Editing Bronze Age (section)

== Europe ==
{{Main|Bronze Age Europe}}
A few examples of named Bronze Age cultures in Europe roughly in relative order—dates are approximate.
<timeline>
ImageSize = width:800 height:145
PlotArea = width:720 height:105 left:65 bottom:20
AlignBars = justify
Colors =
 id:era value:rgb(1,0.85,0.5) #

Period = from:-3300 till:-300
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal
ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:500 start:-3300
ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:100 start:-3300

PlotData =
 align:center textcolor:black fontsize:8 mark:(line,black) width:15 shift:(0,-5)

 bar:Europe color:era width:25
 from: -3200 till: -600 shift:(0,15) text:[[Bronze Age Europe]]
 from: -3200 till: -2850 text:[[Aegean Civilization|Aegean Bronze]]
 from: -2850 till: -2500 text:[[Corded Ware]]
 from: -2500 till: -2150 text:[[Beaker culture|Beaker]]
 from: -2150 till: -1600 text:[[Unetice culture|Unetice]]
 from: -1600 till: -1250 text:[[Tumulus culture|Tumulus]]
 from: -1250 till: -750 text:[[Urnfield]]
 from: -1250 till: -600 shift:(40,0) text:[[Lusatian culture|Lusatian]]
 bar:Britain color:era
 from: -2700 till: -700 shift:(0,15) text:[[Bronze Age Britain]]
 from: -2700 till: -2500 shift:(0,2) text:Mount~Pleasant link:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Pleasant_Phase
 from: -2500 till: -1900 text:[[Beaker culture|Beaker]]
 from: -1900 till: -1500 text:[[Bedd Branwen Period|Bedd Branwen]]
 from: -1500 till: -1300 shift:(0,3) text:Acton~Park link:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acton_Park_Phase
 from: -1300 till: -1200 shift:(0,0) text:Knighton~Heath link:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knighton_Heath_Period
 from: -1200 till: -850 text:[[Urnfield]]
 from: -850 till: -700 shift:(0,2) text:Ewart~Park link:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ewart_Park_Phase
 bar:Scand. color:era
 from: -1700 till: -500 shift:(0,15) text:[[Nordic Bronze Age]]
 from: -1700 till: -1500 text:Phase I
 from: -1500 till: -1300 text:Phase II
 from: -1300 till: -1100 text:Phase III
 from: -1100 till: -900 text:Phase IV
 from: -900 till: -700 text:Phase V
 from: -700 till: -500 text:Phase VI
</timeline>
The chosen cultures overlapped in time and the indicated periods do not fully correspond to their estimated extents.

=== Southeast Europe ===
{{main|Old Europe (archaeology)|Varna culture}}
{{further|Prehistory of Southeastern Europe#Bronze Age|Bronze Age in Romania}}
[[File:Valchitran-treasure.jpg|thumb|[[Valchitran Treasure]] dated 1600–1100&nbsp;BCE]]
[[File:Spoked wheel from Arokalja.jpg|thumb|Bronze chariot wheel, [[Urnfield culture]], {{circa|13th–12th century&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}E<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Molloy |first=Barry |display-authors=etal |year=2023 |title=Early Chariots and Religion in South-East Europe and the Aegean During the Bronze Age: A Reappraisal of the Dupljaja Chariot in Context |journal=European Journal of Archaeology |volume=27 |issue=2 |pages=149–169 |doi=10.1017/eaa.2023.39 |doi-access=free}}</ref>]]

Radivojevic et al. (2013) reported the discovery of a tin bronze foil from the [[Pločnik (archaeological site)|Pločnik archaeological site]] dated to {{circa|4650&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}E as well as 14 other artefacts from Serbia and Bulgaria dated before 4000&nbsp;BCE, showing that early tin bronze was more common than previously thought and developed independently in Europe 1500 years before the first tin bronze alloys in the Near East. The production of complex tin bronzes lasted for about 500 years in the Balkans. The authors reported that evidence for the production of such complex bronzes disappears at the end of the 5th millennium&nbsp;BCE, coinciding with the "collapse of large cultural complexes in north-eastern Bulgaria and Thrace". Tin bronzes using [[cassiterite]] tin were reintroduced to the area some 1500 years later.<ref name="Radivojevic2013"/>

