiryns, Mycenae, Pylos, the royal tombs in Mycenae, the writing of the so-called system B, which is considered the oldest Greek writing of the Achaeans). The Aegean world was in the B. century. peculiar cultural center Europe, on the territory of which there were a number of cultures of farmers and pastoralists who had not yet gone beyond the framework of the primitive system in their development. At the same time, the accumulation of intracommunal wealth and the process of property and social differentiation also take place in their midst. This is evidenced by the finds of hoards of community bronze-casters and hoards of jewelry belonging to the tribal nobility.

In the countries of the Danube basin, the transition to the patriarchal-clan system was apparently completed in the Byelorussian century. Archaeological cultures of the early B. century. (end of the 3rd - beginning of the 2nd millennium BC) represent to a large extent the continuation of local Eneolithic cultures, all of them mainly agricultural. At the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC. e. on the territory of Central Europe, the so-called Unetitsky culture is spreading, which is distinguished by a high level of casting of bronze products, and in the 15-13 centuries. BC e. - Kurgan burial culture. In the 2nd half of the 2nd millennium BC. e. the Lusatian culture arises: several of its local variants occupy an even more extensive territory than the Unětice culture. This culture in most areas is characterized by a special type of cemeteries (see Fields of cultural burials) containing cremations. In Central and Northern Europe at the end of the 3rd and in the 1st half of the 2nd millennium, cultures close to each other were distributed in several local variants, characterized by drilled stone "battle" axes and cord ornamentation of ceramics. From the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC. e. there is a spread over a vast territory from modern Spain to Poland, Transcarpathia and Hungary of monuments of bell-shaped cups of culture (See Bell-shaped cups of culture). The population that left these monuments moved from west to east among the local tribes. In B. c. Italy should be noted monuments of the type of the late stage of the Remedello culture (See Remedello culture). From the middle of the 2nd millennium BC. e. in Northern Italy they spread, possibly under the influence of the so-called Swiss lake pile settlements. Terramara - settlements on stilts, built not over the lake, but on damp floodplains of river valleys (especially the Po River). B. c. on the territory of France in most places characterize the settlements of farmers who left a huge number of barrows with complex burial structures, often of a megalithic type (see Megalithic cultures). In the north of France, as well as along the coast of the North Sea, they continued to build megalithic structures- Dolmens, menhirs, Cromlech and. Particularly noteworthy is the cromlech - the temple of the sun at Stonehenge in England (its early buildings date back to the 19th century BC). Associated with the development of metallurgy was the appearance in southern Spain at the end of the third millennium BC. e. a highly developed culture with large settlements surrounded by walls with towers (Los Millares and others).

Bronze Age in the modern territory of the USSR. As in Western Europe, the tribes that lived here developed within the framework of the primitive system. The settled agricultural tribes of the southwest reached the highest level Central Asia, where at the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC. e. a local proto-urban civilization of the ancient Eastern type is taking shape, revealing links with the cultures of Iran and Harappa (Namazga-Tepe V). However, the Caucasus with its rich ore base was even more important in this era. The Caucasus was one of the largest metallurgical centers of Eurasia, supplying at the turn of the 3rd-2nd millennium BC. e. steppe regions of Eastern Europe with copper products. In the 3rd millennium BC. e. The Transcaucasus was a region of settled agricultural and pastoral communities, the bearers of the so-called Kura-Arak culture, which in a number of respects was associated with the ancient Bronze Age culture of Asia Minor. From the middle of the 3rd millennium to the end of the 2nd millennium BC. e. in the North Caucasus, the cultures of pastoral tribes flourished with rich burial places of leaders (Maikop culture, North Caucasian culture). In Transcaucasia - an original culture with painted ceramics - the Trialet culture of the 18th-15th centuries. BC e. (see Trialeti). In the 2nd millennium BC. e. Transcaucasia was the center of a highly developed bronze metallurgy, very similar to the production of the Hittites and Assyria. In the North Caucasus at that time, the North Caucasian culture developed in contact with the Catacomb culture (See Catacomb culture), and in the Western Caucasus - the culture of dolmens. In the 2nd half of the 2nd millennium BC. e. - the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. e. on the basis of the previous cultures of the Middle Bronze Age, new cultures with a high level of metallurgy are formed: in Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan - the Central Caucasian archaeological culture, in Western Georgia - the Colchis culture, in the Central Caucasus - the Koban culture, in the North-West - the Kuban culture, in Dagestan and Chechnya - Kayakentsko-Khorochoevskaya culture.

