1 The life of the Bronze Age

This book concerns a period of the past that was dynamic and world-changing, the Bronze Age in Europe. Of course most scholars can make a case that the period they study was just as dynamic, and changed the world just as much as the Bronze Age did, but I shall argue in these pages that what happened in Europe between 2500 and 800 BC was so remarkable that it transcends the achievements of any period that went before it, and foreshadowed the technical and social developments of the Iron Age, themselves a direct prelude to the achievements of the Graeco-Roman world. The Bronze Age was a period that spanned some 1700 years, from around 2500 BC to around 800 BC – depending on area and definition (e.g. whether the Beaker period is regarded as belonging to the Copper Age or the Bronze Age). Traditionally it has been divided into three main chunks, usually labelled Early, Middle and Late, roughly 2500– 1800, 1800– 1300, and 1300–800 BC (scholars in individual countries have their own way of describing and dividing the material). In this book I use these labels in a general way, without making any assumptions about exact chronology – though in Chapter 5 I do consider the radiocarbon dates from two sites, with a view to establishing episodes of violence. Radiocarbon dating is now so developed, particularly when large series of dates can be subjected to Bayesian analysis, that it is already possible in some areas to indicate a refined chronology for the period, or at least some parts of it. In areas where there are still not enough dates for this purpose (either because not enough suitable samples have been encountered, or because of local prejudices against the method), the way to get a reliable chronology is now quite clear. Dates given in this book are based on radiocarbon, and should therefore be followed by “cal BC” rather than BC. In reality, however, this account is not about chronology or typology, and anyone seeking to study such matters should look elsewhere.