The oldest golden artefacts in the world are dated between 4600 and 4200&nbsp;BCE, and were found in the Necropolis of Varna. These artefacts are on display in the [[Varna Archaeological Museum]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Grande |first=Lance |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RnE9Fa4pbn0C&dq=varna+necropolis+oldest&pg=PA290 |title=Gems and Gemstones: Timeless Natural Beauty of the Mineral World |date=15 November 2009 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-30511-0 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221101113823/https://books.google.com/books?id=RnE9Fa4pbn0C&pg=PA290&dq=varna+necropolis+oldest&hl=en#v=onepage&q=varna%20necropolis%20oldest&f=false |archive-date=2022-11-01 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Curry |first=Andrew |title=Mystery of the Varna Gold: What Caused These Ancient Societies to Disappear? |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/varna-bulgaria-gold-graves-social-hierarchy-prehistoric-archaelogy-smithsonian-journeys-travel-quarterly-180958733/ |website=Smithsonian Magazine}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Daley |first=Jason |title=World's Oldest Gold Object May Have Just Been Unearthed in Bulgaria |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/oldest-gold-object-unearthed-bulgaria-180960093/ |magazine=Smithsonian Magazine}}</ref>

The [[Dabene Treasure]] was unearthed from 2004 to 2007 near [[Karlovo]] in central Bulgaria. The treasure consists of 20,000 gold jewellery items from 18 to 23 carats. The most important of them was a dagger made of gold and [[platinum]] with an unusual edge. The treasure was dated to the end of the 3rd millennium&nbsp;BCE. Scientists suggest that the Karlovo valley used to be a major crafts centre that exported golden jewellery across Europe. It is considered one of the largest prehistoric golden treasures in the world.{{citation needed|date=November 2024}}

=== Aegean ===
{{Main|Aegean civilization}}
[[File:MaskOfAgamemnon.jpg|thumb|The gold [[Mask of Agamemnon]] produced during the [[Mycenaean civilisation]], from [[Mycenae]], Greece, 1550&nbsp;BCE]]

The Aegean Bronze Age began {{circa|3200&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}E, when civilisations first established a far-ranging trade network. This network imported tin and charcoal to [[Alashiya|Cyprus]], where copper was mined and alloyed with tin to produce bronze. Bronze objects were then exported far and wide. [[Isotope|Isotopic]] analysis of tin in some Mediterranean bronze artefacts suggests that they may have originated from [[Bronze Age Britain]].<ref>Carl Waldman, Catherine Mason. ''Encyclopedia of European peoples: Volume 1''. 2006. p.&nbsp;524.</ref>

Knowledge of navigation was well-developed by this time and reached a peak of skill not exceeded (except perhaps by [[Polynesia#Navigation|Polynesian]] sailors) until 1730 when the invention of the [[Marine chronometer|chronometer]] enabled the precise determination of longitude.

The [[Minoan civilisation]] based in [[Knossos]] on the island of [[Crete]] appears to have coordinated and defended its Bronze Age trade. Ancient empires valued [[luxury good]]s in contrast to [[staple foods]], leading to famine.<ref>Lancaster, H. O. (1990). Expectations of life: A study in the demography, statistics, and history of world mortality. New York: Springer-Verlag. p.&nbsp;228.</ref>

==== Aegean collapse ====
{{Main|Bronze Age collapse|Greek Dark Ages}}
[[File:Bronze Age End.svg|thumb|upright=1.4|Invasions, destruction and possible population movements during the collapse of the Bronze Age, {{circa|1200&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}E]]

Bronze Age collapse theories have described aspects of the end of the Bronze Age in this region. At the end of the Bronze Age in the Aegean region, the [[Mycenaean Greece|Mycenaean]] administration of the regional trade empire followed the decline of Minoan primacy.<ref>[[Robert Drews|Drews, R.]] (1993). ''The end of the Bronze Age: Changes in warfare and the catastrophe ca. 1200 B.C.'' Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press</ref> Several Minoan [[client states]] lost much of their population to famine and pestilence. This would indicate that the trade network may have failed, preventing the trade that would previously have relieved such famines and prevented illness caused by malnutrition. It is also known that in this era, the [[breadbasket]] of the Minoan empire—the area north of the [[Black Sea]]—also suddenly lost much of its population and thus probably some capacity to cultivate crops. Drought and famine in Anatolia may have also led to the Aegean collapse by disrupting trade networks, therefore preventing the Aegean from accessing bronze and luxury goods.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Neer |first=Richard T. |title=Greek Art and Archaeology |publisher=Thames & Hudson |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-500-28877-1 |location=New York |page=63}}</ref>