In the steppe zone of the European part of the USSR at the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC. e. the tribes of the catacomb culture, who knew the developed pastoral cattle breeding, agriculture, and bronze casting, settled. Along with them, the tribes of the ancient Pit culture continued to exist (see Pit culture). The progress of the latter and the development of the Ural metallurgical center were determined in the middle of the 2nd millennium BC. e. the formation of the Srubnaya culture in the Trans-Volga region. Well-armed with bronze “hanging” axes, spears, and daggers, already knowing a riding horse, the tribes of the Srubna culture spread into the steppes and penetrated far north to the areas of the modern cities of Murom, Penza, Ulyanovsk, Buguruslan, and in the east, to the river. Ural. They own the richest treasures of foundry masters found by archaeologists in the form of bronze products, semi-finished products and casting molds, as well as treasures of articles made of precious metals - the property of the tribal nobility. Tribes of the Srubnaya culture in the 1st half of the 1st millennium BC. e. were subordinated to their kindred Scythians and merged with them.

From the 16th-15th centuries BC e. on the territory of modern Western Ukraine, Podolia, as well as Southern Belarus, the Komarov culture spreads. In the northern regions, it has a number of features characteristic of the so-called Trzyniec culture of Poland. Volga-Oka interfluve, Vyatka Trans-Volga and neighboring territories in the 2nd millennium BC. e. occupied by hunting and fishing tribes of the late Neolithic, among which the tribes of the Fatyanovo culture settled, engaged in cattle breeding and making high-quality spherical earthenware, stone-drilled axes-hammers, and copper "hanging" axes. In the era of B. century. in the region of the Volga-Oka interfluve and on the Kama, bronze spears, celts and daggers of the so-called Seima, or Turbine, type are known (see Seima burial ground, Turbinsky burial ground), which received the widest distribution. Weapons of the Seima types were found in the Borodino (Bessarabian) treasure (See Borodino treasure) of the 14th-13th centuries. BC e. in Moldova, as well as in the Urals, on Issyk-Kul, on the Yenisei.

In Chuvashia, Trans-Volga, Bashkiria and in the Don region there are burial mounds and sites of the Abashev culture (See Abashev culture) 2nd half of the 2nd millennium BC e. In the steppes of Western Siberia, Kazakhstan, Altai and the middle Yenisei from the middle of the 2nd millennium BC. e. there was a broad ethno-cultural community, which is called the Andronovo culture (See Andronovo culture). It belonged to agricultural and pastoral tribes.

Complexes close to these cultures archaeological sites were common in the middle and 2nd half of the 2nd millennium BC. e. in Central Asia. Of these, the most famous is the Tazabagyab culture of Khorezm. The strong influence of the steppe tribes found expression in the penetration of the Andronovo culture into the Tien Shan and the southern borders of Central Asia. Perhaps partly the spread of the steppes caused the decline of the settled agricultural civilization in the southwest. Central Asia (Namazga VI). Peculiar monuments of the steppe tribes of the Bronze Age were discovered in southwestern Tajikistan (Bishkent). An opinion is expressed that the spread of steppe bronze cultures is associated with the settlement of Indo-Iranian tribes.

