What changes occurred in the climate of the Bronze Age. The roots of the Bronze Age crisis lie in climate change. Late Bronze Age within the eastern zone of the European metallurgical province

We settled on a miracle. It began approximately 11,600 years ago, and is called the Holocene, or more understandably, the “last interglacial.”

To continue, I need to explain where, from what data, I take all subsequent temperature graphs.

In reconstructing the climate of early eras, they use different methods. This includes studies of tree rings, determination of the rate of accumulation of silt in closed lakes, the nature of pollen entering swamps, and determination of temperature in glaciers. In a good way, all these methods should be used in combination to determine the climate in a particular place.

However, my graphs have only one source - research on drilling of the Greenland ice sheet. Namely GISP2. (The richer you are, the happier you are.)

Why Greenland, and not, for example, the data from the Vostok station in Antarctica? Because Greenland is the northern part Atlantic Ocean, close to Europe, the Middle East and North Africa - the places where civilization, writing and history itself arose.

Here is a graph of temperatures over the last 50,000 years. Let me note once again that by the beginning of the Holocene, Homo sapiens had populated all continents, simultaneously freeing themselves from competitors and relatives.


The Stone Age occupied more than half of the Holocene. Our tinkering with metals has a short history.

You see where the gray background begins, where the temperature graph went up. This was the beginning of the Holocene, and at the same time a significant event occurred. Around 9.250 BC e. people began collecting fallen wild and cultivation non-falling domestic wheat in Anatolia in the territory of modern Turkey. People stopped collecting and began to independently plant plants!

A note aside. When reading about early history, it is easy to get confused about dates. Historians use dates, either counting from “common era” (began 2015 years ago), or counting from “present time” (began in 1950 AD). That is, the dates 1500 BC, 1500 AD, 1500 bp are absolutely different time, but to the eye they are very similar. Thus the date is 9.250 BC. e. = 11,200 bp (years from 1950 AD). This is what we see on the graph.
I would like to note that further in the story, for the sake of consistency, I will mention some “years ago.” This date, counting from 2000 AD, if you want, add 15 years yourself.

The Holocene began, and the New Stone Age, or Neolithic, began, the time of agriculture. Amazing coincidence, isn't it!

Characteristic features of the Neolithic - stone polished And drilled(for example, an axe) tools, development spinning And weaving. The entry into the Neolithic is a transition from hunting and gathering to agriculture and/or cattle breeding, and the end of the Neolithic dates back to the time of the appearance of metal tools and weapons, that is, the beginning of the Copper, Bronze or Iron Age.

It seems to me personally (I may be wrong) that the reason for the transition to agriculture was that notch down in the graph above, at the very beginning of the Holocene, when warming began sharply. An event occurred that interrupted the warming and sharply dropped the temperature by 5 degrees. In my opinion, the descent into the ocean of the Baltic glacial lake, which occurred 11,700-11,600 years ago, fits well into the role of this event. The process was extremely rapid, took 1-2 years, 7-8 thousand km3 of cold water entered the ocean fresh water, which disrupted the current pattern in the North Atlantic. A similar descent of the North American Lake Agassiz into the North Atlantic caused a significant cooling 8,200 years ago, we will remember it later. So, since it got colder, it means that the excess population must have died out. BUT the “surplus” population chose not to die out, but to work harder and invent agriculture...

It should be noted that different cultures entered the Neolithic era (we write Neolithic, we read agriculture) at different times. In the Middle East (well, where Turkey, Syria, Iraq are), the Neolithic began around 9500 BC. e. And some cultures of America and Oceania have still not completely transitioned from the Stone Age to the Iron Age. That is, the Middle East was at the forefront of progress.

However, what kind of progress was this? The transition to agriculture is often called the “Neolithic Revolution.” We have somehow accepted since 1917 that revolution is progress and movement for the better, that is, the word has a positive connotation. However, let's figure it out.

Imagine yourself for a moment as a member of a tribe. Your position in this group and the attitude of your fellow tribesmen depends on your physical qualities. For example, you are hungry, you want to eat. Well, in front of you is a forest, a meadow, a river. Your well-being depends on your dexterity, strength, and even cunning. Luck won't hurt either, but it depends on the will of the gods. If you are dexterous and strong, you will get, for example, a deer. How much joy and positive emotions you will experience!!! People still go fishing and hunting for these emotions. So, you can’t eat the deer yourself, so you will share it with others. Grateful fellow tribesmen will feed you afterwards if you suddenly get sick. And if you are a good organizer, then after a successful hunt, they will probably take you on the next hunt, and will even obey you. Everyone wants to eat barbecue. And if someone envies you, let him first prove his superiority with deeds. By the way, if you are full, then you lie down and scratch your belly or draw pictures, or dance with women, or play the bone flute, or discuss the latest hunt with the men. In general, relax. As a last resort, you can repair the net or patch the skin.
As you can see, there is no opposition to nature, balance and harmony, proper physical activity and the joy of victory. Everything is in place. In general, for those who have not read it, I advise you to read “Vamirekh”.

What did people get as a result of the Neolithic revolution and the transition to agriculture? It is known that it is an opportunity not to depend on the whims of nature, and to steadily plan your future. But at what cost!

So, you have collected the seeds. You must immediately set aside part of the crop for planting and keep it intact and safe. Then you won’t be able to simply chew them - you must either grind them or cook them over a fire. But there is no cast iron! Bread in the form of a flatbread made of flour and water, fried on a hot stone, is from here, from the Neolithic. Moreover, the food is the same every day. What's it like? So that's not so bad. In the spring you need to loosen the soil and plant the seeds. (Did you dig a vegetable garden with an iron shovel? How fun?) Then protect the crops from weeds, birds, and drought. And after all this, if you are lucky enough to harvest. Same too. That is, you “plowed and worked hard” but there was no “joy of victory” at all.

In addition, grain must be stored somewhere, distributed, and coordinated sowing and harvesting. So you need a special guy, a “priest.” And then he will tell you how he communicated with the gods and what they advised him. And he’ll sneak a couple of grains home for lunch. But what can we do - he knows when it’s best to plant, and there’s enough grain for everyone - we’ll feed them.

Hmm, the evil neighbors have their eyes on our grain, they want to rob us, because they are not far from us! This is not “10,000 acres in person” from past eras. You will also have to feed your strong uncles, the “warriors,” so that the adversaries will be discouraged.

You can not only fight with your neighbors, but also trade. Again, we need a surplus of “what is not needed” and a special “trader” guy. And he exchanges grain, for example, beautiful skins. You look more respectable in them. For the “priest”, for his wife, and even for his wife, it is not good to forget. Here's the breakdown...

And if you are sick, then you need to go to bow to the barn guy. And ask! After all, it’s not he who owes you, but you who owe him! He is in charge of the barn. But the barn doesn’t need sick people... That’s where debt slavery grows its legs.

More work, less pleasure - this is the price to pay for a more or less stable future... Although the drought and frost have not been canceled...
“The small mobile bands of hunters and gatherers who dominated the previous Mesolithic era settled in cities and towns near their fields, radically changing the environment through cultivation (including irrigation) and storage of harvested crops in specially constructed buildings and structures.
An increase in labor productivity led to an increase in population, the creation of relatively large armed detachments guarding the territory, division of labor, revitalization of trade, the emergence of property rights, centralized administration, political structures, ideology and new systems of knowledge that made it possible to transfer it from generation to generation not only orally, but also in writing. The appearance of writing is an attribute of the end of the prehistoric period, which usually coincides with the end of the Neolithic and the Stone Age in general.
The Neolithic revolution can be interpreted as the destruction of the harmonious coexistence of man with nature; from now on he finds himself in opposition to it, adjusting the environment to his needs, which leads to the emergence of civilization and technological progress.”
The “Golden Age” is over... Man kicked himself out of Paradise.

Let's go further through the periods in the Holocene.


Temperature chart of the last interglacial (Holocene).

We will conduct all subsequent dances with a tambourine around this schedule. The graph emerges from somewhere below. This is, as we remember, the Ice Age, which ended approximately 11,690 years ago. At the top of the graph I have duplicated the years from 2000 uh. Below are the years from the birth of Christ.

There is a horizontal red line on the graph - the current temperature. As can be seen, even compared to the Holocene it is quite low. It was warmer and no one sounded the alarm!

In addition, the chart contains the caption “Bond Event” with a number. What does it mean? Uncle Bond, but not the one who is 007, revealed " 1470-year Holocene climate cycles based primarily on petrological indicators of North Atlantic ice drift" In general, the climate is variable, sometimes there are droughts (Bond No. 2, Bond No. 3, Bond No. 4), and cold snaps (Bond No. 5). I don’t know the exact reasons for the “walking” temperature on the graph, but trying to figure it out, I superimposed on the Holocene temperature graph a graph of solar activity (naturally reconstructed), well, the one about sunspots. It turned out interesting.


