The Bronze Age was a time of extensive use of metals and of developing trade networks (See Tin sources and trade in ancient times). Further, the medium of cast bronze lends the record they preserve a permanence not enjoyed by manuscripts. tools and weapons). Cultures in the ancient Near East (often called one of "the cradles of civilization") practiced intensive year-round agriculture, developed writing systems, invented the potter's wheel, created centralized governments (usually in form of hereditary monarchies), written law codes, city-states and nation-states and empires, embarked on advanced architectural projects, introduced social stratification, economic and civil administration, slavery, and practiced organized warfare, medicine and religion. Bronze moyen ; 3. They take their name from the characteristic Nuragic towers, which evolved from the pre-existing megalithic culture, which built dolmens and menhirs. The Oxus civilization[18] was a Bronze Age Central Asian culture dated to c. 2300–1700 BC and centered on the upper Amu Darya (Oxus). Northern Britain has a long history of engineering and technical innovation. From. These two kingdoms would eventually come into conflict, with the Theban kings conquering the north, resulting in the reunification of Egypt under a single ruler during the second part of the 11th Dynasty. [citation needed], Archaeological findings, including some on the island of Thera, suggest that the center of the Minoan civilization at the time of the eruption was actually on Thera rather than on Crete. [40], Bronze metallurgy in China originated in what is referred to as the Erlitou (Wade–Giles: Erh-li-t'ou) period, which some historians argue places it within the range of dates controlled by the Shang dynasty. Il s'agit moins, en ses débuts, d'une période de transformations économiques et sociales que d'une simple innovation technique. Succeeding the Late Neolithic culture, its ethnic and linguistic affinities are unknown in the absence of written sources. A few examples of named Bronze Age cultures in Europe in roughly relative order. Prehistoric period and age studied in archaeology, part of the Holocene Epoch. J.-C.. La métallurgie du bronze se diffuse ensuite en Grèce continentale. Ur, Kish, Isin, Larsa and Nippur in the Middle Bronze Age and Babylon, Calah and Assur in the Late Bronze Age similarly had large populations. The Aramaeans never had a unified empire; they were divided into independent kingdoms all across the Near East. Bronze ancien ; 2. The Northern Bronze Age was both a period and a Bronze Age culture in Scandinavian pre-history, c. 1700–500 BC, with sites that reached as far east as Estonia. (1986). In a given region, the bronze age is considered to begin when bronze becomes a much-used material for practical objects (i.e. Chinese literature dating to the 6th century BC attests knowledge of iron smelting, yet bronze continues to occupy the seat of significance in the archaeological and historical record for some time after this. [84] Scholars have suggested that both the relative dearth of archeological research in sub-Saharan Africa as well as long-standing prejudices have limited or biased our understanding of pre-historic metallurgy on the continent. It is a successor to the Yamnaya and the Poltavka culture. Arsenical bronze artifacts of the Maykop culture in the North Caucasus have been dated around the 4th millennium BC. [15] A furnace for bronze casting has been found in Kerma that is dated to 2300–1900 BC.[14]. The dates and phases below are solely applicable to the Near East and thus not applicable universally.[6][7][8]. The greatest quantities of bronze objects in England were discovered in East Cambridgeshire, where the most important finds were recovered in Isleham (more than 6500 pieces). 1 et 2, 82 p. et 122 fig. With artifacts of the Indus Valley Civilization being found in ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt, it is clear that these civilizations were not only in touch with each other but also trading with each other. The Mitanni was a loosely organized state in northern Syria and south-east Anatolia from c. 1500–1300 BC. (2003). Breaking Games is raising funds for Rise of Tribes: Beasts & Bronze on Kickstarter! The forest resources of Bronze Age Cyprus. The Altai Mountains in what is now southern Russia and central Mongolia have been identified as the point of origin of a cultural enigma termed the Seima-Turbino Phenomenon. Finkelstein, Israel. With a rough date range of late 3rd millennium BC to the first millennium AD, this site alone has various artifacts such as burial pottery (dating from 2100–1700 BC), fragments of Bronze, copper-base bangles, and much more. [64] Data analyses of sites such as Ban Lum Khao, Ban Na Di, Non-Nok Tha, Khok Phanom Di, and Nong Nor have consistently led researchers to conclude that there was no entrenched hierarchy. Bronze was independently discovered in the. Cette époque lointaine est donnée par dates estimées entre 2 500 avant J.