In the last quarter of the 2nd millennium BC. e. in southern Siberia, Transbaikalia, Altai, and partly in Kazakhstan, types of bronze tools and weapons are distributed that are especially characteristic of the Karasuk culture (see Karasuk culture) of the Altai and Yenisei and the local (so-called tomb) culture of Transbaikalia. They are also known in the cultures of Mongolia, Northern and Central China of the Yin and Zhou era (14-8 centuries BC).

B. c. as a special stage in the history of culture, it stood out in ancient times by the ancient Roman philosopher Lucretius Carus. In archaeological science, the concept of "B. V." introduced in the first half of the 19th century. Danish scientists K. Thomsen and E. Vorso. A significant contribution to B.'s studying of century. made in the late 19th - early 20th century. Swedish archaeologist O. Montelius, who, using the so-called typological method he created, classified and dated the archaeological sites of the Neolithic and the B. c. Europe, as well as the French scientist J. Dechelet. At the same time, a comprehensive study of archaeological sites was initiated. So-called archaeological cultures began to stand out. This trend has also been developed in Russian archaeological science. V. A. Gorodtsov and A. A. Spitsyn identified the most important cultures of B. v. Of Eastern Europe. Soviet archaeologists have identified a large number of B. V. cultures: in the Caucasus (G. K. Nioradze, E. I. Krupnov, B. A. Kuftin, A. A. Iessen, B. B. Piotrovsky, and others), and on the Volga (P. S. Rykov, I. V. Sinitsyn, O. A. Grakova and others), in the Urals (O. N. Bader, A. P. Smirnov, K. V. Salnikov and others), in the Middle Asia (S. P. Tolstov, A. N. Bernshtam, V. M. Masson and others), in Siberia (S. A. Teploukhov, M. P. Gryaznov, V. N. Chernetsov, S. V. Kiselev , G. P. Sosnovsky, A. P. Okladnikov and others). Soviet archaeologists and foreign Marxist archaeologists are investigating the archaeological cultures of the B. century. from the standpoint of historical materialism. The economic and social development those societies, the remnants of which they are, features of the social, political. And cultural life ancient tribes and peoples, their relationships, movements and further fate (A. Ya. Bryusov, H. A. Moora, M. E. Foss, T. S. Passek, M. I. Artamonov, N. Ya. Merpert and others .).

In bourgeois science, along with the idealistic current, there are trends approaching a materialistic understanding. historical processes(English scientists G. Child, G. Clark), scientists of these areas pay attention to the work of Marxist archaeologists, especially in the historical and economic field.

