The Neolithic: Bronze and

Iron Ages
1. The Neolithic Period
2. The first sedentary societies
3. The Bronze and Iron Ages
4. The Iberian Peninsula

History
 1. The Neolithic Period
The Neolithic period is the second period Prehistory is divided into.
It began around 8000 B.C., when agriculture and the practice of keeping livestock were
developed.

Origin of Neolithic Causes Consequences

• They learnt to • New tools made from

• Earliest Neolithic polished stone were
cultivate the land
settlements created
(agriculture)
• Fertile Crescent (Near
East).

• Humans changed from

predators to food
• They learnt to producers.
domesticate animals
• Neolithic culture spread (livestock)
all over the world from
these points. • The population increased.

History
2. The first sedentary societies
Neolithic groups abandoned their nomadic way of life and became sedentary. This means
they settled permanently in villages and small settlements.
Settlements
• Some of the oldest
settlements are Jericho and
Catalhoyuk.
• The houses were made of
mud, wood, reeds and straw.
• The crop fields and animal
pens were situated around
the village.
• These villages were built on
river banks so they had
access to water for drinking
and watering the crops.
New society New beliefs
• New economy:
• Ancestor worship
Craftsmanship (basket
• Burials also became more
and pottery making,
pindles, looms…) common.
• The social equality of the • Forces of nature were
previous era was deified
maintained. None of the • One of the first divinities
groups held power over was the mother goddess.
the others. The most
valued opinions were
• A new form of artistic
those of the elders and, in
expression emerged with
periods of conflict, the
the decoration of ceramic
chieftains.
objects.
History
 3 . The Bronze and Iron Ages(I)
The Bronze and Iron Ages began when metallurgy was discovered in the Near East in around 4000 B.C.,
although metal objects were already being used during the Neolithic Period.

• Before 5000 B.C., copper began to be used on the Anatolian Peninsula.

The Copper Age • Initially, objects were made by heating the metal and beating it into the required shape.
Later, the ore was smelted in an oven and poured into a mould in the shape of the
(IV millennium B. C.) required object.
• As copper was not very strong, it was mainly used to make decorative objects.

• Improvements in smelting techniques led to the creation of an alloy or mixture of two

metals, copper and tin, to make bronze.
The Bronze Age
• Bronze is stronger than copper and was also used to make weapons.
(III-II millenniums B. C.)
• The oldest known object made from bronze was discovered in Mesopotamia and dates
from around 3000 B.C.

• When the technique for smelting iron was discovered, iron working began.
The Iron Age • Iron is stronger than bronze.
(I millenium B. C.) • This was achieved for the first time on the Anatolian Peninsula around 1500 B.C.
• Many types of objects were made of iron, the most important ones being swords.

History
 3 . The Bronze and Iron Ages(II)
The discovery of metallurgy led to important developments in agriculture and trade.
Economy
• Metals were used to make
stronger and more effective
agricultural tools, like the iron
plough.
• Bartering: one product was
exchanged for another without
using money.
• Trade benefitted from some of
the inventions that were created
at the beginning of the Bronze
and Iron Ages such as the
potter’s wheel, the wheeled cart,
sail boats and maps drawn on
clay tablets.
Society
• Due to the prosperity created by
trade, the populations of villages
grew and they became towns.
• Division of labour began
• Social differences appeared.
• The increasing wealth of some
towns led to sackings. The most
powerful position was held by
the military chieftain, who
eventually took control of the
decision making.
• War made the position of
women weaker.
History
Culture and art
• War influenced religion. New male
war gods were added to the
female divinities and eventually
became the most important ones.
• The dates of the most important
religious celebrations were
established around the agrarian
calendar.
• The most important art forms from
the Bronze and Iron Ages were
megalithic monuments:
o Menhir
o Dolmen
o Cromlech
 4. The Iberian Peninsula
A series of cultures emerged on the Iberian Peninsula during the Neolithic Period, Bronze and Iron Ages,
which were characterised by the type of pottery they made and the burial customs they used.

Neolithic Period Bronze and Iron Ages

(VI millennium B. C.)
Iron Age
(I millennium B. C.)
Copper Age Bronze Age
(3 000 -1 700 B. C.) (1 700 -1 000 B. C.)
• The Cardial culture
• The Celts arrived from the
(Levante)
north of Europe and
• Pit Grave culture occupied the north and
(Catalonia) west of the Iberian
• Cave paintings also Peninsula.
appeared all over the
• El Argar culture settled • Phoenician and Greek
peninsula.
in Almería traders settled on the
• Bell Beaker culture Mediterranean coast. The
• Balearic Islands:
• Millares culture most important culture
Talayotic culture
(Almería) they found was the
(taulas, navetas and
Tartessian culture in the
talayots)
Guadalquivir valley.
History