The Aegean collapse has been attributed to the exhaustion of the [[Geography of Cyprus|Cypriot]] forests causing the end of the bronze trade.<ref>Swiny, S., Hohlfelder, R. L., & Swiny, H. W. (1998). Cities on the Sea. Res maritime: Cyprus and the eastern Mediterranean from prehistory to late antiquity: proceedings of the Second International Symposium "Cities on the Sea", Nicosia, Cyprus, 18–22 October 1994. Atlanta, GA: Scholars Press.</ref><ref>Creevey, B. (1994). The forest resources of Bronze Age Cyprus.</ref><ref>A. Bernard Knapp, Steve O. Held, and Sturt W. Manning. The prehistory of Cyprus: Problems and prospects.</ref> These forests are known to have existed in later times, and experiments have shown that charcoal production on the scale necessary for the bronze production of the late Bronze Age would have exhausted them in less than 50 years.

The Aegean collapse has also been attributed to the fact that as iron tools became more common, the main justification for the tin trade ended, and that trade network ceased to function as it did formerly.<ref>Lockard, Craig A. (2009). ''Societies, Networks, and Transitions: To 600''. Wadsworth Publishing Company. p. 96.</ref> The colonies of the Minoan empire then suffered drought, famine, war, or some combination of the three, and had no access to the distant resources of an empire by which they could easily recover.

The [[Thera eruption]] occurred {{circa|1600&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}E, {{cvt|110|km}} north of Crete. Speculation includes that a [[tsunami]] from Thera (more commonly known today as [[Santorini]]) destroyed Cretan cities. A tsunami may have destroyed the Cretan navy in its home harbour, which then lost crucial naval battles; so that in the [[Minoan chronology|LMIB/LMII]] event ({{circa|1450&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}E) the cities of Crete burned and the [[Mycenaean civilisation]] conquered [[Knossos]]. If the eruption occurred in the late 17th century&nbsp;BCE as most chronologists believe, then its immediate effects belong to the Middle to Late Bronze Age transition, and not to the end of the Late Bronze Age, but it could have triggered the instability that led to the collapse first of Knossos and then of Bronze Age society overall.{{citation needed|date=August 2020}} One such theory highlights the role of Cretan expertise in administering the empire, post-Thera. If this expertise was concentrated in Crete, then the Mycenaeans may have made political and commercial mistakes in administering the Cretan empire.{{citation needed|date=August 2020}}

Archaeological findings, including some on the island of Thera, suggest that the centre of the Minoan civilisation at the time of the eruption was actually on Thera rather than on Crete.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Antonopoulos |first=John |date=1992-03-01 |title=The great Minoan eruption of Thera volcano and the ensuing tsunami in the Greek Archipelago |journal=Natural Hazards |volume=5 |issue=2 |pages=153–168 |bibcode=1992NatHa...5..153A |doi=10.1007/BF00127003 |issn=1573-0840 |s2cid=129836887}}</ref> According to this theory, the catastrophic loss of the political, administrative and economic centre due to the eruption, as well as the damage wrought by the tsunami to the coastal towns and villages of Crete, precipitated the decline of the Minoans. A weakened political entity with a reduced economic and military capability and fabled riches would have then been more vulnerable to conquest. Indeed, the Santorini eruption is usually dated to {{circa|1630&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}E,<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Rackham |first1=Oliver |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k4dHmA9jq4wC&pg=PA8 |title=The Making of the Cretan Landscape |last2=Moody |first2=Jennifer |publisher=Manchester University Press |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-7190-3647-7}}</ref> while the Mycenaean Greeks first enter the historical record a few decades later, {{circa|1600&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}E.{{citation needed|date=August 2020}} The later Mycenaean assaults on Crete ({{circa|1450&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}) and Troy ({{circa|1250&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}E) would have been a continuation of the steady encroachment of the Greeks upon the weakened Minoan world.{{citation needed|date=August 2020}}

