BRONZE AGE

The Bronze Age is the time period when people made tools from an alloy (a mixture of
metals) called bronze. Materials like wood and stone were also used for tools, but
bronze was better for cutting and chopping, and was easy to shape. The date at which
the age began varied with regions; in Greece and China, for instance, the Bronze Age
began before 3000 BCE, whereas in Britain it did not start until about 1900 BCE.
Archaeologists think that people became more organised in the Bronze Age, because
the making of metal tools was difficult and needed certain skills. The people who had
these new skills would have been important. The new metal tools were bought, sold, or
traded across larger distances.
Later, when iron tools spread, the Bronze Age ended and the Iron Age started. A reason
for iron replacing bronze is that tin ore, a rock in which tin may be found, is much more
rare than iron ore. Copper tools were not useful because they were too soft.

Artwork in Bronze Age

The Nebra Sky Disc is a 3,600-year-old bronze disc which, according to UNESCO,
features "the oldest concrete depiction of cosmic phenomena worldwide". It came from
the Bronze age where the most used metal alloy is bronze. The purpose of the disk
remains unknown -- hypotheses including an astronomical clock, a work of art, and a
religious symbol. The object was discovered in 1999 CE by
treasure hunters using a metal detector at a prehistoric
enclosure encircling the Mittelberg hill, near the town of
Nebra in the Ziegelroda Forest, 180 km south-west of Berlin,
Germany.

REFERENCES:
 https://www.ancient-origins.net/ancient-
technology/secrets-nebra-sky-disc-001526Ref;
 https://www.britannica.com/event/Bronze-Age
 https://simple.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bronze_Age
IRON AGE
The Iron Age started between 1200 B.C. and 600 B.C., depending on the region.
For some societies, including Ancient Greece, the start of the Iron Age was
accompanied by a period of cultural decline.
WHEN DID IT START?
The Iron Age began around 1200 B.C. in the Mediterranean region and Near East
with the collapse of several prominent Bronze Age civilizations, including the
Mycenaean civilization in Greece and the Hittite Empire in Turkey. Ancient cities
including Troy and Gaza were destroyed, trade routes were lost and literacy
declined throughout the region.

The cause for the collapse of these Bronze Age kingdoms remains unclear.
Archaeological evidence suggests a succession of severe droughts in the eastern
Mediterranean region over a 150-year period from 1250 to 1100 B.C. likely figured
prominently in the collapse. Earthquakes, famine, sociopolitical unrest and
invasion by nomadic tribes may also have played a role.

Some experts believe that a disruption in trade routes may have caused
shortages of the copper or tin used to make bronze around this time. Metal
smiths, as a result, may have turned to iron as an alternative.

IRON AGE: PERSIAN EMPIRE

During the Iron Age in the Near East, nomadic pastoralists who raised sheep,
goats and cattle on the Iranian plateau began to develop a state that would
become known as Persia.

The Persians established their empire at a time after humans had learned to
make steel. Steel weapons were sharper and stronger than earlier bronze or
stone weapons.

The ancient Persians also fought on horseback. They may have been the first
civilization to develop an armored cavalry in which horses and riders were
completely covered in steel armor.

The First Persian Empire, founded by Cyrus the Great around 550 B.C., became
one of the largest empires in history, stretching from the Balkans of Eastern
Europe to the Indus Valley in India.

IRON AGE: EUROPE

Life in Iron Age Europe was primarily rural and agricultural. Iron tools made
farming easier.
 Celts lived across most of Europe during the Iron Age. The Celts were a collection
of tribes with origins in central Europe. They lived in small communities or clans
and shared a similar language, religious beliefs, traditions and culture. It’s
believed that Celtic culture started to evolve as early as 1200 B.C.

The Celts migrated throughout Western Europe—including Britain, Ireland, France

and Spain. Their legacy remains prominent in Ireland and Great Britain, where
traces of their language and culture are still prominent today.

Iron Age Art (c.1100-200 BCE)

History, Characteristics

• Mesolithic Art (very approximately 10,000 - 6,000 BCE)

• Neolithic Art (very approximately 6,000 - 2,000 BCE)

In contrast to the Stone Age and the Bronze Age, development during the
Dying Gaul (c.232 BCE) by Iron Age (c.1100-200 BCE) was much faster and more visible. It witnessed
Greek the widespread use of iron and iron tools, resulting in greater prosperity
Sculptor Epigonus. and a huge upsurge in metalwork, especially around the eastern
Mediterranean. During the period of the Iron Age,
ANCIENT ARTS AND the Minoan and Mycenean civilizations declined, while Greek art dazzled
CULTURES the Mediterranean basin, especially Greek sculpture and painted Greek
For a review of prehistoric pottery. At the same time the first Etruscan art also appeared, but it was the
art forms Hellenic culture of ancient Greece which dominated, along
including painting, with Egyptian and Persian art. In central Europe, Celtic art proved
sculpture and influential, notably in the field of metallurgy.
decorative arts,
see: Ancient Art.
Only after Greece began to lose its power at the end of the Iron Age (c.200
BCE onwards) did Roman art begin to appear, and this was created largely
by Greeks in the Hellenic style. Unfortunately, many of the paintings and
other artworks from this period have been destroyed, leaving us with only a
relatively small legacy of architectural and portable art works (like vases) by
which to gauge the artistic activity of the day.

