The Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze and proto-writing, and other characteristics of urban civilization.The Bronze Age is the second main period of the system stone-bronze-iron three years as proposed in modern times by Christian Jürgensen Thomsen, classification and study of ancient societies. An ancient civilization can be the Bronze Age, by merger its own copper and tin alloy, or trading for bronze from production areas elsewhere. Copper-tin ores are rare, as evidenced by the fact that there were no tin bronzes in western Asia before the third millennium BC. Worldwide, the Bronze Age generally followed the Neolithic period, but in some parts of the world, the Copper Age served transition from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age. Although the Iron Age generally followed the Bronze Age, in some regions, the Iron Age entered directly on the Neolithic from outside the region with the exception of sub-Saharan Africa, where it was developed independently.
Cultures of the Bronze Age differed in their development of the first writing. According to archaeological evidence, cultures in Egypt (hieroglyphs), the Near East (Cuneiform), China (oracle bone script) and the Mediterranean, with the Mycenaean Culture (Linear B), had viable syst
ems of writing.
The Iron Age
The Iron Age is a period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, characterized by the widespread use of iron. The first age period is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including various agricultural practices, religious beliefs and artistic styles. The Iron Age as an archaeological term indicates the condition of the civilization and culture of a people using iron as a material for their cutting tools and weapons. The Iron Age is the third major period of three years system created by Christian Thomsen (1788-1865) for classifying ancient societies and prehistoric stages of progress.
In historical archeology, ancient literature of the Iron Age includes the earliest texts preserved in the manuscript tradition. Sanskrit literature and Chinese literature flourished in the Iron Age. Other texts include the Avestan Gathas, the Indian Vedas and the oldest parts of the Hebrew Bible. The main feature that distinguishes the Iron Age from previous ages is the introduction of alphabetic characters, and the consequent development of written language which enabled literature and historic record.
The beginning of the Iron Age in Europe and adjacent areas is characterized by certain types of tools, weapons, ornaments, pottery, as well as the decorative design systems, which are quite different from those of age Previous bronze . The work of blacksmiths and development of tools and weapons, is hammered into shape, and therefore gradually moved away from the stereotyped forms of their predecessors in bronze, which were discarded, and the system design which, in the Bronze Age was mainly a repetition of rectilinear patterns, has given way to a system of curvilinear and flowing designs. [Clarification needed]. The term "Iron Age" has a low time value because it did not begin simultaneously throughout the world. The dates and context vary depending on the region, and the sequence of ages is not necessarily true for every part of the surface of the earth. There are areas such as the islands of the South Pacific, the interior of Africa and parts of North and South America, where people have gone directly to the use of stone without the use of iron the intervention of a bronze age.
In the Iron Age, the best tools and weapons have been made from steel, in particular alloys which were produced with a carbon content between about 0.30% and 1.2% by weight. Alloys containing less carbon than this, such as cast iron, can be heat treated to a significant degree and will therefore be low hardness, while a high carbon creates an extremely hard but brittle material that can not be annealed, tempered, or otherwise softened. Steel weapons and tools were nearly the same weight as those of bronze, but stronger. However, steel was difficult to produce with the methods available, and alloys that are easier to do, such as wrought iron, were more frequent in the low-priced goods. Many techniques have been used to create steel, Mediterranean ones differ materially from those in Africa, for example. Sometimes the final product is all steel, sometimes techniques like case hardening or forge welding were used to make bones stronger cut.