=== Central Europe ===
[[File:Nebra disc 1.jpg|thumb|[[Nebra sky disc]] from the [[Aunjetitz culture]], present-day Germany (1800–1600&nbsp;BCE)]]
In Central Europe, the Early Bronze Age [[Unetice culture]] (2300–1600&nbsp;BCE) includes numerous smaller groups like the [[Straubing]], [[Adlerberg]] and [[Hatvan]] cultures. Some very rich burials, such as the one located at [[Leubingen]] with grave gifts crafted from gold, point to an increase of social stratification already present in the [[Unetice culture]]. Cemeteries of this period are small and rare. The Unetice culture was followed by the Middle Bronze Age (1600–1200&nbsp;BCE) [[tumulus culture]], characterised by inhumation burials in [[tumuli]] barrows. In the eastern Hungarian [[Körös]] tributaries, the early Bronze Age first saw the introduction of the [[Mako culture]], followed by the [[Otomani culture|Otomani]] and Gyulavarsand cultures.

The late Bronze Age [[Urnfield]] culture (1300–700&nbsp;BCE) was characterised by cremation burials. It included the [[Lusatian culture]] in eastern Germany and Poland (1300–500&nbsp;BCE) that continues into the Iron Age. The Central European Bronze Age was followed by the Iron Age [[Hallstatt culture]] (700–450&nbsp;BCE). Important sites include [[Biskupin]] in Poland, [[Nebra (Unstrut)|Nebra]] in Germany, [[Vráble]] in Slovakia, and Zug-Sumpf in Switzerland.

German prehistorian [[Paul Reinecke]] described Bronze A1 (Bz A1) period (2300–2000&nbsp;BCE: triangular daggers, flat axes, stone wrist-guards, flint arrowheads) and Bronze A2 (Bz A2) period (1950–1700&nbsp;BCE: daggers with metal hilt, flanged axes, halberds, pins with perforated spherical heads, solid bracelets) and phases Hallstatt A and B (Ha A and B).

=== Southern Europe ===
[[File:Nuraghe Santu Antine 02.jpg|thumb|left|[[Nuraghe Santu Antine]] in [[Torralba, Sardinia|Torralba]], [[Sardinia]], [[Italy]]]]

The [[Apennine culture]] was a technology complex in central and southern Italy spanning both the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age proper. The [[Camuni]] were an ancient people of uncertain origin who lived in [[Val Camonica]], in present-day [[Lombardy]], during the Iron Age, although groups of hunters, shepherds, and farmers are known to have lived in the area since the Neolithic.

Located in [[Sardinia]] and [[Corsica]], the [[Nuragic civilisation]] lasted from the early Bronze Age (18th century&nbsp;BCE) to the 2nd century&nbsp;CE, when the islands were already [[Romanised]]. They take their name from the characteristic Nuragic towers, which evolved from the pre-existing megalithic culture, which built [[dolmen]]s and [[menhir]]s.

The towers are unanimously considered the best-preserved and largest megalithic remains in Europe. Their purpose is still debated: some scholars consider them monumental tombs, others as [[Giants' grave|Houses of the Giants]], other as fortresses, ovens for metal fusion, prisons, or finally temples for a solar cult. Near the end of the 3rd millennium&nbsp;BCE, Sardinia exported to Sicily a culture that built small dolmens, trilithic or polygonal shaped, that served as tombs, as in the Sicilian dolmen of "Cava dei Servi". From this region, they reached [[Malta]] and other countries of Mediterranean basin.<ref>Piccolo, Salvatore, ''op. cit.'', pp. 1 onwards.</ref>
[[File:Parco archeologico e Museo all'aperto della Terramara di Montale.jpg|thumb|Reconstructed [[Terramare culture]] houses]]

The [[Terramare]] was an early [[Indo-European]] civilisation in the area of what is now [[Pianura Padana]] in northern Italy, before the arrival of the [[Celts]], and in other parts of Europe. They lived in square villages of wooden [[stilt houses]]. These villages were built on land, but generally near a stream, with roads forming a [[grid plan]]. The whole complex was of the nature of a fortified settlement. The Terramare culture was widespread in the [[Pianura Padana]], especially along the [[Panaro (river)|Panaro]] river, between [[Modena]] and [[Bologna]], and in the rest of Europe. The civilisation developed in the Middle and Late Bronze Age during the 17th–13th centuries&nbsp;BCE.

