Full Answer
What happened after the Bronze Age collapse?
Among the casualties of the Late Bronze Age collapse was large-scale monument building and an entire system of writing called Linear B, an archaic form of Greek used by Mycenaean scribes to record economic transactions. “Since only the top 1 percent could read or write, they lost that ability after the collapse,” says Cline.
Did a volcanic eruption destroy the Bronze Age?
One reason for the popularity of this theory is that an earlier Bronze Age civilization was effected by just such event. A volcanic catastrophe helped to destroy the ancient civilization of Minoan Crete, when the volcanic island of Thera (Santorini), exploded in a devastating eruption, so large that the island now resembles a massive crater.
What caused the “Dark Age”?
This early “dark age” was international in nature, as multiple major powers across the Mediterranean and Near East were suddenly extinguished. Theories abound as to the possible cause of this devastating civilizational collapse; from the mysterious piratical Sea People, to a climate change catastrophe.
How did bronze tools impact the development of trade?
In this period, bronze tools were forged for the first time, revolutionizing how Europeans manipulated their world and competed for resources. The first trading networks connected the continent, as navigational knowledge reached heights that Europeans would not exceed until the fifteenth century.
What caused the end of the Bronze Age?
Historian Robert Drews in his book The End of the Bronze Age has on his list of possible causes of the collapse the following: earthquakes, mass migrations, ironworking, drought, systems collapse, raiders and changes in warfare.
How did the climate change during the Bronze Age?
Mediterranean Sea surface temperatures cooled rapidly during the Late Bronze Age, limiting freshwater flux into the atmosphere and thus reducing precipitation over land. These climatic changes could have affected Palatial centers that were dependent upon high levels of agricultural productivity.
Did climate change cause the Bronze Age Collapse?
Combining this data with archeological evidence from cuneiform tablets and correspondence between kings, the researchers suggest that the late Bronze Age crisis was a complex, single event comprised of climate change-induced drought, famines, sea-borne invasions and political struggles, rather than a series of ...
What was the climate in the Bronze Age?
The Intermediate Bronze Age (∼2500–1950 BCE) was characterized by moderate climate conditions, however, since ∼2000 BCE and during the Middle Bronze Age I (∼1950–1750 BCE) drier climate conditions were prevalent, while the Middle Bronze Age II–III (∼1750–1550 BCE) was comparably wet.
When did the Bronze Age end?
1200 BCBronze Age / End dateBronze Age Collapse The Bronze Age ended abruptly around 1200 B.C. in the Middle East, North Africa and Mediterranean Europe. Historians don't know for sure what caused the Bronze Age collapse, but many believe the transition was sudden, violent and culturally disruptive.
What was the climate like in the Iron Age?
The Iron Age Cold Epoch (also referred to as Iron Age climate pessimum or Iron Age neoglaciation) was a period of unusually cold climate in the North Atlantic region, lasting from about 900 BC to about 300 BC, with an especially cold wave in 450 BC during the expansion of ancient Greece.
Was the Bronze Age warmer?
But Pearson's visions aren't merely futurist dreams; some were once reality in Britain's much warmer past. Some 7,000 years ago, during the Bronze Age, the average temperature in Britain rose almost 4 degrees Fahrenheit above today's norms.
How did Egypt survive the Bronze Age collapse?
By defeating the Sea People, Libyans, and Nubians, the territory around Egypt was safe during the collapse of the Bronze Age, but military campaigns in Asia depleted the economy.
Why is it called the Bronze Age?
An ancient civilization is deemed to be part of the Bronze Age because it either produced bronze by smelting its own copper and alloying it with tin, arsenic, or other metals, or traded other items for bronze from production areas elsewhere.
When did the Stone Age end in Europe?
Lasting roughly 2.5 million years, the Stone Age ended around 5,000 years ago when humans in the Near East began working with metal and making tools and weapons from bronze. During the Stone Age, humans shared the planet with a number of now-extinct hominin relatives, including Neanderthals and Denisovans.
How did the invasion of the Sea Peoples affect Mediterranean trade networks?
How did the invasion of the Sea Peoples affect Mediterranean trade networks? Trade declined throughout Mesopotamia and Greece became economically and politically isolated.
Was the Bronze Age warmer?
