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The Late Bronze Age

Submitted by Seren Langley on Fri, 2009-07-03 16:53
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Bronze Age Skeleton from Cliffs End The Late Bronze Age from 1400 BC to 800 BC, or 3,400 years ago, is a very different Period to the Early Bronze Age. Many types of site were no longer built or used. There were no henges or traditional stone circles, burial mounds were rare, flint was no longer mined, nor stone quarried. Special flint tools were no longer made, nor was Beaker pottery or Grooved Ware pots. Instead, bronze tools were now common. Plainer, less decorated styles of pottery were used with simpler shapes. Burials were mostly cremations in small mounds, flat cemeteries, or small stone cairns. Britain has a lot in common with northern France and the Low Countries (modern Belgium and Netherlands). This page explores some of the many sites associated with the Late Bronze Age, some of the important facts about the period and ways in which we can learn about the Late Bronze Age with archaeology.

Late Bronze Age Sites

There are many sites from the Late Bronze Age which are open to visitors. To explore some of these sites, visit our Late Bronze Age Sites page.

Some Interesting Facts about the Late Bronze Age

Farming and Agriculture

People began to leave their upland farms and head back to the lowlands, as the soils became poorer and the climate began to get cooler and wetter. There were still some sites in the uplands, on high hill tops. Land was being divided into large areas by long boundaries with smaller fields inside. New types of wheat and barley were used, and perhaps new crops like beans and rye. We now find loom weights and spindle whorls, evidence that wool was being spun and woven into clothes. We find ‘saltings’ on the coast where seawater would be boiled for making salt, useful for preserving food over winter.

Fortifications

The hill top sites would later become hillforts, and some may have been fortified early on in the Late Bronze Age. There are also ring-forts or ringworks, settlements within a circular fortification (although a few square ones have been found). These have a bank with wooden ramparts or walls, and a ditch. These were homes of important people. Some sites (called crannogs) were built on artificial mounds or natural islands in lakes. The lake would form an excellent barrier against attack.

Bronze Axes

Use of Bronze

A lot of bronze artefacts have been found in rivers, lakes and bogs. It seems that people were deliberately depositing these as part of their religious practices. Even human bodies would sometimes be deposited in these wet places. It is as though water was a gateway into the spirit world. Bronze tools were also deposited in hoards in dry areas. We usually find more tools in hoards than we do on settlement sites.

A special type of site from this period is the burnt mound. These are spreads of heated stones, often found in or next to water troughs. Various ideas have been suggested for what they were, including for cooking, metal-working or as a sweat lodge (a kind of steam sauna).

Bronze technology became very sophisticated, with a large variety of very complex tools. This in turn allowed more complex wooden artefacts to be made, such as the wheel, and we have evidence for carts or wagons in the Late Bronze Age. A lot of the copper used to make the bronze was either mined in Britain, or was imported from as far away as the Alps (modern-day Switzerland). Some bronze axes were too thin or small to be useful, and were copied in lead and so could not be used as axeheads. These may have been a kind of money, a standard measure of wealth and value, used in paying tribute or for trade.

Weapons and Armour

It is striking how many artefacts are weapons or armour, such as swords and helmets. It seems that power was now in the hands of warriors rather than the priests of the Early Bronze Age . Power came from defeating rivals and taking tribute rather than controlling access to the gods. Henges and stone circles no longer needed to be built. Instead warriors fought, showed off their status though feasting and displaying bronze weapons.

Late Bronze Age Sites

There are many sites from the Late Bronze Age which are open to visitors. To explore some of these sites, visit our Late Bronze Age Sites page.

Finding out about the Late Bronze Age with Archaeology

Some of the archaeological subjects which study the Late Bronze Age and professional Archaeologists who work with the Late Bronze Age include:

If you are interested in learning more about studying Late Bronze Age Archaeology please visit the CBA’s Studying Archaeology page.