-C. et 1 000 avant J.-C.. Toutefois, comme pour les autres périodes de la Préhistoire, les limites chronologiques varient selon la culture et la géographieconsidérées. [89][15][85] Evidence of copper mining and smelting has been found at Akjoujt, Mauretania that suggests small scale production c. 800 to 400 BC. The Bronze Age is a time period characterized by the use of bronze, proto-writing, and other early features of urban civilization. Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society, 1988. 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 (also commonly known and marked on modern British Ordnance Survey maps as tumuli), or sometimes in cists covered with cairns. Stating a date of 2686 BC for the end of the bronze age in Egypt is incredibly early. The period comprises two phases: the 11th Dynasty, which ruled from Thebes and the 12th[16] and 13th Dynasties centered on el-Lisht. [citation needed] Drought and famine in Anatolia may have also led to the Aegean collapse by disrupting trade networks, and therefore preventing the Aegean from accessing bronze and luxury goods.[71]. Iron Age dates between 1200 B.C. It takes its name from the fortified boroughs (Castellieri, Friulian: cjastelir) that characterized the culture. Arzawa in Western Anatolia during the second half of the second millennium BC likely extended along southern Anatolia in a belt that reaches from near the Turkish Lakes Region to the Aegean coast. [citation needed] The later Mycenaean assaults on Crete (c. 1450 BC) and Troy (c. 1250 BC) would have been a continuation of the steady encroachment of the Greeks upon the weakened Minoan world. Furthermore, the oldest bronze objects found in China so far were discovered at the Majiayao site in Gansu rather than at Xinjiang[46]. BC) after a period when Liaoning-style bronze daggers and other bronze artifacts were exchanged as far as the interior part of the Southern Peninsula (c. 900–700 BC). Finkelstein, Israel. While the Bronze Age occurred at different times across the world, it seemed to have first occurred in the Middle East and Mediterranean regions over 5,000 years ago. These relate to the prehistoric Dong Son Culture of Vietnam. The on-site casting supports the theory that Bronze was first introduced in Southeast Asia as fully developed which therefore shows that Bronze was innovated from a different country. [19] This Bronze Age culture is called the Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex (BMAC). The Calchaquí people of Northwest Argentina had bronze technology. The Apennine culture (also called Italian Bronze Age) is a technology complex of central and southern Italy spanning the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age proper. [79] The earliest identified metalworking site (Sigwells, Somerset) is much later, dated by Globular Urn style pottery to approximately the 12th century BC. Lancaster, H.O. [67] There are a few possible implications of this. By that time, the Sumerian language was no longer spoken, but was still in religious use in Assyria and Babylonia, and would remain so until the 1st century AD. n. è. This was still a very ancient period, part of the Bronze Age, and before the time when the Trojan War, if it happened, would have taken place. Yale University Press, 1982. While some direct information about the Shang dynasty comes from Shang-era inscriptions on bronze artifacts, most comes from oracle bones – turtle shells, cattle scapulae, or other bones – which bear glyphs that form the first significant corpus of recorded Chinese characters. Even though Northern European Bronze Age cultures were 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. [54][55] Although the Korean Bronze Age culture derives from the Liaoning and Manchuria, it exhibits unique typology and styles, especially in ritual objects.[56]. Durham, N.C: Carolina Academic Press. Instead, a division primarily based on art-historical and historical characteristics is more common. In the 14th century BC, the Hittite Kingdom was at its height, encompassing central Anatolia, southwestern Syria as far as Ugarit, and upper Mesopotamia. The Bronze Age. History of Europe - History of Europe - The Bronze Age: Simultaneous with such Copper Age cultures were a number of late Neolithic cultures in other regions. A comparative study of thirty city-state cultures: An investigation conducted by the Copenhagen Polis Centre. The Catacomb culture, c. 2800–2200 BC, comprises several related Early Bronze Age cultures occupying what is presently Russia and Ukraine. Philip L. Kohl. Une sélection de films et dessins animés pour explorer les périodes de l’âge du Bronze (- 2200) à la fin de l’âge du Fer ( -50). Marqué par d’importantes avancées, tant technologiques que sociales, l’âge du Bronze constitue une étape importante de l’évolution des sociétés européennes. (1994). Migration brought new people to the islands from the continent. The Biblical archaeologist 59.4 (1996): 198–212. Commercial contacts extend to Denmark and the Mediterranean. Ireland is also known for a relatively large number of Early Bronze Age burials. The Atlantic Bronze Age was defined by many distinct regional centers of metal production, unified by a regular maritime exchange of some of their products. Around the end of the 3rd millennium BC, Sardinia exported towards Sicily a Culture that built small dolmens, trilithic or polygonal shaped, that served as tombs as it has been ascertained in the Sicilian dolmen of “Cava dei Servi”. Bronze objects were then exported far and wide and supported the trade. Tin must be mined (mainly as the tin ore cassiterite) and smelted separately, then added to hot copper to make bronze alloy. In the Amarna letters, messages from Ugarit c. 1350 BC written by Ammittamru I, Niqmaddu II, and his queen, were discovered. Most Bronze Age mines went out of use in the Iron Age. 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.[80]. The making of Bronze Age Eurasia. Après la Préhistoire, qui comprend la Paléolithique, le Mésolithique et le Néolithique, l’âge du Bronze est la première période de la « Protohistoire », appelée aussi « âges des Métaux ». Begin of Babylonian "dark ages." The Golasecca culture developed starting from the late Bronze Age in the Po plain. [85], The Moche civilization of South America independently discovered and developed bronze smelting. It was important for Rodin to produce a piece that was realistic as he despised the sentimental idealism that dominated other sculpture of the period. Ancient empires valued luxury goods in contrast to staple foods, leading to famine. [59] However, according to the radiocarbon dating on the human and pig bones in Ban Chiang, some scholars propose that the initial Bronze Age in Ban Chiang was in late 2nd millennium. [50] Many large bronzes also bear cast inscriptions that are the great bulk of the surviving body of early Chinese writing and have helped historians and archaeologists piece together the history of China, especially during the Zhou dynasty (1046–256 BC). . Evidence for iron smelting appears earlier or at the same time as copper smelting in Nigeria c. 900–800 BC, Rwanda and Burundi c. 700–500 BC and Tanzania c. 300 BC. Middle Bronze Age migrations (Ancient Near East), Science and Technology in World History: An Introduction. No written language existed in the Nordic countries during the Bronze Age. At several places, dams were found, providing evidence for a highly developed water management system. Insérées dans de vastes réseaux commerciaux européens, les sociétés de l’âge du Bronze vivant sur le territoire français ne constituent qu’un... Actualités des découvertes, actualités institutionnelles, culturelles, scientifiques et internationales, Le rendez-vous culturel et scientifique européen de l'archéologie, A voir, à écouter, à lire, à visiter, participer, Abonnez-vous à la lettre d’information de l’Inrap et consultez les archives, L'institut national de recherches archéologiques préventives, Contribuer à la mise en valeur du patrimoine et de la recherche archéologique, Les avis de marchés en cours passés par l'Inrap. Integration is thought to have been peaceful, as many of the early henge sites were seemingly adopted by the newcomers. Tauris, pp. around 1200 BC. (2000). The rock carvings have been dated through comparison with depicted artifacts. xv-xvi. The Beaker culture displayed different behaviors from the earlier Neolithic people, and cultural change was significant. Human-made tin bronze technology requires set production techniques. Fashioned over a period of eighteen months and based on a live model, the sculpture depicts a suspended moment of human awakening, either to suffering or to joy. University of California Press, 