But Pearson's visions aren't merely futurist dreams; some were once reality in Britain's much warmer past. Some 7,000 years ago, during the Bronze Age, the average temperature in Britain rose almost 4 degrees Fahrenheit above today's norms.
How did the invasion of the Sea Peoples affect Mediterranean trade networks?
How did the invasion of the Sea Peoples affect Mediterranean trade networks? Trade declined throughout Mesopotamia and Greece became economically and politically isolated.
What civilizations fell in the 12th century?
The divers are part of a scientific team excavating on land and underwater to investigate why a string of Late Bronze Age civilizations toppled—the Mycenaean kingdom in Greece, the Hittite Empire in Anatolia, and the New Kingdom of Egypt. Each fell around the same time, in the 12th century BCE. Over the past year, the team has drilled nine cores. This month, they’re looking to open the first of the set.
What caused the Mycenaeans to die?
Rather than the sudden shock of a volcanic eruption, however, the Mycenaeans faced the gradual grind of natural climate change in the form of a widespread drought.
What did Levy study?
As they pore over the contents of the cores, Levy and his collaborators will study the sediment layers for signs of flooding or drought, and the organic matter to understand the health of the sea, the presence of plant species, and the fish that were available. The jackpot, says Levy, would be to uncover artifacts from ancient ports, which would reveal what the Mycenaeans lacked and needed to import, and what they exported.
How long did the Mediterranean Sea drought last?
The drought lasted at least 150 years, and possibly as long as four centuries, in what is now Syria and Cyprus. But to date, key pieces of the puzzle remain elusive. Over the next few years, researchers anticipate finding the answers to key questions: the extent of the drought, whether it triggered famine, and if it contributed to the spread of disease.
Is the Minoan civilization resilient?
Some societies are resilient, some are not. For example, the ancient Minoan civilization primarily occupied the Greek island of Crete until disaster struck around 1645 BCE. A volcano on nearby Santorini erupted, causing a massive tsunami, which historians believed wiped out Minoan society. But archaeological evidence now suggests the Minoans suffered a more gradual decline; the eruption was only the final blow. Had they had a stronger state or social networks, Goodman says, the Minoans may have responded effectively to the destruction caused by the tsunami and collectively recovered over time.
Who invaded the Mycenaeans?
The Sea Peoples, multiple groups that may have included the Philistines and Homer’s Danaans, repeatedly invaded the Mycenaeans. Little is known about them or where they came from, though they may have been environmental refugees, abandoning land affected by the same drought the Mycenaeans were grappling with, says Cline.
Did the drought affect the Mycenaeans?
It’s likely the drought played a role in the Mycenaeans’ decline. But even if so, Bridget Buxton, an archaeologist at the University of Rhode Island, says we should be leery of oversimplifying history and focusing too closely on any one force. “In this age of environmental awareness,” Buxton said by email, “climate change becomes the lens through which people today interpret the past.”
When did the Bronze Age civilization collapse?
Analyzing ancient pollen grains from Larnaca Salt Lake in Cyprus, scientists concluded that a massive drought caused the collapse of Late Bronze Age civilizations about 3,200 years ago .
What led to the demise of these civilizations?
What led to the large-scale demise of these civilizations has remained “one of the mysteries of the ancient world,” researchers wrote in the journal PLOS One on Wednesday. Archaeologists have proposed several theories, including climate change. But these relied mainly on ancient texts and art.
What caused the collapse of the Mediterranean civilizations?
Many scholars have cited warfare, political unrest and natural disaster as factors. But a new study supports the theory that climate change was largely responsible.
When did grasslands become arid?
They found that lush woodlands gave way to arid grasslands about 3,200 years ago , marking one of “the driest [periods] of the last 5,000 years in the eastern Mediterranean region,” said Joel Guiot, a paleoclimatologist at Aix-Marseille University in France and a study coauthor.
When did the pollen grains of Cyprus dry up?
Analyzing ancient pollen grains from Cyprus, researchers concluded that a massive drought hit the region about 3,200 years ago . Ancient writings have described crop failures, famines and invasions about the same time, suggesting that the drying trend triggered a chain of events that led to widespread societal collapse of these Late Bronze Age civilizations.
When did the Bronze Age collapse?