The [[Castellieri culture]] developed in [[Istria]] during the Middle Bronze Age. It lasted for more than a millennium, from the 15th century&nbsp;BCE until the Roman conquest in the 3rd century&nbsp;BCE. It takes its name from the fortified boroughs (''Castellieri'', {{langx|fur|cjastelir}}) that characterised the culture.

The [[Canegrate culture]] developed from the mid-Bronze Age (13th century&nbsp;BCE) until the Iron Age in the Pianura Padana, in what are now western [[Lombardy]], eastern [[Piedmont]], and [[Ticino]]. It takes its name from the township of [[Canegrate]], where, in the 20th century, some fifty tombs with ceramics and metal objects were found. The Canegrate culture migrated from the northwest part of the Alps and descended to Pianura Padana from the [[Swiss Alps]] passes and the Ticino.

The [[Golasecca culture]] developed starting from the late Bronze Age in the [[Po plain]]. It takes its name from Golasecca, a locality next to the Ticino, where in the early 19th century abbot {{ill|Giovanni Battista Giani|it}} excavated its first findings comprising some 50 tombs with ceramics and metal objects. Remains of the Golasecca culture span an area of about {{cvt|20000|km2|acre}} south to the Alps, between the Po, [[Sesia]], and [[Serio (river)|Serio]] rivers, dating to the 9th–4th centuries&nbsp;BC.

=== Western Europe ===

==== Great Britain ====
{{Main|Bronze Age Britain}}
[[File:Tarian Rhyd y Gors- Rhyd y Gors Shield.jpg|thumb|Bronze shield, [[Bronze Age Britain]], 1300–1000&nbsp;BCE]]

In Great Britain, the Bronze Age is considered to have been the period from {{circa|2100|lk=no}} to 750&nbsp;BCE. Migration brought new people to the islands from the continent.<ref name="Barras2019">{{Cite news |last=Barras |first=Colin |date=27 March 2019 |title=Story of most murderous people of all time revealed in ancient DNA |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24132230-200-story-of-most-murderous-people-of-all-time-revealed-in-ancient-dna/ |work=[[New Scientist]]}}</ref> Tooth enamel isotope research on bodies found in early Bronze Age graves around [[Stonehenge]] indicates that at least some of the migrants came from the area of present-day Switzerland. Another example site is [[Must Farm]] near [[Whittlesey]], host to the most complete Bronze Age wheel ever to be found. The [[Beaker culture]] displayed different behaviours from earlier Neolithic people, and cultural change was significant. Integration is thought to have been peaceful, as many of the early [[henge]] sites were seemingly adopted by the newcomers. The rich [[Wessex culture]] developed in southern Britain at this time. Additionally, the climate was deteriorating; where once the weather was warm and dry it became much wetter as the Bronze Age continued, forcing the population away from easily defended sites in the hills and into the fertile valleys. Large livestock farms developed in the lowlands and appear to have contributed to economic growth and inspired increasing forest clearances. The [[Deverel-Rimbury culture]] began to emerge in the second half of the Middle Bronze Age ({{circa|1400–1100&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}E) to exploit these conditions. [[Devon]] and [[Cornwall]] were major sources of tin for much of western Europe and copper was extracted from sites such as the [[Great Orme]] mine in northern [[Wales]]. Social groups appear to have been tribal but with growing complexity and hierarchies becoming apparent.

The burials, which until this period had usually been communal, became more individual. For example, whereas in the Neolithic a large [[chambered cairn]] or [[long barrow]] housed the dead, Early Bronze Age people buried their dead in individual barrows (commonly known and marked on modern British [[Ordnance Survey]] maps as tumuli), or sometimes in [[cist]]s covered with [[cairn]]s.