Temperature peaks (as well as dips, which indicates a trend reversal) coincide with peaks of solar activity. This indicates a significant influence of the activity of our sun on temperature. But this influence is complemented by other reasons unknown to me. The second observation is that the “Bond event” always stands on a cliff, followed by a decline in solar activity (the “Bond event 5” is especially indicative; it is observed not at the beginning of the cold snap, but later).

But we digress.
Before continuing, I have to introduce the concept of the “fertile crescent”. Here's what it looks like on the map.


Here are the main places of our subsequent story: Egypt, Mesopotamia (Upper - “Assyria”, Lower - “Babylon”), Anatolia (present-day Turkey). Plus, let’s remember the Greeks and Romans who were not part of the Fertile Crescent.

The red arrow is a reminder to us that during the change between glaciation and interglacial, animals and plants migrated across this land bridge, escaping from the glacier, or vice versa, developing the vacated spaces. Because of this, the Fertile Crescent had an enviable diversity of animal and plant species. The wild ancestors of 8 major Neolithic cultures grew here ( Einkorn wheat, einkorn wheat, barley, flax, chickpeas, peas, lentils and bitter vetch) and were inhabited by the ancestors of 3 of the 5 most important species of domestic animals: goats, sheep and pigs, and the cow and horse were introduced by the nomads of the steppes through the Iranian plateau (inscription "Mass").

Let's return to the temperature graph.


On the graph, periodicals are presented in relation to this very Fertile Crescent.

In the Neolithic, two large periods can be distinguished. Before and after the invention and use of ceramics (fired pots). Accordingly, “pre-ceramic Neolithic” and “ceramic Neolithic”.
What do we know about the early – pre-ceramic Neolithic?

Settlements begin to spread from the foothills to the Iranian and Anatolian plateaus, and finally people populate Mesopotamia. There is an important point here! It may seem that it is more convenient to “farm” near a river than near some hills. But that's the thing: land near the river – This extensive swamps, with accompanying delights (evaporation, vileness, etc.). The lower reaches of rivers (for example, “Babylon” on the map above) were developed much later than the upper reaches (for example, “Assyria”), only in the next era , despite the supposedly greater fertility of the lower reaches.

It’s one thing to just dig up the ground and plant seeds, but it’s quite another thing when you still need to build dams, canals, etc.

The settlements are still autonomous, but a more complex regional system begins to form: settlements are located at closer distances from each other, as good harvests lead to a decrease in the area of ​​individual settlements.

During excavations of settlements of that period, no obvious signs of social stratification were found, or at least during this period it was not noticeable. Almost all dwellings were of the same size and design, and the differences found were minimal.

And then somewhere around 8,500 years ago ( in the textbook they will write the poorly understood “in the first half of the 6th millennium BC.” e.") is coming, as archaeologists would say " a phase of stagnation or crisis, as evidenced by a marked decrease in archaeological material evidence" And this simply poured glacial Lake Agassiz into the North Atlantic, causing a significant cooling. Plus, the Sturegg underwater landslide caused a megatsunami that flooded Doggerland and separated England from the mainland. Plus " Bond event #5“probably dried it out (subsequent “Bond events” caused a drought). And such an attack for two centuries. And the name for this is “ cold snap 6.200 BC e. ».

In general, life began to get better, and then... You have a choice - “get over it” or die out. Invented. Pots. The Ceramic Neolithic began.

I don’t recommend laughing about pots. Try making a pot out of clay, then placing it in the fire to fire. You won't get a pot - it will crack! This a whole science. And there were probably craftsmen who did it best. Here you have an artisan “potter” who lives by specialization.

Pots are a new word in storage, cooking and transportation food.

The second important innovation that arose during the Ceramic Neolithic was irrigated agriculture(irrigation).

In addition to the introduction of pots and irrigation, it can be noted that settlements became much larger than in the Pre-Pottery Neolithic. Gradually increases craft specialization. Trade was carried out.
Society is becoming more and more hierarchical. In a number of settlements the presence of wealthy people is noted. At the same time, conflicts are increasing both within villages and between them. Gradually, settlements become more and more fortified, and walls .

At this stage, people, in addition to their own farming, are increasingly involved in public works. Through the accumulation of warehouse stocks and the collection of “capital”, a primitive “ private property", this also arises theft. Gradually the beginnings of an organized justice.

Society began to bury its deceased outside the settlements (instead of the previous customs of burying the deceased inside houses, for example, under the bed of the deceased, or near the house).

Inside the ceramic Neolithic one should highlight “ drought 3900 BC e. » ( Bond Event #4 which occurred 5,900 years ago), which represented the most intense desertification of the Holocene era. It was this drought that began the transformation of the Sahara into a modern desert. All behind all previous droughts corresponding to Bond cycles (including " cooling 6200 BC uh.") there was a restoration of the previous climatic conditions. However, after the drought of 3900 BC. e. only partial recovery followed, followed by accelerated desertification in the subsequent millennium.

Drought triggers worldwide migration to river valleys , for example, from central North Africa to the Nile Valley, which over time led to the emergence of the first complex, highly organized civilizations (Egypt, Sumer). There is little water - everyone goes to the rivers. And these crowds must be organized, otherwise they will kill each other and ruin other people’s property. And so, you see, they will feed themselves under the strict guidance of the fathers of the nation...

There is an opinion that this period was associated with the establishment patriarchal social order, social delamination, the appearance regular army.

And just 4 centuries after the drought, 55 centuries ago, the Neolithic (that is, the Stone Age but with the prefix “new”) gives way to Bronze Age.

Bronze is an alloy of copper and most often tin. The alloy has better “consumer” properties than pure metals individually. Metallurgy requires ways to maintain high temperatures ( melting point 930-1140 °C), metal casting methods ( tin bronze is difficult to forge, sharpen, it is a casting metal). Yes, and thoughtlessly fusing metals is bad; you need experience, knowledge and skills. Try to smelt a bronze hatchet in your spare time without using iron saucepans or gas burners! That is, again we need a separate “blacksmith” guy.

Damn, why can’t we live in peace, why bother with metallurgy? Moreover, it was in the Bronze Age that “real” ones appeared cities. It’s simple: the beginning of the Bronze Age in the Middle East 5,500 years ago, and there is a significant dip in the temperature graph. It’s getting colder... “Kume it” or die out.

So, in the Middle East, the Bronze Age is divided into 3 periods: Early Bronze Age (5,500-4,000 years ago), Middle Bronze Age (4,000-3,600 years ago), Late Bronze Age (3,600-3,200 years ago).

The Bronze Age in the Middle East began, as you guessed, in Anatolia (the territory of modern Turkey). The mountains of the Anatolian Plateau had rich deposits of copper and tin. Copper was also mined in Cyprus, Ancient Egypt, Israel, the Armenian Highlands, Iran and around the Persian Gulf. The Fertile Crescent's growing need for tin (which is less abundant in nature than copper) led to the creation trade routes .

The Early Bronze Age is characterized urbanization and the appearance cities-states, as well as the emergence writing .

4,200 years ago the climate helped again, it happened Bond Event No. 3« drought 2200 BC “- the drought lasted a whole century and contributed to the fall of the Ancient Kingdom in Egypt and the Akkadian Empire in Mesopotamia.

In particular, in Egypt, low Nile floods led to destruction Ancient kingdom; famine, civil unrest and disunity continued for approximately 40 years. Eventually, Egypt was united into the Middle Kingdom. Akkad disappeared in Mesopotamia, which was later replaced by Assyria (in the upper reaches) and Babylon (in the lower reaches).


4,000 years ago. Beginning of the Middle Bronze Age.

We will leave the events of the history of Egypt and Mesopotamia for later, but now we will move on through the periods.

Somehow it is not at all surprising that another dip in temperature 3,600 years ago was replaced by the Middle Bronze Age - the Late Bronze Age. On the temperature graph, it is the Late Bronze Age that is the last period of reaching the highest temperatures in the Holocene. He clearly stands out as a tall cliff, and looks at the current temperatures as unworthy. The further direction (trend) of temperatures may be “saw-toothed,” but only downward.

The Late Bronze Age was characterized by competition between the powerful states of the region and their vassals ( New Kingdom in Egypt, Assyria And Babylon in Mesopotamia, Hittites in Anatolia). Extensive contacts were established with Aegean civilization (in present-day Greece).

The turn of the Bronze Age 3,200 years ago. And again the temperature drop is comparable to the “cooling of 6200 BC.” This failure is called simply and horribly - Bronze Age disaster!!!

In the period 1206-1150. BC e. (3.221-3.165 years ago) occurred invasion “peoples of the sea”, the destruction of all, I emphasize, all large states and many cities of that time, catastrophic changes in the social structure, the loss of many traditions, including writing ( Linear Mycenaean and Luwian writing disappeared). On large territory the period begins dark ages ».

Has begun Iron Age. Its scope is 3,200 years ago (1200 BC) - 1,660 years ago (340 AD).
They first learned to process iron in the northern regions of Anatolia (that is, the southern coast of the Black Sea) already in the late Bronze Age. According to established opinion, the tribes subordinate to the Hittites were the first to master the technology of producing iron.

It is impossible not to mention here about “ Axial time » 2,800-2,200 years ago, a period in history during which mythological worldview has come rational, philosophical. New philosophies emerge - Judaism, ancient philosophy, Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism.

During the Axial Age, the emergence and widespread dissemination of ideas that society changes over time, that “should” does not coincide with “what is”, that a more just social order is possible and that it can be achieved by making certain conscious efforts for this. Democracy comes from here... All these are attempts to find an answer to the question “who is to blame and what to do,” because “we lived so well, but here...”
The pre-Axial hegemons (Egypt, Assyria-Babylon) were unable to adapt to the changes and ceased to exist. New heroes have appeared on the stage...

In this regard, it should be remembered “ Iron Age cooling ", which lasted approximately 2,900 - 2,300 years ago, with a peak temperature drop 2,450 years ago. Doesn't the coincidence in time with the Axial Time seem strange to you? Plus, 2,800 years ago came “ Bond Event #2" - drought in the Eastern Mediterranean...

It was the Iron Age that was the heyday of the familiar Ancient Greece, Empires of Alexander the Great and Ancient Rome!

The Iron Age ended 1,660 years ago (340 AD) with the collapse of the Roman Empire, under the onslaught of barbarians as a result Great Migration of Peoples. Have you now guessed what moved these peoples? That's right, on the graph temperature dip , not the same as during the Bronze Age catastrophe, but not much less. In addition, the supported " Bond event #1" Anyone will fall apart here...

I hope you are not tired? Let’s admire the now more understandable graph, leaving minor details for later...


As an elective, I propose to find the mythical dates of the “Creation of the World”:
5493 BC e. - Alexandrian chronology.
5508 BC e. - in the “Byzantine era”. Used in Rus' until 1700 AD.
4004 BC e. - according to the Masoretic text of the Old Testament.
3761 BC e. - according to the Jewish calendar.
3114 BC e. - according to the Mayan calendar.
3102 BC e. - Kali Yuga has begun.

Over the centuries and millennia, global climate change has had a radical impact on the course of world history. Suffice it to recall the great migration of peoples, when the cold approaching from the north drove the tribes of barbarian Europe to Rome. Climate is one of the most powerful engines of history.

Events that in the historical environment are usually called Late Bronze Age crisis, took place about 3200 years ago, that is, around 1200 BC.

By this time, the Eastern Mediterranean stood at the forefront of civilization. In its western part, as earlier in Mesopotamia, and before that in the Nile Valley, powerful political and military formations began to emerge - the Mycenaean city-states: Mycenae And Tiryns V Argolis, Athens in Attica , Knossos in Crete and so on. Mighty Hittite kingdom covered most of Anatolia, the northwestern regions of Syria and invaded upper Mesopotamia. In the Levant (mainland of the Eastern Mediterranean), coastal cities Canaan flourished due to trade between Egypt and Mesopotamia. Wise Rule pharaohs Networks I And Ramesses II ascended New Egyptian Kingdom to the heights of prosperity.

However, at the end of XIII - beginning of XII centuries BC these grandiose and promising civilizations are collapsing one after another.

Historians have found more than enough reasons for this: natural disasters(earthquakes, tsunamis, etc.), technological progress, which entailed a fundamental reorganization of the Eastern Mediterranean society, the internal instability of huge but fragile empires, the struggle between the center and the periphery and, finally, the invasion of strong northwestern tribes - peoples of the sea.

All sources of that time shout about these tribes where people owned writing - Egyptian, Hittite, Mesopotamian, but it is hardly possible to find out who they were, where they came from and where they disappeared.

What is known for certain is that

the emergence of the Sea Peoples coincided with the crisis of the Late Bronze Age.

Were they the cause of this crisis or, on the contrary, were its consequences? And if so, what could force them to leave their homes and move south with weapons in their hands?

A group of French and Belgian scientists led by David Kanevsky. The results of their research were published by a reputable scientific journal PLOS ONE .

XIII-IX centuries BC marked by noticeable climate changes throughout the planet,

which in the Eastern Mediterranean regions resulted in drought. However, so far it has not been possible to prove either the connection of these changes with the invasion of the Sea Peoples, or the very existence of these changes.

The study conducted by scientists is based on archaeological data that was obtained on the island of Cyprus - the center of trade routes of civilizations Ancient East. Using various archaeological survey methods, scientists explored Larnaca Bay, a section of the coastal strip in the southeast of the island. The data obtained showed that the area where four salt lakes are located today was, until about 1350 BC. was covered by the sea (which explains the location in ancient times of a busy port city in this area). Archaeological evidence from surrounding areas shows a noticeable increase forest fires and the almost complete cessation of agricultural activities in the period from 1200 to 850-750 BC. All this indicates the onset of a long period of drought.

By themselves, these data do not have of great importance, their importance is revealed by comparative study. Comparing the results with previously known droughts on the Syrian coast and some other parts of the Eastern Mediterranean during the same period, the scientists found that the Cyprus drought was part of

global climate change affecting at least the entire region.

Apparently, the decline in economic (and, as a consequence, economic and political) activity that reigned during this period throughout the Eastern Mediterranean is the result of precisely this climatic shift.

The Sea Peoples invaded Cyprus between 1220 and 1190 BC, just as the global drought began. From there they moved to the mainland - to Egypt and the Syrian coasts. These tribes undoubtedly stood at a lower level of social organization than the empires of the Ancient East that had existed for more than one millennium, and yet they conquered the territories under their control and were able to move further in an as yet unknown direction.

Perhaps they owe this victory precisely to the drought, which gave rise to famine and bled the powerful states of antiquity dry.

And if this is so, then, probably, climatic changes forced them, who, apparently, were still just beginning to master agriculture and had not taken root in their native territories, to leave these lands and go on a distant overseas campaign in search of fertile land.

The transition from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age in the ancient Near East and Eastern Mediterranean is commonly called the Bronze Age Catastrophe. Indeed, for a thousand years, civilizations developed, reached their peak and power, and suddenly it all collapsed. It was akin to the apocalypse. Truly catastrophic changes occurred in the social structure, cultural and production traditions, and were destroyed Largest cities and states of that time, writing was lost. On larger territory The region is entering a "dark age".

In the 13th century BC, the Mediterranean was a developed system of wealthy states, hundreds of large trading cities, with well-established trade routes and contacts with other countries. The largest centers were Egypt, the Hittite Empire and the Cretan-Mycenaean civilization. Egypt flourished under the rule of Ramses the Great, the city-states in Greece were well developed and fortified, culture and trade flourished there, and palaces rose. There were practically no wars; the last major confrontation occurred between the Egyptians and the Hittites in 1274 BC. e. Individual cities developed, increasing their power and influence. The city-state of Ugarit was located on the territory of modern Syria and was the largest transshipment point that connected sea trade routes with land ones.

The major civilizations of the Bronze Age seemed to have reached the peak of their development. However, as we know, after the peak comes a decline. In literally a hundred years, processes will begin that will lead the power of these lands to complete destruction. Cities will be destroyed, people sold into slavery, others will flee to new lands, once vibrant and wealthy centers will be completely abandoned for thousands of years. For the inhabitants of that time, this was a disaster, although in the future it gave impetus to the formation of a new era and the rise of other civilizations.

It is believed that in 1206−1150 BC. e. the regions suffered from raids by the “peoples of the sea” (immigrants from the Balkans and Asia Minor), the Mycenaean kingdoms and the Hittite kingdom were destroyed, the prosperous Egyptian empire fell into decay, all this led to the extinction of trade routes and a decrease in literacy. Most of the references to the “peoples of the sea” are preserved in ancient Egyptian sources. Pharaoh Ramses III left a note in which he celebrated the victory over them and said that before the attack on Egypt they had already plundered the land of the Hittites, Alashiya and Amor. According to historians, these events can be dated back to 1179 BC. e. Around the same time, Mesopotamian cities were also subjected to devastating raids. Beginning in the last quarter of the 13th century, according to the historian Robert Drews, the disaster reached its maximum in 1180.

Its scale was amazing. Almost every city between Troy and Gaza was destroyed. Often, after raids, people left cities and never returned there again, as evidenced by the treasures discovered there thousands of years later, which were hidden by local residents from the invaders. This fate befell such cities as Hattusa, Mycenae, and Ugarit. Mycenaean Greece disappeared into the Aegean Sea. During the coming “dark ages”, some bards still remembered it, but then it sank into oblivion until archaeological excavations shed light on this period. The Hittite Empire, which brought prosperity to the Anatolian Peninsula, fell. The New Kingdom in Egypt and the era of achievements of the pharaohs ended. Almost everywhere life was thrown back. Architecture, shipbuilding, metal processing, water supply, and painting began to be revived only after almost 500 years. The Mycenaean linear and Luwian writing disappeared.

People hid from raids wherever they could. In Crete, traces of ancient settlements were discovered in the highlands, which were completely unsuitable and inconvenient for ordinary life, but they were safe. Within 40-50 years, all significant cities and palaces of the eastern Mediterranean were destroyed. XII century BC e. brought with it a “dark time” into which Anatolia and Greece plunged for 400 years.

But not only the destruction of the largest cities, the attack of the “peoples of the sea” and the subsequent large migration are considered to be the reasons for what happened. Tectonic activity is considered one of the possible factors that led to the disaster. Some believe that an earthquake measuring 6.5 on the Richter scale in the Mediterranean could have had an irreparable impact on the region's economy. Other reasons, along with raids, include climate change. According to the data, during that period, drought came to Greece, Turkey and the Middle East, which worsened the socio-economic situation of the region and led to wars and migrations. On the contrary, a more humid climate came to Central Europe. About the drought that happened after Trojan War, say ancient sources. The population of Western Anatolia migrated, and climate change pushed towards the collapse of the Bronze Age.

They also usually mention the systemic crisis, which, by the way, affected not only the Eastern Mediterranean, but also Central Europe. However, experts are not sure whether it was the cause or consequence of the collapse. Drought, population growth, and bronze casting and iron forging technology in the Middle East may have increased the cost of weapons and triggered systemic changes. Iron processing was another reason. Allegedly, due to the fact that there was more iron than bronze, it was easier to arm numerous troops with it. Accordingly, small armies using bronze weapons and chariots would fall under the pressure of the invaders. However, it was later established that the final transition to iron occurred after the bronze collapse. Besides, advanced civilizations they knew about iron and knew how to process it, just as they knew that it wore out much faster than bronze. Presumably, the disruption of international trade could have cut off or greatly reduced the supply of the area's rare tin, making it impossible to produce the bronze that fueled the economy and armed the army.

Historians have yet to comprehend the true causes of the disaster, as well as the subsequent period. The crisis plunged the region into oblivion and threw it back to zero for almost 400 years. It ended with the ending dark ages, the rise of the Israel-Judah kingdom, the Aramaic kingdoms of the 10th century BC. e. and the New Assyrian Empire.

Bronze Age. A new era in the history of our region, the era of dominance of the productive economy, was opened by the Bronze Age (beginning of the 2nd beginning of the 1st millennium BC). As we remember, the Volosovo population had just begun to move over to him. Now more significant changes have occurred.

In the economy of local tribes, the leading place is occupied by hoe farming, cattle breeding and metallurgy. Hunting and fishing recede into the background. Bronze tools and weapons began to gradually replace stone ones, although the stone industry still firmly held its position.

Bronze is harder than its base copper. This means that, having received bronze, a person acquired additional opportunities in various fields of its activities. His technical skills and abilities were developed.

The centers of bronze production in the region, apparently, were the southeastern regions of Tatarstan. Here, along the coasts of Menzeli, Ika, Zaya, the remains of what were once large copper deposits are still preserved.

The most prominent representatives of the Bronze Age of the Middle Volga region are considered to be the so-called Prikazanskie tribes are descendants of the Volosovo tribes. Their first settlements were discovered in the vicinity of Kazan (near the villages of Zaimishche, Balym, Kartashikha, Atabaevo).

The Prikazan tribes lived in the 16th-8th centuries. BC. Archaeological finds tell about the nature of their activities: beautifully polished stone axes, chisels, adzes, grain grinders, bronze hoes, sickles, knife-daggers, spearheads, women's jewelry, clay pots, bones of various domestic animals. This means that the Prikazan population knew construction, crafts, military affairs, agriculture, and cattle breeding. They sown millet, wheat, barley, and stored the grain in utility pits. They bred horses, cows, sheep, goats, and pigs.

Near the villages there were, as a rule, family cemeteries. The dead were buried in pits with their heads or feet towards the river; pots with food, tools and household items were placed next to them. This suggests that the Prikazan tribes believed in the existence of the soul and its transmigration.

The Trans-Kama territories of modern Tatarstan were mainly inhabited by tribes log house culture (their name is due to the fact that they buried their dead in wooden log houses). Srubnyaki were at approximately the same level of development as the clerks. However, they were alien tribes for our territory. Srubnyaks moved here from more southern regions, where they were mainly engaged in cattle breeding. Hoe farming was developed on the floodplain soils of river valleys.