Lit.: World History, vol. 1, M., 1955; Gorodtsov V.A., Cultures of the Bronze Age in Central Russia (Report Historical Museum for 1914), M., 1916; Jessen A.A., From the history of ancient metallurgy of the Caucasus, in the collection: Izv. state Academy of History material culture, V. 120, M.-L., 1935; Kuftin B. A., Archaeological excavations in Trialeti, vol. 1, Tb., 1941; Piotrovsky B. B., Archeology of Transcaucasia, L., 1949; Kiselev S. V., Ancient history of Southern Siberia, , M., 1951; his own. Research of the Bronze Age on the territory of the USSR for 40 years, "Soviet Archeology", 1957, No. 4; his own, Bronze Age of the USSR, in the collection: New in Soviet archeology, M., 1965; Smirnov A.P., Essays on ancient and medieval history peoples of the Middle Volga and Kama region, M., 1952; Popova T. B., Tribes of the Catacomb Culture, M., 1955; Krivtsova-Grakova O. A, Volga steppe and Black Sea region in the Late Bronze Age, M., 1955; Merpert N. Ya., From the ancient history of the Middle Volga region, in the book: Materials and research on archeology of the USSR, vol. 61, M., 1958; Okladnikov A.P., Neolithic and Bronze Age of the Baikal region, part 3, M., 1955; his, Distant Past of Primorye, Vladivostok, 1959; Krupnov E.I., Ancient history of the North Caucasus, M., 1960; Tolstov S. P., According to the ancient deltas of the Oks and Yaksart, M., 1962; Martirosyan A. A., Armenia in the Bronze Age and Early Iron Age, Yer., 1964; Central Asia in the Age of Stone and Bronze, M.-L., 1966; Masson V. M., Proto-urban civilization of the south of Central Asia, "Soviet archeology", 1967, No. 3; Salnikov K.V., Essays on the ancient history of the southern Urals, M., 1967; Draw an ancient history of the Ukrainian RSR, K., 1957; Pendlebury D., Archeology of Crete, trans. from English, M., 1950; McKay, E., The oldest culture of the Indus Valley, trans. from English, M., 1951; Child G., At the Beginnings European civilization, per. from English, M., 1952; his own. Ancient East in the light of new excavations, trans. from English, M., 1956; Clark J. G. D., Prehistoric Europe. Economic essay, trans. from English, M., 1953; Dechelette J., Manuel d "archeologie prehisto-rique, celtique et gallo-romaine, 2, P., 1910; Montelius 0., Die älteren Kulturperioden im Orient undin Europa, 1-2, Stockh., 1903-23; F i I i p J., Pravěké Československo Úvod do studia dějin praveku, Praha, 1948; Kostrzewski J., Wielkopolska w pradziejach, 3 wyd., Warsz.-Wroclaw, 1955; M i Idenberger G., Mitteldeutsch-lands Ur- und Frühge schichte, B.- Lpz., 1959; Berghe L. Vanden, Archéologie de I "lran ancien, Leiden, 1959; Schaeffer C., Stratigraphie comparée et chronologie de l "Asie occidentale, Oxf., 1948; Milojčić V., Chronologie der jüngeren Steinzeit Mittel-und Sudosteuropas, B., 1949; Piggott S., Ancient Europe, from the beginnings of agriculture to classical antiquity, Chi., 1966: Gimbutas M., Bronze age cultures in Central and Eastern Europe, The Hague - , 1965; Mozsolics A., Bronzefunde des Karpatenbeckens, Bdpst, 1967.

S. V. Kiselev, V. M. Masson.

Big soviet encyclopedia. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia. 1969-1978 .

See what the "Bronze Age" is in other dictionaries:

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The second era of prehistoric civilization, in the cat. bronze was used mainly for tools and utensils. Follows the Stone Age and precedes the Iron Age. Dictionary of foreign words included in the Russian language. Pavlenkov F., 1907. BRONZE ... Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language

The historical period that replaced the Eneolithic and is characterized by the spread of bronze metallurgy, bronze tools and weapons in the con. 4 early 1st millennium BC e. (later in some regions). In the Bronze Age, nomadic cattle breeding and irrigated ... ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

The historical period (end of the 4th beginning of the 1st millennium BC; later in some regions), which replaced the Eneolithic and is characterized by the spread of bronze metallurgy, nomadic cattle breeding and irrigated agriculture. Replaced by the Iron Age... Historical dictionary

The Bromnes Age is an era of human history identified on the basis of archeological data, characterized by the leading role of bronze products, which was associated with an improvement in the processing of metals such as copper and tin obtained from ore deposits, and the subsequent production of bronze from them. The Bronze Age is the second, late phase of the Early Metal Age, succeeding the Copper Age and preceding the Iron Age. In general, the chronological framework of the Bronze Age: 35/33 - 13/11 centuries. BC e., but they differ in different cultures. There are early, middle and late stages of the Bronze Age. At the beginning of the Bronze Age, the zone of cultures with metal covered no more than 8–10 million km², and by its end, their area had increased to 40–43 million km². During the Bronze Age, the formation, development and change of a number of metallurgical provinces took place.

