The Bronze Age was the second late period of the metal era. It spans centuries from XXV to XI BC and 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 hunting and hunting, but until now, scientists cannot understand how ancient people came to the idea of smelting copper ore in a metallurgical way.
Bronze was the first metal obtained by the
alloy of tin and copper, often with the addition of antimony or arsenic, and in its properties was superior to soft copper: the melting point of copper was 1000 ° C, and that of bronze was about 900 ° C. Such temperatures were achieved in small crucible furnaces with a sharp bottom and thick walls. Molds for casting tools and hunting were made of soft stone, and
molten metal was poured with clay spoons.
The development of bronze casting led to the improvement of productive forces: some shepherd tribes switched to nomadic cattle breeding, and the sedentary continued to develop and switched to plow farming, which served as 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 pair graves 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. Expanding gradually, they form the first cities in which trade and crafts are actively developing, and writing began in the Bronze Age. This was a very important point.
The art of the Bronze Age developed along with the improvement of tools: cave painting acquired a clear, rigorous outline, and geometric patterns were replaced by colorful drawings of animals. During this period, sculpture appears, ornaments (in the decoration of tools and household items), plastic. It was in the ornaments that a symbolic pictorial language appeared, which each genus had its own. Ornamental painting was in the nature of amulets: they protected vessels for food from evil spirits, attracted abundance, and gave health to the family.
The famous paintings of Karakol depicting strange creatures, in the figures of which interwoven animal and human features, are interesting. 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 the funeral boxes, and traces of drawings made in red paint were found on the skulls of the deceased.
In addition to the necessary tools,
ancient people learned how to make cast and forged bronze, gold copper jewelry, which were decorated with embossing, stones, bone, leather and shells.
The Bronze Age was the forerunner of the Iron Age, which elevated civilization to a higher level of development.