What was the Bronze Age?
The Bronze Age is the period in the history of an ancient civilization in which the use of copper and bronze is commonplace. In most societies, the Bronze Age usually comes after the Stone Age and before the Iron Age.
When was the Bronze Age?
This is a difficult question to answer because different civilizations around the world discovered how to produce bronze at different times.
In Southeast Asia and the Middle East the Sumer civilization entered the Bronze Age around 3300 BC. The Bronze Age in Mesopotamia began in about 2900 BC, and it started in Ancient Egypt in around 3150 BC.
The Indus Valley civilization entered the Bronze Age in around 3300 BC
In Europe the Bronze Age began with the Aegean Bronze Age (3200 BC). Trade networks were used to transport tin and charcoal to Cyprus so that it could be alloyed with the copper mined there to produce bronze.
Bronze Age Britain
In British history, the Bronze Age is usually identified as starting in 2100 BC and ending in 700 BC.
During this period Cornwall was an important source of tin, and copper was often mined in northern Wales.
Many bronze objects from this period have been discovered in the county of Cambridgeshire. More than 6500 bronze artifacts were found in Isleham.