Stages of the Bronze Age

Early Bronze Age

The Maikop culture in the North Caucasus is the probable place of the invention of bronze. 35/33 centuries Circumpontian metallurgical province. Within the Circumpontian metallurgical province, which dominated during the early and middle Bronze Age, copper ore centers of the South Caucasus, Anatolia, and the Balkan-Carpathian region were discovered and began to be exploited. To the west of it, the mining and metallurgical centers of the Southern Alps and the Iberian Peninsula functioned. The place and time of the discovery of methods for obtaining bronze is not known for certain. It can be assumed that bronze was simultaneously discovered in several places. The earliest bronzes with tin impurities were found in Iraq and Iran and date back to the end of the 4th millennium BC. e. But there is evidence of an earlier appearance of bronze in Thailand in the 5th. millennium BC e.

Middle Bronze Age

In the Middle Bronze Age (26/25 - 20/19 centuries BC) there was an expansion (mainly to the north) of the zone occupied by metal-bearing cultures. The Circumpontian metallurgical province basically retains its structure and continues to be the central system of producing metallurgical centers of Eurasia.

Late Bronze Age

The beginning of the Late Bronze Age is the collapse of the Circumpontian metallurgical province at the turn of the 3rd and 2nd millennium and the formation of a whole chain of new metallurgical provinces, which to varying degrees reflected the most important features of the mining and metallurgical production practiced in the central centers of the Circumpontian metallurgical province.

Among the metallurgical provinces of the late Bronze Age, the largest was the Eurasian steppe metallurgical province (up to 8 million square kilometers), which inherited the traditions of the Circumpontian metallurgical province. It was adjoined from the south by the Caucasian metallurgical province and the Iranian-Afghan metallurgical province, small in area, but distinguished by a special richness and variety of forms of products, as well as the nature of alloys.

The Bronze Age became the second late period of the Metal Age. It covers the centuries from the XXV to the XI BC. and is conditionally divided into three stages:

• Early - XXV to XVII centuries.
• Middle - XVII to XV centuries.
• Late - XV to IX centuries.

The Bronze Age is characterized by the improvement of tools for labor and hunting, but scientists still cannot understand how they came to the idea of ​​​​smelting copper ore in a metallurgical way.

Bronze became the first metal, often obtained by adding antimony or arsenic, and surpassed soft copper in its properties: the melting point of copper is 1000 ° C, and bronze is about 900 ° C. Such temperatures were achieved in small crucible furnaces with a sharp bottom and thick walls. Molds for casting tools and hunting tools were made from soft stone, and poured with clay spoons.

Development led to improvement, some shepherd tribes switched to nomadic pastoralism, while sedentary ones continued to develop and switched to plow agriculture, which was the beginning of social changes within the tribes.

In addition, the culture of the Bronze Age begins to change: patriarchal relations are established in the family - the power of the older generation is strengthened, the role and position of the husband in the family is strengthened. Witnesses are the paired burials of a husband and wife with traces of a woman's violent death.

The stratification of society begins, social and property differences between the wealthy and the poor are becoming larger: large multi-room houses with a clear layout appear, rich settlements grow, concentrating smaller ones around them. Gradually expanding, they form the first cities in which trade and crafts are actively developing, and writing is born in the Bronze Age. This was a very important moment.

The art of the Bronze Age developed along with the improvement of tools: it acquired clear, strict outlines, and geometric patterns were replaced by multi-colored drawings of animals. During this period, sculpture, ornaments (in the decoration of tools and household items), and plastic art appeared. It was in the ornaments that a symbolic pictorial language appeared, which each clan had its own. Ornamental painting had the character of amulets: they protected vessels for food from evil spirits, attracted abundance, and gave health to the family.

The famous murals of Karakol are interesting, depicting strange creatures, in the figures of which animal and human features intertwined. The combination of full face and profile in one human image brings these figures closer to ancient Egyptian art - all these paintings reflected the cosmogonic ideas of the ancients about the origin of man, about the interactions of people and gods during the transition to the world of the dead. Such drawings were made in black, white and red paint on the walls of burial boxes, and traces of red paint drawings were found on the skulls of the dead.

In addition to the necessary tools, they learned how to make cast and forged bronze, gold copper jewelry, which was decorated with chasing, stones, bone, leather and shells.

The Bronze Age was the forerunner of the Iron Age, which raised civilization to a higher level of development.

BRONZE AGE - a stage in the history of mankind, characterized by the spread of bronze metallurgy, bronze tools and weapons at the end of the 4th - beginning of the 1st millennium BC. e. (later in some regions). It was preceded by the Eneolithic. It is divided by scientists into 3 periods: early, middle, late. In B. c. cattle breeding, agriculture, crafts developed; writing appeared. Replaced by the Iron Age.

At the beginning of the Bronze Age, the zone of cultures with metal covered no more than 8-10 million km², and by its end, their area had increased to 40-43 million km². During the Bronze Age, the formation, development and change of a number of metallurgical provinces took place.

Early Bronze Age

The boundary separating the Copper Age from the Bronze Age was the collapse of the Balkan-Carpathian metallurgical province (1st half of 4 thousand) and the formation of ca. 35/33 centuries Circumpontian metallurgical province. Within the Circumpontian metallurgical province, which dominated during the Early and Middle Bronze Age, copper ore centers of the South Caucasus, Anatolia, the Balkan-Carpathian region, and the Aegean Islands were discovered and began to be exploited. To the west of it, the mining and metallurgical centers of the Southern Alps, the Iberian Peninsula, and the British Isles functioned; to the south and southeast, metal-bearing cultures are known in Egypt, Arabia, Iran and Afghanistan, right up to Pakistan.

The place and time of the discovery of methods for obtaining bronze is not known for certain. It can be assumed that bronze was simultaneously discovered in several places. The earliest bronzes with tin impurities were found in Iraq and Iran and date back to the end of the 4th millennium BC. e. But there is evidence of an earlier appearance of bronze in Thailand in the 5th millennium BC. e. Arsenic-containing bronzes were produced in Anatolia and on both sides of the Caucasus in the early 3rd millennium BC. e. And some bronze products of the Maikop culture date back to the middle of the 4th millennium BC. e. Although this issue is debatable and other results of the analyzes indicate that the same Maikop bronze items were made in the middle of the 3rd millennium BC. e.

With the beginning of the Bronze Age, two blocks of Eurasian human communities took shape and began to actively interact. To the south of the central folded mountain belt (Sayan-Altai - Pamir and Tien Shan - Caucasus - Carpathians - Alps), societies with a complex social structure, an economy based on agriculture in combination with animal husbandry, cities, writing, states appeared here. To the north, in the Eurasian steppe, militant societies of mobile pastoralists were formed.

Middle Bronze Age

In the Middle Bronze Age (26/25-20/19 centuries BC) there was an expansion (mainly to the north) of the zone occupied by metal-bearing cultures. The Circumpontian metallurgical province basically retains its structure and continues to be the central system of producing metallurgical centers of Eurasia.

Late Bronze Age

The beginning of the Late Bronze Age is the disintegration of the Circumpontian metallurgical province at the turn of the 3rd and 2nd millennia and the formation of a whole chain of new metallurgical provinces, which to varying degrees reflected the most important features of the mining and metallurgical production practiced in the central centers of the Circumpontian metallurgical province.

Among the metallurgical provinces of the late Bronze Age, the largest was the Eurasian steppe metallurgical province (up to 8 million km²), which inherited the traditions of the Circumpontian metallurgical province. It was adjoined from the south by the Caucasian metallurgical province and the Iranian-Afghan metallurgical province, small in area, but distinguished by a special richness and variety of forms of products, as well as the nature of alloys. From the Sayano-Altai to Indochina, the producing centers of the complex formation of the East Asian metallurgical province spread. Various forms of high-quality products from the European metallurgical province, stretching from the Northern Balkans to the Atlantic coast of Europe, are concentrated mainly in rich and numerous hoards. From the south, it adjoined the Mediterranean metallurgical province, which differed significantly from the European metallurgical province in terms of production methods and product forms.