The greatest quantities of bronze objects in England were discovered in [[East Cambridgeshire]], with the most important finds being the 6500-piece [[Isleham Hoard]].<ref>Hall & Coles, pp.&nbsp;81–88.</ref> Alloying of copper with tin to make bronze was practiced soon after the discovery of copper. The techniques needed to deliberately alloy copper with zinc to form brass first arrived in Great Britain late in the first millennium BCE.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Craddock |first1=Paul |last2=Cowell |first2=Michael |last3=Stead |first3=Ian |date=September 2004 |title=Britain's First Brass |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquaries-journal/article/abs/britains-first-brass/AEC54C662CC845964E413F91F046D30A |journal=The Antiquaries Journal |language=en |volume=84 |pages=339–346 |doi=10.1017/S000358150004587X |issn=1758-5309}}</ref> One copper mine at Great Orme in North Wales, reached a depth of 70 metres.<ref>{{Cite book |last=O'Brien |first=W. |title=Bronze Age Copper Mining in Britain and Ireland |publisher=Shir |year=1997 |isbn=978-0-7478-0321-8}}</ref> At [[Alderley Edge]] in Cheshire, carbon dating has established mining at around 2280 to 1890&nbsp;BCE with a 95% probability.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Timberlake |first1=S. |title=The Archaeology of Alderley Edge: Survey, excavation and experiment in an ancient mining landscape |last2=Prag |first2=A. J. N. W. |publisher=John and Erica Hedges |year=2005 |isbn=978-1841717159 |location=Oxford |page=396 |doi=10.30861/9781841717159}}</ref> The earliest identified metalworking site (Sigwells, Somerset) came much later, dated by globular urn-style pottery to {{circa|the 12th century&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}E. The identifiable [[sherds]] from over 500 mould fragments included a perfect fit of the hilt of a sword in the Wilburton style held in [[Somerset County Museum]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Tabor |first=Richard |title=Cadbury Castle: A hillfort and landscapes |publisher=The History Press |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-7524-4715-5 |location=Stroud |pages=61–69}}</ref>

==== Atlantic Bronze Age ====
{{Main|Atlantic Bronze Age}}
[[File:Zwaard van Jutphaas (24466600427).jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|The Sword of Jutphaas, [[Hilversum culture]], {{circa|1500&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}E]]

The Atlantic Bronze Age as cultural geographic region is a cultural complex ({{circa|2100|{{\}}800{{\}}700 cal.&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}E) that includes different cultures in the context of the Atlantic Iberian Peninsula (Portugal, Andalucía, Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria, País Vasco, Navarra and Castilla and León), the Atlantic France, Britain and Ireland, while the [[Atlantic Bronze Age]] as cultural complex of the final phase of the Bronze Age period is dated between {{circa|1350}} and 700&nbsp;BCE. It is marked by economic and cultural exchange. Commercial contacts extend to Denmark and the Mediterranean. The Atlantic Bronze Age was defined by many distinct regional centres of metal production, unified by a regular maritime exchange of products.

==== Ireland ====
{{Main|Prehistoric Ireland#Bronze Age|Atlantic Bronze Age}}
The Bronze Age in Ireland began {{circa|2000&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}E when copper was alloyed with tin and used to manufacture Ballybeg type flat axes and associated metalwork. The preceding period is known as the [[Copper Age]] and is characterised by the production of flat axes, daggers, [[halberds]] and [[stitching awl|awls]] in copper. The period is divided into three phases: Early Bronze Age (2000–1500&nbsp;BCE), Middle Bronze Age (1500–1200&nbsp;BCE), and Late Bronze Age (1200{{snd}}{{circa|500&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}E). Ireland is known for a relatively large number of Early Bronze Age burials. The country's [[stone circle]]s and [[stone rows]] were built during this period.<ref>Power (1992), p. 23.</ref>

One of the characteristic types of artefacts of the Early Bronze Age in Ireland is the flat axe. There are five main types of flat axes: Lough Ravel crannog ({{circa|2200&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}E), Ballybeg ({{circa|2000&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}E), Killaha ({{circa|2000&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}E), Ballyvalley ({{circa|2000–1600&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}E), Derryniggin ({{circa|1600&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}E), and a number of metal ingots in the shape of axes.<ref>Waddell; Eogan.</ref>

=== Northern Europe ===
{{Main|Nordic Bronze Age}}
[[File:Solvognen-00100.jpg|thumb|[[Trundholm sun chariot]], Denmark, {{circa|1500&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}E]]
The Bronze Age in Northern Europe spans the 2nd millennium&nbsp;BCE, ([[Unetice culture]], [[Urnfield culture]], [[Tumulus culture]], [[Terramare culture]] and [[Lusatian culture]]) lasting until {{circa|600&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}E. The [[Northern Bronze Age]] was both a period and a Bronze Age culture in Scandinavian pre-history, {{circa|1700–500&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}E, with sites as far east as Estonia. Succeeding the Late Neolithic culture, its ethnic and linguistic affinities are unknown in the absence of written sources. It was followed by the [[Pre-Roman Iron Age]].

