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• Bronze Age
  Bronze Age

  noun

  a period in the history of humankind, following the Stone Age and preceding the Iron Age, during which bronze weapons and implements were used.
• bronze age
  bronze age

  noun

  classical myth a period of human existence marked by war and violence, following the golden and silver ages and preceding the iron age

Bronze Age

American  

noun

1. a period in the history of humankind, following the Stone Age and preceding the Iron Age, during which bronze weapons and implements were used.

2. (lowercase) the third of the four ages of the human race, marked by war and violence; regarded as inferior to the silver age but superior to the following iron age.

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bronze age ¹ British  

noun

1. classical myth a period of human existence marked by war and violence, following the golden and silver ages and preceding the iron age

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Bronze Age ² British  

noun

1. archaeol

   1. a technological stage between the Stone and Iron Ages, beginning in the Middle East about 4500 _bc and lasting in Britain from about 2000 to 500 _bc , during which weapons and tools were made of bronze and there was intensive trading

   2. ( as modifier )

      a Bronze-Age tool

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Bronze Age Scientific  

1. A period of human culture between the Stone Age and the Iron Age, characterized by the use of weapons and implements made of cast bronze. The beginning of the Bronze Age is generally dated before 3000 bce in parts of Mediterranean Europe, the Middle East, and China.

2. See Note at Three Age system

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Bronze Age Cultural  

1. A period of history from roughly 4000 b.c. to the onset of the Iron Age. During the Bronze Age, people learned to make bronze tools. In the Bronze Age in Mesopotamia, the wheel and the ox-drawn plow were in use.

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Etymology

Origin of Bronze Age

First recorded in 1860–65

Compare meaning

How does bronze-age compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• Bronze Age vs. Iron Age

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Bronze Age bronze age

The Peloponnese was the heartland of the Bronze Age civilisation in Homer's epic.

From Barron's ● Jul. 28, 2026

Set in the late Bronze Age, in about the 13th Century BC, The Odyssey tells the story of the hero Odysseus and his quest to return from the Trojan War to his kingdom of Ithaca.

From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026

In a closing monologue, Odysseus looks ahead to the collapse of the Bronze Age, imagining a future in which his world and everything that happened to him will be forgotten.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026

The mines contain copper, lead, and silver, all of which played a key role in Bronze Age economies.

From Science Daily ● Apr. 29, 2026

“The Bronze Age? Goodness, I don’t know; about five thousand years ago,” she said.

From "The Subtle Knife" by Philip Pullman

The Bell Beaker people rapidly expanded and rippled out further in all directions, creating the bronze age of central Europe.

From Science Daily ● May 30, 2026

He said he had already made a "good selection of bronze age finds" before discovering the pendant.

From BBC ● Sep. 10, 2021

No comparably detailed carvings have been found from the Aegean bronze age.

From National Geographic ● Nov. 7, 2017

I doubt that any bronze age warriors fought naked.

From New York Times ● Nov. 6, 2017

But it must have been earlier in some countries, and is certainly known to have been later in others; while the Mexicans and Peruvians were still in their bronze age in recent times.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Part 3 "Brescia" to "Bulgaria" by Various