BRONZE AGE, an epoch of human history distinguished on the basis of archeological data, characterized by the leading role of bronze products. A number of important economic and technological innovations are associated with the Bronze Age: the wheel, the potter's wheel, and arable implements. The Bronze Age is the second, late phase of the Early Metal Age. In general, the chronological framework of the Bronze Age is 35 / 33-13 / 11 centuries BC, but they differ in different cultures. In the Bronze Age, early, middle and late stages are distinguished. At the beginning of the Bronze Age, the zone of cultures with metal covered no more than 8-10 million km 2, and by its end the area of ​​their distribution increased to 40-43 million km 2. During the Bronze Age, the formation, development and change of a number of metallurgical provinces (MPs) took place.

The boundary separating the Copper Age from the Early Bronze Age (see the map Early and Middle Bronze Age) was the collapse of the Balkan-Carpathian metallurgical province (1st half of the 4th millennium) and the formation of the Circumpontian metallurgical province around the 35/33rd century. Within the Circumpontic MP, which dominated during the Early and Middle Bronze Age, copper ore centers of the South Caucasus, Anatolia, the Balkan-Carpathian region, and the Aegean Islands were discovered and began to be exploited. To the west of it, the mining and metallurgical centers of the Southern Alps, the Iberian Peninsula, and the British Isles functioned; to the south and southeast, metal-bearing cultures were found in Egypt, Arabia, Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.

With the beginning of the Bronze Age, two blocks of Eurasian human communities took shape and began to actively interact. To the south of the central folded mountain belt (Sayan-Altai - Pamir and Tien Shan - Caucasus - Carpathians - Alps), societies were formed with a complex social structure, an economy based on agriculture in combination with animal husbandry; cities, writing, states appeared here. To the north, in the Eurasian steppe, militant societies of mobile pastoralists have developed.

In the Middle Bronze Age (26/25-20/19 centuries) there was an expansion (mainly to the north) of the zone occupied by metal-bearing cultures. The Circumpontic MP basically retains its structure and still remains the central system of producing metallurgical centers of Eurasia.

The beginning of the Late Bronze Age (see the map of the Late Bronze Age) is the collapse of the Circumpontic MP at the turn of the 3rd and 2nd millennium and the formation of a whole chain of new MPs, to varying degrees reflecting the most important features of the mining and metallurgical production practiced in the central centers of the Circumpontic MP. The largest among the Late Bronze Age MPs was the Eurasian steppe metallurgical province (up to 8 million km2), which inherited the traditions of the Circumpontian MP. It was adjoined from the south by the Caucasian metallurgical province and the Iranian-Afghan metallurgical province, small in area, but distinguished by a special richness and variety of forms of products, as well as the nature of alloys. From the Sayano-Altai to Indochina, the producing centers of the East Asian metallurgical province, complex in nature, spread. From the Northern Balkans to the Atlantic coast of Europe stretched the European Metallurgical Province, its high-quality products of various forms are found mainly in rich and numerous hoards. From the south, it adjoined the Mediterranean metallurgical province, which differed significantly from the European MP in production methods and product forms.

From the 13th/12th century BC, cultures disintegrated or changed in almost the entire space from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, for several centuries - until the 10/8th century BC, grandiose migrations of peoples took place. The transition to the Early Iron Age begins.

Lit.: The bronze age civilization in Central Asia. Armonk / Ed. F. L. Kohl. N.Y., 1981; Chernykh E. N., Kuzminykh S. V. Ancient metallurgy of Northern Eurasia. M., 1989; Chernykh E. N. Ancient metallurgy in the USSR: the early metal age. N.Y., 1992; Chernykh E. N., Avilova L. I., Orlovskaya L. B. Metallurgical provinces and radiocarbon chronology. M., 2000; Harding A. F. European societies in the bronze age. Camb., 2000; Metallurgy in ancient eastern Eurasia from the Urals to the Yellow River. Lewinston, 2004.