The Bronze Age was the second late period of the Metal Age. It covers the centuries from the XXV to the XI BC. and conditionally divided into three stages:
- Early - XXV to XVII centuries..
- Medium - 17th to 15th centuries
- Late - XV to IX centuries.
The Bronze Age is characterized by the improvement of labor and hunting tools, but scientists still cannot understand how ancient people came to the idea of smelting copper ore in a metallurgical way.
Bronze was the first metal obtained by alloying tin and copper, often with the addition of antimony or arsenic, and surpassed soft copper in its properties: the melting point of copper is 1000 ° C, and bronze is about 900 ° C. Such temperatures were achieved in small crucible furnaces with a sharp bottom and thick walls. Molds for casting tools and hunting tools were made of soft stone, and liquid metal was poured with clay spoons.
The development of bronze casting led to an improvement in productive forces: some shepherd tribes switched to nomadic pastoralism, while sedentary ones continued to develop and switched to plow agriculture, which was 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 paired burials of a husband and wife with traces of a woman's violent death.
The stratification of society begins, social and property differences between the we althy and the poor are becoming larger: large multi-room houses with a clear layout appear, rich settlements grow, concentrating smaller ones around them. Gradually expanding, they form the first cities in which trade and crafts are actively developing, and writing is born in the Bronze Age. This was a very important moment.
The art of the Bronze Age developed along with the improvement of labor tools: rock art acquired clear, strict outlines, and geometric patterns were replaced by colorful drawings of animals. During this period, sculpture, ornaments (in the decoration of tools and household items), and plastic art appeared. It was in the ornaments that a symbolic pictorial language was manifested, which each clan had its own. Ornamental painting had the character of amulets: they protected vessels for food from evil spirits, attracted abundance, gave he alth to the family.
The famous paintings of Karakol are interesting, depicting strange creatures, in whose figures animal and human features were intertwined. The combination of full face and profile in one human image brings these figures closer to ancient Egyptian art - all these paintings reflectedcosmogonic 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 burial boxes, and traces of red paint drawings were found on the skulls of the dead.
In addition to the necessary tools, ancient people learned how to make cast and forged bronze, gold copper jewelry, which was decorated with chasing, stones, bone, leather and shells.
The Bronze Age was the forerunner of the Iron Age, which raised civilization to a higher level of development.