1982. The late Bronze Age Urnfield culture (1300–700 BC) is characterized by cremation burials. Dates/Era: Overview: Main Events/Places: More Info: BRONZE AGE: 3500 B.C. The Deverel-Rimbury culture began to emerge in the second half of the Middle Bronze Age ( c. 1400–1100 BC) to exploit these conditions. Finkelstein, Israel. The Assuwa league was a confederation of states in western Anatolia that was defeated by the Hittites under an earlier Tudhaliya I, around 1400 BC. Akkad, Assyria, and Babylonia all used the written East Semitic Akkadian language for official use and as a spoken language. The Aegean collapse has been attributed to the exhaustion of the Cypriot forests causing the end of the bronze trade. Whilst there have been early finds such as a smelted iron dagger blade found in a Hattic tomb in Anatolia, dating from 2500 BC. [23] From the 15th century BC onward, the term Amurru is usually applied to the region extending north of Canaan as far as Kadesh on the Orontes River. A weakened political entity with a reduced economic and military capability and fabled riches would have then been more vulnerable to conquest. The technological history of Scotland begins over 12,000 years ago, when the region was first consistently occupied by Stone Age hunters and gathers. 1595 BCE. The Israelites were an ancient Semitic-speaking people of the Ancient Near East who inhabited part of Canaan during the tribal and monarchic periods (15th to 6th centuries BC),[24][25][26][27][28] and lived in the region in smaller numbers after the fall of the monarchy. Quelle cité se cache derrière l'appellation « Pompéi de la Préhistoire » ? Copper Age 2. Yale University Press, 1982. [41] Others believe the Erlitou sites belong to the preceding Xia (Wade–Giles: Hsia) dynasty. Bronze Age, third phase in the development of material culture among the ancient peoples of Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, following the Paleolithic and Neolithic periods (Old Stone Age and New Stone Age, respectively). Rodin’s breakout sculpture, The Age of Bronze caused a critical scandal for its extreme naturalism and ambiguous subject matter. Treasures from the Oxus, I.B. Copenhagen: Det Kongelike Danske Videnskabernes Selskab. The Akkadian Empire (2335–2154 BC) became the dominant power in the region, and after its fall the Sumerians enjoyed a renaissance with the Neo-Sumerian Empire. [31] It is further conjectured that the same migrations spread the Uralic group of languages across Europe and Asia: some 39 languages of this group are still extant, including Hungarian, Finnish and Estonian. These aren't the norm. Cities on the Sea., Swiny, S., Hohlfelder, R.L., & Swiny, H.W. The civilization developed in the Middle and Late Bronze Age, between the 17th and the 13th centuries BC. Large groups migrated to Mesopotamia, where they intermingled with the native Akkadian (Assyrian and Babylonian) population. Very little monumental evidence survives from this period, especially from the early part of it. Shaughnessy, E.L. "Sources of Western Zhou History", p. 107. [57][58], In Ban Chiang, Thailand, (Southeast Asia) bronze artifacts have been discovered dating to 2100 BC. One of the characteristic types of artifact of the Early Bronze Age in Ireland is the flat axe. James E. McClellan III; Harold Dorn (2006). It is followed by the Pre-Roman Iron Age. 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. One is the increased contact with bacterial and/or fungal pathogens due to increased population density and land clearing/cultivation. … [91] A later appearance of limited bronze smelting in West Mexico suggests either contact of that region with Andean cultures or separate discovery of the technology. It has been claimed that a 6,000 year old copper amulet manufactured in Mehrgarh in the shape of wheel spoke is the earliest example of lost wax casting in the world. The overall period is characterized by widespread use of bronze, though the place and time of the introduction and development of bronze technology were not universally synchronous. L'ajout d'étain au cuivre, dans une proportion d'environ 10 p. 100, a permis aux métallurgistes de la protohistoire d'obtenir un alliage plus résistant, le bronze. In short: the early date for the eruption of Santorini (mid 16th c. BCE, ~1560) is now moved up to the late 17th c. (1621-1605 BCE). "[88], Copper smelting took place in West Africa prior to the appearance of iron smelting in the region. [39] Significantly, together with the jade art that precedes it, bronze was seen as a "fine" material for ritual art when compared with iron or stone, stone artifacts only becoming popular for tombs during the Han on probable Indian influence (replacing wooden temple in that instance). The accepted dates for this Age are 3,300 BC to 1,200 BC. The period is divided into three phases: Early Bronze Age (2000–1500 BC), Middle Bronze Age (1500–1200 BC), and Late Bronze Age (1200–c. Inhabitants of the Indus Valley, the Harappans, developed new techniques in metallurgy and produced copper, bronze, lead and tin. In modern scholarship, the chronology of the Bronze Age Levant is divided into Early/Proto Syrian; corresponding to the Early Bronze. The Bronze Age on the Indian subcontinent began around 3300 BC with the beginning of the Indus Valley civilization. The First Intermediate Period was a dynamic time when the rule of Egypt was roughly divided between two competing for power bases: Heracleopolis in Lower Egypt and Thebes in Upper Egypt. In some areas it developed from the Copper Age, while in others it grew out of late Neolithic cultures. Simon and Schuster, 2002. Le contexte guerrier en Égée à l’âge du bronze, Aegaeum 20 (1999) 297-313. Après la Préhistoire, qui comprend la Paléolithique, le Mésolithique et le Néolithique, l’âge du Bronze est la première période de la « Protohistoire », appelée aussi « âges des Métaux ». Its sites were discovered and named by the Soviet archaeologist Viktor Sarianidi (1976). 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. "Tainted ores and the rise of tin bronzes in Eurasia, "The Philistines and Other "Sea Peoples" in Text and Archaeology", "Unravelling migrations in the steppe: Mitochondrial DNA sequences from ancient central Asians", "Questions of Ancient Human Settlements in Xinjiang and the Early Silk Road Trade, with an Overview of the Silk Road Research Institutions and Scholars in Beijing, Gansu, and Xinjiang", "A Discussion on Early Metals and the Origins of Bronze Casting in China", "1000 BC to 300 AD: Korea | Asia for Educators | Columbia University", http://koreanhistory.info/BronzeAgeKorea.htm, "High spatial dynamics-photoluminescence imaging reveals the metallurgy of the earliest lost-wax cast object", "Centre for Cultural Resources and Training (CCRT)", "Bronze from Ban Chiang, Thailand: A view from the Laboratory", "Nyaunggan City – Archaeological Sites in Myanmar", "Connected Histories: the Dynamics of Bronze Age Interaction and Trade 1500-1100 bc", "Smelting and Recycling Evidences from the Late Bronze Age habitat site of Baioes", "Bronze Age volcanic event recorded in stalagmites by combined isotope and trace element studies", Links to the Bronze Age in Europe and beyond, Bronze Age Experimental Archeology and Museum Reproductions, Umha Aois – Reconstructed Bronze Age metal casting, Umha Aois – ancient bronze casting videoclip, "Evidence that a West-East admixed population lived in the Tarim Basin as early as the early Bronze Age", The Transmission of Early Bronze Technology to Thailand: New Perspectives, Divers unearth Bronze Age hoard off the coast of Devon, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bronze_Age&oldid=1010148357, Articles with unsourced statements from November 2016, Articles with unsourced statements from August 2020, Articles with unsourced statements from April 2014, Wikipedia articles incorporating a citation from the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica with Wikisource reference, Articles which contain graphical timelines, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. The palace at Tel Kabri is destroyed and the site is abandoned for the rest of the Bronze Age. Indeed, the Santorini eruption is usually dated to c. 1630 BC, while the Mycenaean Greeks first enter the historical record a few decades later, c. 1600 BC. The Neolithic age was succeeded in Eurasia by the bronze age. The burial of the dead (which, until this period, had usually been communal) became more individual. The Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex (BMAC), also known as the Oxus civilization, was a Bronze Age civilization in Central Asia, dated to c. 2400–1600 BC,[29] located in present-day northern Afghanistan, eastern Turkmenistan, southern Uzbekistan and western Tajikistan, centred on the upper Amu Darya (Oxus River). Thorp, R.L. According to archaeological evidence, cultures in Mesopotamia (cuneiform script) and Egypt (hieroglyphs) developed the earliest practical writing systems. The innovation of bronze making, creating an alloyby combining 90% copper and 10% tin for a much stronger metal, spread outward from its origins. The Mesopotamian Bronze Age began about 3500 BC and ended with the Kassite period (c. 1500 BC – c. 1155 BC). p. 68. It was Egypt's most prosperous time and marked the peak of Egypt's power. L'archéologie préventive et programmée, quelles différences ? : "Studies of Shang Archaeology", p. 1. [61] Ban Non Wat, excavated by Charles Higham, was a rich site with over 640 graves excavated that gleaned many complex bronze items that may have had social value connected to them. The Hyksos first appeared in Egypt during the 11th Dynasty, began their climb to power in the 13th Dynasty, and emerged from the Second Intermediate Period in control of Avaris and the Delta. ... Age was the first phase of Metal Age, which continued up to the discovery of iron i e before the beginning of the Iron Age. Arzawa has been associated with the much more obscure Assuwa generally located to its north. He described Bronze A1 (Bz A1) period (2300–2000 BC: triangular daggers, flat axes, stone wrist-guards, flint arrowheads) and Bronze A2 (Bz A2) period (1950–1700 BC: daggers with metal hilt, flanged axes, halberds, pins with perforated spherical heads, solid bracelets) and phases Hallstatt A and B (Ha A and B). The Thera eruption occurred c. 1600 BC, 110 km (68 mi) north of Crete. [48] Historian W.C. White argues that iron did not supplant bronze "at any period before the end of the Zhou dynasty (256 BC)" and that bronze vessels make up the majority of metal vessels through the Later Han period, or to 221 BC [sic?].[49]. From the 16th to the 13th century BC, Ugarit remained in constant touch with Egypt and Cyprus (named Alashiya). Marqué par d’importantes avancées, tant technologiques que sociales, l’âge du Bronze constitue une étape importante de l’évolution des sociétés européennes. [37], By convention, the "Early Bronze Age" in China is sometimes taken as equivalent to the "Shang dynasty" period of Chinese prehistory (16th to 11th centuries BC),[38] and the "Later Bronze Age" as equivalent to the "Zhou dynasty" period (11th to 3rd centuries BC, from the 5th century, also dubbed "Iron Age"), although there is an argument to be made that the "Bronze Age" proper never ended in China, as there is no recognizable transition to an "Iron Age". After the Bronze Age collapse, their political influence was confined to many Syro-Hittite states, which were entirely absorbed into the Neo-Assyrian Empire by the 8th century BC. The last is that there may have been an emergence of infectious disease in the Da But the period that evolved into a more virulent form in the metal period.[67]. The Bronze Age in Nubia started as early as 2300 BC. Date Event; 3700 BC: The Bronze Age (About 3700 BC to about 500 BC) The Bronze Age starts at different areas of the world at different times. Li-Liu; The Chinese Neolithic, Cambridge University Press, 2005. See more ideas about iron age, bronze age, history timeline. Tin bronzes using cassiterite tin would be reintroduced to the area again some 1500 years later. [85] However, evidence for copper production in this region before 1000 BC is debated. 1550 BCE. The Arameans were a Northwest Semitic semi-nomadic and pastoralist people who originated in what is now modern Syria (Biblical Aram) during the Late Bronze Age and the early Iron Age. Grapes were grown. University of Toronto Press, 1956. , Shaughnessy, E.L.: "Sources of Western Zhou History", pp. Old Syrian; corresponding to the Middle Bronze. [14] Copper smelting was introduced by Egyptians to the Nubian city of Meroë, in modern-day Sudan, around 2600 BC. However, it is unclear at what time these monuments got to Ugarit. : "Studies of Shang Archaeology", pp. This equates to the time of Noah right through to Samuel, the last of Israel’s judges. Thousands of rock carvings depict ships, most probably representing sewn plank built canoes for warfare, fishing, and trade. Memphis in the Early Bronze Age was the largest city of the time. [43], While there may be a reason to believe that bronze work developed inside China separately from outside influence,[44] the discovery of Europoid mummies in Xinjiang suggests a possible route of transmission from the West beginning in the early second millennium BC. The Bronze Age was a time of extensive use of metals and of developing trade networks (See Tin sources and trade in ancient times). [70] Several Minoan client states lost much of their population to famine and/or pestilence. The Srubna culture was a Late Bronze Age (18th–12th centuries BC) culture. Held, and Sturt W. Manning. Yad Izhak Ben-Zvi, 1994. 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.