c2500 BC – c700 BC
4000 years ago, people from Europe came to Britain, and took over land used by the Neolithic people. They still used stone for tools, but they had a new special ingredient…Bronze! Bronze is made from a mixture of copper and tin. It is very hard and strong, perfect for making sharp edges.
People
Bronze Age people were really good at making metal tools and weapons, such as axes and daggers. Chieftains had their own bronze-smiths. For ordinary folk, there were travelling bronze-smiths. They set up camp near a settlement, trading new bronze tools for old ones, food and clothes.Places
Early Bronze Age people still moved from place to place following herds along special routes so as not to step on a neighbour’s path. But later, about 3000 years ago, they started to settle down. Settlements of huts for about 6-10 people were constructed out of twigs and mud, with small fenced paddocks for animal pens and growing crops (wheat and barley). With each season, they were able to re-sow some of the previous year’s crops, and so begin to sustain their lifestyle.Times
People in the Bronze Age discovered how to spin, weave and make clothes. Although they still wore animal hides, they could hand pluck a sheep for its fleece and weave it into proper garments. They made elaborate bronze fastenings such as buttons and pins to help keep their clothes on!Bronze Age people buried their dead under special mounds with a ditch running around them. These were called round barrows. Sometimes they cremated the bodies and put them in special vessels called urns. Wooden track-ways over marshy land became important ceremonial routes. People could throw offerings to the gods, whilst carrying the dead to their final resting-place.
They also had special temples, which acted as a place to gather and worship. The most famous example in Britain is Stonehenge.
Bronze Age Surrey
- A Bronze Age field system was excavated at Hengrove Farm in Staines.
The field systems at Hengrove Farm
Image: Surrey County Archaeological Unit
Image: Surrey County Archaeological Unit
- A Late Bronze Age axe was found in Shepperton. A bronze tip was fitted to a larger wooden blade, which in turn was attached to the wooden haft (handle).
- A Bronze Age enclosure was found at Queen Mary’s Hospital, Carshalton in the valley of the River Wandle.
- A Bronze Age post-built round house with a large porch was excavated at Home Farm, Laleham
- A crouched burial was found during excavations of an early Bronze Age barrow at Coldharbour Lane, Thorpe.
- Bronze Age cremation urns were found during excavations at North Park Farm, Bletchingley.
- Bronze Age site at Runnymede Bridge
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