Even though Northern European Bronze Age cultures came relatively late, and came into existence via trade, sites present rich and well-preserved objects made of wool, wood and imported Central European bronze and gold. Many rock carvings depict ships, and the large stone burial monuments known as stone ships suggest that shipping played an important role. Thousands of rock carvings depict ships, most probably representing sewn plank-built canoes for warfare, fishing, and trade. These may have a history as far back as the neolithic period and continue into the Pre-Roman Iron Age, as shown by the [[Hjortspring boat]]. There are many mounds and rock carving sites from the period. Numerous artefacts of bronze and gold are found. No written language existed in the Nordic countries during the Bronze Age. The rock carvings have been dated through comparison with depicted artefacts.
{{clear left}}

=== Eastern Europe ===
[[File:Yamnaya Steppe Pastoralists.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Bronze Age spread of [[Yamnaya culture|Yamnaya]] steppe pastoralist ancestry into two subcontinents—Europe and South Asia, and location of the [[Afanasievo culture]], which has the same genetic characteristics as the Yamnayas.<ref name="Barras2019" />]]
The [[Yamnaya culture]] ({{circa|3300–2600&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}E) was a Late Copper Age/Early Bronze Age culture of the [[Pontic-Caspian steppe]]<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Kristiansen |first1=Kristian |last2=Allentoft |first2=Morten E. |last3=Willerslev |first3=Eske |year=2017 |title=Re-theorising mobility and the formation of culture and language among the Corded Ware Culture in Europe |journal=Antiquity |volume=91 |issue=356 |pages=334–347 |doi=10.15184/aqy.2017.17 |issn=0003-598X |doi-access=free |hdl-access=free |hdl=1887/70150}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Villalba-Mouco |first1=Vanessa |last2=Oliart |first2=Camila |last3=Haak |first3=Wolfgang |date=2021-11-19 |title=Genomic transformation and social organization during the Copper Age–Bronze Age transition in southern Iberia |journal=Science Advances |volume=7 |issue=47 |pages=eabi7038 |bibcode=2021SciA....7.7038V |doi=10.1126/sciadv.abi7038 |issn=2375-2548 |pmc=8597998 |pmid=34788096 |hdl-access=free |hdl=10810/54399}}</ref> associated with early [[Indo-Europeans]]. It was followed on the steppe by the [[Catacomb culture]] ({{circa|2800–2200&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}E) and the [[Poltavka culture]] ({{circa|2800–2200&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}E). The closely-related [[Corded Ware culture]] in the [[forest-steppe]] region to the north ({{circa|3000–2350&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}E) spread eastwards with the [[Fatyanovo culture]] ({{circa|2900–2050&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}E), which subsequently developed into the [[Abashevo culture]] ({{circa|2200–1850&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}E) and the [[Sintashta culture]] ({{circa|2200–1750&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}E). The earliest known [[chariot]]s have been found in Sintashta burials and there is earlier evidence for chariot use in the Abashevo culture. The Sintashta culture expanded further eastwards into central Asia becoming the [[Andronovo culture]], while the [[Srubnaya culture]] ({{circa|1900–1200&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}E) continued the use of chariots in eastern Europe.

=== Caucasus ===
[[Arsenical bronze]] artefacts of the [[Maykop culture]] in the [[North Caucasus]] have been dated to around the 4th millennium&nbsp;BCE.<ref>Philip L. Kohl. The making of Bronze Age Eurasia. p.&nbsp;58.</ref> This innovation resulted in the circulation of arsenical bronze technology through southern and eastern Europe.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Gimbutas |year=1973 |title=The Beginning of the Bronze Age in Europe and the Indo-Europeans 3500–2500&nbsp;BC |journal=Journal of Indo-European Studies |volume=1 |page=177}}</ref>
{{Human history and prehistory}}