Talk:Bronze Age

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Contents 1 Charcoal export to Cyprus? 2 Dates? 3 Contradiction? 4 Polynesian sailors? 5 Why does Late Bronze Age redirect here 6 Bronze age and Goliath legend 7 Ban Chiang, Thailand, NOT East Asia 8 yikes...archaeology NOT history 9 The map 10 collapse of the bronze age? 11 What is the Benefit of Bronze 12 French sword blade 13 Andean Bronze Age

[edit] Charcoal export to Cyprus?

Charcoal export to Cyprus? What evidence is there? --Yak 16:36, Mar 14, 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Dates?

There is no dates in Aegean Bronze Age section. --Kefeer 20:12, 3 Dec 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Contradiction?

The earliest known bronze vessels...have been discovered at Erlitou. This contradicts Bronze and Maykop. Who was first with bronze? --i. 15:53, 8 August 2005 (UTC)

Erlitou is first in China, but more than 1000 years after Maykop. 130.60.142.65 11:12, 30 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Polynesian sailors?

"Knowledge of navigation was well developed at this time, and reached a peak of skill not exceeded until a method was discovered (or perhaps rediscovered) to determine longitude around 1750 AD, with the notable exception of the Polynesian sailors." What are polynesian sailors doing in this article?

[edit] Why does Late Bronze Age redirect here

Why does Late Bronze Age redirect here, whereas Middle Bronze Age has its own entry? This needs to have a separate entry. John D. Croft 06:22, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Bronze age and Goliath legend

I don't know about you, but I've always had a vague imprint in my mind, that the Mediteranean Bronze age was between 3000 and 1000 bc. and The Iron age really started around 1000 bc with the Hittites of Asia Minor.

I always like to think of the legend of Goliath, the champion Philistine,who was a perfect Bronze/Iron age example of a warrior c. 1050 bc

In the 1Sam 17. narrative, Goliath possesses a curaiss or coat of bronze (over 100lbs)), a helmet of bronze, a sword of bronze, a shield, and a huge spear with an Iron tip weighing several lbs. A great example of the early Iron age.

As the story goes, the men of Israel hardly had a sword and armor among the whole army, except for Saul and his son. This would make Goliath even more of a threat on the battle-field with his state of the art cuttlery.

The Old Testament is clearly Iron Age; the Iron age begins around 1400 in Anatolia, but only gets into full swing around 1000 BC. The Tanakh may contain memories of the Bronze Age, much like Homer, but was clearly composed in the early Iron Age (early to mid 1st millennium). 130.60.142.65 11:12, 30 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Ban Chiang, Thailand, NOT East Asia

Thailand is not considered East Asia. Thailand is considered SOUTHEast Asia. East Asia is China, Japan, Korea, and all that.

[edit] yikes...archaeology NOT history

the above info on the CD indicates this is in the history category. wha? so what do the CD organisers think the archaeologists are doing, I wonder? digging dinosaurs. wha? i don't get it. Only in Wikipedia I guess (?!?!). Whoops! Mumun 19:42, 4 December 2006 (UTC)

I guess that the CD has a limited number of categories and so the organisers put archaeological-prehistoric topics into the history category (doh!). Mumun 20:45, 7 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] The map

The map is inaccurate and should be revised. By 2000 BC Ireland, for example, had a well developed bronze industry based on the mining of copper from sites such as Mount Gabriel, Co. Kerry and the production of Ballybeg type flat axes. Axes were also being exported to Britian and the Continent and there is, for example, an Irish axe known from the Dieskau hoard. (Cmount 11:49, 9 January 2007 (UTC))

The map makes no sense without the color definitions, wht does yellow mean?--HalaTruth(ሀላካሕ) 08:27, 31 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] collapse of the bronze age?

what about the unknown cause of devastating collapse of the bronze age and the invasion of the existing civilizations by the "sea people" or "sea tribes" --voodoom 06:24, 16 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] What is the Benefit of Bronze

Please help improve this article or section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. (March 2008)

Someone needs to explain why the coming of Bronze was such a big deal. What did bronze allow that stone, tin or copper would not? AFter all, they do name an entire age for the stuff. It must have been ground-breaking. It's a real shame that all we have on this page is a bunch of historical story-telling and no overall explanation of the value. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.14.209.24 (talk) 16:13, 19 December 2007 (UTC)

you cannot make tools or weaponry out of Copper or Tin. Sophisticated flint tools can in fact compete with Bronze, but at some point they'll just shatter and then cannot be fixed. Bronze blades can be re-sharpened, or if completely broken, melted down and recast. dab (𒁳) 09:52, 1 April 2008 (UTC)

Why doesn't the Bronze Age have a nifty Latin name, like the Neolithic and the Chalcolithic and the Paleolithic? 16:50, 24 March 2008 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 155.188.247.6 (talk)

good question. La-wiki has Aevum Aeris or Aenea aetas. I find it surprising that no "learned" term has caught on, since the "Brazen Age" is based on Hesiod's Ages of Man. dab (𒁳) 09:52, 1 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] French sword blade

I am not sure if Image:Sword bronze age (2nd version).jpg is an appropriate image for the lead. First of all, the blade is broken. There are much better preserved bronze blades we could display. Then, I doubt it is really a "sword" blade. The date given is 800 BC, which would be the very end of the European Bronze Age. In this period, I suppose the blade shown would be considered a dagger. And, in any case, an image representing the "Bronze Age" (not just the European Bronze Age probably shouldn't reflect 1st millennium BC Europe, but the 3rd to 2nd millennium BC Near East. dab (𒁳) 09:58, 1 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Andean Bronze Age

The section on an "Andean Bronze Age" stood completely unreferenced, and I am cutting it to here pending attribution:

The Bronze Age in the Andes region of South America is thought to have begun at about 1300 BC^{[dubious – discuss]} when Chavin artisans discovered how to alloy copper with tin. The first objects produced were mostly utilitarian in nature, such as axes, knives, and agricultural implements. Decorative work in gold, silver and copper was already a highly developed tradition, and as the Chavin became more experienced in bronze-working technology they produced many ornate and highly decorative objects for administrative, religious, and other ceremonial purposes.

--dab (𒁳) 11:28, 21 April 2008 (UTC)

Completely removing the whole section of the Andean Bronze age gives the misleading impression that no American cultures worked bronze.

A simple "The Andean cultures had not left the bronze age at the time of Spanish Conquest" is better than no mention at all. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.157.49.65 (talk) 06:23, 31 May 2008 (UTC)