In a matter of decades, though, that thriving culture underwent a rapid and near-total collapse. After 1177 B.C., the survivors of this Bronze Age collapse were plunged into a centuries-long "Dark Ages" that saw the disappearance of some written languages and brought once-mighty kingdoms to their knees.
What was the economy like in the Bronze Age?
Not unlike today, a truly "globalized" economy once existed in the Late Bronze Age in which multiple ancient civilizations depended on each other for raw materials—especially copper and tin to produce bronze—and also trade goods made from ceramic, ivory and gold.
What natural disasters destabilized the Bronze Age?
The megadrought wasn't the only natural disaster that destabilized Late Bronze Age civilizations. Cline conducted research with the geophysicist Amos Nur which revealed that during the 50-year period from 1225 to 1175 B.C. the Mediterranean region was hit with a rapid-fire series of major earthquakes known as an "earthquake storm."
Why did the Egyptians and Babylonians get spared the worst of the drought?
The Egyptians and Babylonians were spared the worst of the drought because of their proximity to mighty rivers like the Nile and the Tigris and Euphrates. But other civilizations weren’t so lucky. Where there's drought, there's famine. And Cline doesn’t believe it's a coincidence that the worst famine years correspond with the invasion of the Sea Peoples, when desperate climate refugees would have been on the hunt for resources.
What was the domino effect of the Bronze Age?
Once trade routes for tin and copper were disrupted and cities began to fall, Cline says it had a domino effect that resulted in a widespread “system collapse.”
What caused the collapse of ancient civilizations?
It's likely that the simultaneous demise of so many ancient civilizations wasn't caused by a single event or disaster, but by a "perfect storm" of multiple stressors—an epic drought, desperate famine, roving marauders, and more—that toppled these interdependent kingdoms like dominos, according to Eric Cline, author of 1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed.
What civilizations were in the Mediterranean?
More than 3,200 years ago, the Mediterranean and Near East were home to a flourishing and interconnected Bronze Age civilization fueled by lucrative trade in valuable metals and finished goods. The great kingdoms and empires of the day—including the Egyptians, Babylonians, Minoans, Mycenaeans, Hittites and more—had the technological know-how to build monumental palaces and employed scribes to keep records of their finances and military exploits.
What Was The Bronze Age Collapse?
The late Bronze Age saw a wave of highly developed civilizations decline and collapse quite suddenly, between around 1200 – 1150 BCE . Several early writing systems vanished, in what is sometimes referred to as the world’s first dark age, and many regions would take centuries to recover.
How did the late Bronze Age society work?
The states of the late Bronze Age period tended to be organized in a similar fashion, with a series of central palaces, or central temples, that distributed grain and other foodstuffs. In theory, ancient Bronze Age leaders got much of their position in society from this communal system of food distribution. This granted Bronze Age leaders a lot of prestige and power, but made their positions precarious — if they failed to deliver prosperity, they were likely to be cast aside.
What is the name of the chariot that depicts the Mycenaean civilization?
Amphoroid Krater, 14th century BCE, from Greece, depicting Mycenaean chariots. Different versions of this theory tie-in quite neatly with theories about the Sea People. The civilizations which emerged after the Bronze Age collapse were quite different from their predecessors.
What were the causes of the collapse of the Bronze Age civilization?
Some historians believe a different kind of natural disaster may be behind the collapse of the late Bronze Age civilizations — earthquakes.
Why did the Sea People appear?
Some historians attribute the appearance of the Sea People to a wave of larger migrations caused by an environmental catastrophe — a severe famine. This theory is supported by the presence of ox-carts in some of the depictions of the Sea People in Egypt, which has led to speculation that the Sea People were in fact refugees of some kind.
What was the dark age?
This early “dark age” was international in nature, as multiple major powers across the Mediterranean and Near East were suddenly extinguished. Theories abound as to the possible cause of this devastating civilizational collapse; from the mysterious piratical Sea People, to a climate change catastrophe. Here is a brief introduction ...
Why were the raiders blamed for the collapse of the Bronze Age?
Although they are specifically mentioned in the context of late Bronze Age Egypt, these raiders have since been blamed for the Bronze Age collapse itself, on the grounds that they may have swept across the Mediterranean, leaving a wave of devastation in their wake. One particular inscription states: