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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

Oetzi and these Bronze Age salt miners ate more fibre and whole grain than modern-day people, Sarhan explained.

From Barron's • Jun. 3, 2026

Legitimate Cycladics were made in the Cyclades, a group of islands in Greece, during the Bronze Age about 3,000 years ago.

From BBC • May 22, 2026

Previous studies using lead isotope and chemical analysis of Scandinavian Bronze Age artifacts have suggested that much of their metal originated in southwestern Spain.

From Science Daily • Apr. 29, 2026

Previously, the first known dice dated back to the Bronze Age about 5,500 years ago, in such places as Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley of Asia.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 2, 2026

The explosion of technology since the Industrial Revolution impresses us today, but the medieval explosion was equally impressive compared with that of the Bronze Age, which in turn dwarfed that of the Upper Paleolithic.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond