BRONZE AGE, the period represented by archeologists as intervening between the Stone Age and the Iron Age, when weapons, utensils and implements were, as a rule, made of bronze. The demarcations of these periods, however, are far from being clearly defined and overlap to some extent. The use of stone for weapons, utensils, etc., naturally preceded the use of metals by primitive man, and the order in which the different metals would come into service would depend upon several factors. The nearness of the metallic deposits to the surface of the earth, the relative degree of purity in which they are usually found and ease in smelt ing and working would all affect the sequence of their introduction. The study of the traces of the Bronze Age in Europe apparently leads to the conclusion that throughout that conti nent the introduction of copper and its alloys was nearly synchronous, but the transition to the Iron Age took place more or less slowly in different regions, the new metal being intro duced from the south and superseding bronze soonest where the paths of early commerce were most numerous or most frequently trod den. The implements of the Bronze Age in clude swords, awls, knives, gouges, hammers, daggers and arrow-heads. The age is also
characterized by the fact that cremation was the mode of burial instead of interment. Be sides weapons of various kinds and beautiful workmanship, amulets, coronets, diadems of solid gold and vases of gold ornamented with gold and bronze were produced. The weapons are often Oriental in pattern, which is an indi cation of the traces of Eastern culture in the Bronze Age. In Great Britain and Scandinavia the Bronze Age lingered much longer, accord ing to certain archeologists, than in Italy, France and Spain. In Greece, the use of bronze distin guishes the Mycenaean period, especially in its earlier days. In the New World, especially in Peru, the existence of the Bronze Age is indi cated. The chronology of the three ages presents marked difficulties, and the periods should be regarded as stages of evolution in civilization still exemplified among races of slow development. The Bronze Age in Europe may be approximately placed between 2000 ac. and 1800 B.C. Consult Lord Avebury, (Prehis toris Times) (1900) ; Evans, Sir J., (Ancient Bronze Implements of Great (1881) ; Chartre, (Age du bronze en France.)