Broighter Collar (1st In the history of art, Mediterranean Iron Age civilization is classified into
Century BCE) several smaller periods, most of which reflect the artistic activity in Greece.
A delicate tube of gold These are: the Dark Ages (c.1200-900 BCE), the Geometric
decorated in Period (c.900-700 BCE), Oriental-Style Period (c.700-625 BCE),
the Celtic La Tene style. the Archaic Period (c.625-500 BCE), the Classical Period (c.500-323
(National Museum of BCE), and the Hellenistic Period(c.323-27 BCE).
Ireland).
During the Dark Ages, the Greek world temporarily fell into chaos due to
external pressures. The smaller, poorer constituent kingdoms which
emerged could not support the luxury arts that had flourished in the Bronze
Age palaces of the Minoan and Mycenaean empires.
Most painting and sculpture were lost and the arts went into decay.
Fortunately, by 900 BCE, Athens reasserted itself and the arts -
notably ancient pottery (painted vases) - regained their earlier importance.
During the Geometric Period, vases were produced in geometric shapes
to facilitate maximum decoration and narrative. During the Orientalist
Period, vases became less geometric, and depicted more heroic scenes
from Greek history. See also Daedalic-style Greek Sculpture. During
the Archaic period, these historical motifs were initially replaced by
stereotyped animal or human figures, although by 500 BCE even more
complex mythological scenes had reappeared. See Archaic-style Greek
sculpture and Archaic-style Greek painting.

Throughout the first four periods of the Iron Age, vase painting largely
mirrored monumental art - meaning, painting and decoration of buildings
and other monuments. Many temples and other public buildings were
decorated with friezes and wall-paintings.

During the Classical Period, Greek art became less decorative and more
dignified. Painting depicted political and military successes. Noted muralists
of the time included Polygnotus, Micon, Apollodorus (invented skiagraphia
or shadow-painting), Zeuxis, Apelles, and Parrhasius. Both linear-style and
more subtle shading styles were practised. Sculpture, relief, pedimental and
free-standing, was more widespread and has survived better. Art historians
sub-divide the sculpture of this era into Early Classical, High
Classical and Late Classical varieties.

The Hellenistic Period, beginning with the death of Alexander the Great,
witnessed more developments in both Greek painting and sculpture. Artists
became employed by rulers who utilized their talents to promote their image
and secular claims. As Rome gained in political power, Etruscan art began
to recover from its domination by Greece. Remains of tombs in Etruria
display paintings with quite sophisticated chiaroscuro effects.

Iron Age arts in Northern and Central Europe owed much to the influence
of Celtic metalwork art, but remained limited in design and quality by
comparison with Mediterranean examples. By far the best examples of
central European civilizations include the Hallstatt and La Tene styles
of Celtic culture.

Few secure cities emerged in the North during this time, leaving fewer
opportunities for painting and sculpture. Instead, art was limited to personal
adornments, cooking or drinking vessels, along with decoration and
ornamentation of weaponry, horse tack, boats and other functional items.
 (For more about Celtic crafts in Ireland during this period, please see
the history of Irish art.)

In Chinese art, the end of the Iron Age witnessed the supreme example
of ceramic art in the form of the huge collection of terracotta sculpture,
known as The Terracotta Army. (c.240-210 BCE), which was followed by
four centuries of Han Dynasty Art(206 BCE - 220 CE).

REFERENCES:
 http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/ancient-art/iron-age.htm
 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Age
 https://www.history.com/topics/pre-history/iron-age

STONE AGE

From the dawn of our species to the present day, stone-made artefacts are the
dominant form of myaterial remains that have survived to today concerning human
technology.
The term “Stone Age” was coined in the late 19th century CE by the Danish scholar
Christian J. Thomsen, who came up with a framework for the study of the human past,
known as the “Three Age System”. The basis of this framework is technological: it
revolves around the notion of three successive periods or ages: Stone Age, Bronze
Age, and Iron Age, each age being technologically more complex than the one before it.
Thomsen came up with this idea after noticing that the artefacts found in archaeological
sites displayed regularity in terms of the material that they were made with: stone-made
tools were always found in the deepest layers, bronze artefacts in layers on top of the
deepest layers, and finally iron-made artefacts were found closest to the surface. This
suggested that metal technology developed later than stone-made tools.

This “Three Age System” has received some criticism. There are scholars who believe
that this approach is too technologically oriented. Others say that this stone-bronze-iron
pattern has hardly any meaning when applied outside Europe. Despite the critics, this
system is still largely used today and, although it has limitations, it can be helpful as
long as we remember that it is a simplified framework.

Chronology of the Stone Age

The Stone Age begins with the first production of stone implements and ends with the
first use of bronze. Since the chronological limits of the Stone Age are based on
technological development rather than actual date ranges, its length varies in different
areas of the world. The earliest global date for the beginning of the Stone Age is 2.5
million years ago in Africa, and the earliest end date is about 3300 BCE, which is the
beginning of Bronze Age in the Near East.

“TOOLS AND WEAPONS DURING THE STONE AGE WERE NOT MADE
EXCLUSIVELY OF STONE: ORGANIC MATERIALS SUCH AS ANTLER, BONE,
FIBRE, LEATHER, AND WOOD WERE ALSO EMPLOYED. “

There is evidence suggesting that the 2.5 million year limit for stone tool manufacture
might be pushed further back. The reason is that the capacity of tool use and even its
manufacture is not exclusive of our species: there are studies indicating that bonobos
are capable of flaking and using stone tools in order to gain access to food in an
experimental setting. Nevertheless, there are differences between the tools produced by
modern apes and those produced by the early toolmakers, who had better
biomechanical and cognitive skills and produced more efficient tools. The difference,
however, is of degree, not of nature. In fact, the earliest tools pre-date the emergence of
the Homo genus, and it is believed that some of the Australopithecines were the first
tool makers.

REFERENCES:
 https://www.ancient.eu/Stone_Age