Monuments of the Prikazan and Srubnaya cultures reflected the serious changes that occurred in the life of people of the Bronze Age. The predominance of productive forms of economy contributed to the improvement of living conditions. People were no longer completely dependent on the results of the hunt. It became possible to have food supplies, primarily grain. Domestic animals provided meat, milk, wool and leather. The increase in living standards led to an increase in population. Thus, in some settlements of the orderly tribes there lived up to 500 people.

Further development economy leads to qualitative changes in the field of social relations. Within the clan groups there are metallurgists and foundry workers who specialized in the manufacture of bronze products. The role of exchange increased sharply, especially with the tribes of the Urals and Western Siberia, the southern steppes and the Caucasus, from where metal was brought in the form of ingots and finished products. Inter-tribal clashes over the rich occur more often natural resources territories. Under these conditions, a man begins to play an increasingly important role in the life of the tribal community: a metallurgist, a cattle breeder and a warrior. He becomes the head of the clan, large patriarchal(paternal) families. The woman now only does housework and raising children. Matriarchy is becoming a thing of the past.

The Bronze Age brought such innovations. Primitive society made significant progress in its development and acquired new features.

Early Iron Age. Ananyin tribes (VHI-III centuries BC). The use of iron became a powerful factor in the development of the economy of the entire ancient society. This metal is still one of the main materials in the production of material goods.

To obtain iron from ore, you need special smelting furnaces or forges with artificial blast, which must have a very high temperature (1530°). The ancient metallurgists of the Bronze Age could not obtain such a temperature in their primitive furnaces and fires.

At first, iron was considered an expensive metal and, like copper, was used to make jewelry. But then it quickly replaced bronze, having undeniable advantages over it. Man received tools of unprecedented sharpness and hardness.

We were the first to enter the Iron Age in our area Ananyinsky tribes. The impetus for the discovery of Anannin culture was the publication in the middle of the 19th century in one of the Kazan newspapers of excerpts from historical essay, which talked about the visit of the famous commander Aksak Timur to the cemetery of the “saints” of Muslims near the ancient “Devil’s” settlement not far from Yelabuga. The publication attracted the attention of Moscow archaeological professor K.I. Nevostrueva. He sent a letter to the mayor of Elabuga I.V. Shishkin with a request to inform whether there are actually places near Yelabuga that are of interest to archaeologists. The answer was in the affirmative: yes, there are ancient burials near the village of Ananyino, where tombstones have been preserved. Amazing items made of bronze and iron are also found at this place.

Excavations began in the summer of 1858, with about a hundred peasants from the surrounding villages taking part. In one day, about 50 burials were excavated. Jewelry, tools, weapons, clay pots and other items were found. This is how a new one was discovered archaeological site Ananyinsky burial ground.

Subsequently, wider excavations were carried out. Archaeologists in the vicinity of Elabuga, along the banks of the Volga, Kama, and their tributaries Vyatka, Belaya and Vetluga, discovered over 60 ancient settlements and about 30 of the same ancient burial grounds.

The Ananyin culture existed in the 8th-3rd centuries. BC. This was the heyday of ancient Greece, its Black Sea colonies of Olbia, Chersonesos, Bosporus; ancient Central Asian civilizations of Parthia, Margiana, Sogdiana and Bactria. The Ananyin people were also contemporaries of the warlike Scythians, whom the “father of history” Herodotus met, and the outstanding commander of antiquity, Alexander the Great, who created the first world empire in the East.

The natural and climatic conditions of the region predetermined a different path historical evolution Ananninians and did not allow them to rise to such heights in their development that their southern contemporaries reached. However, it would be incorrect to use the word “backwardness” here. It was the Ananyin people, whose ancestors were officers, who began to build the first military fortifications and real fortresses in our region. Their settlements usually occupied high headlands of river banks and were protected by powerful earthen ramparts and deep ditches. The presence of fortifications indicates frequent military clashes between tribes. After all, the discovery of iron led to the emergence of not only improved tools, but also new types of offensive and defensive weapons. In the society of the Ananyin people, a layer of artisans-gunsmiths arose.

With the growth of labor productivity, individual people began to accumulate food reserves and valuables. They could be sold or exchanged, accumulating new wealth. Thus, the Ananyin people maintained lively trade relations not only with their neighbors, but also with more distant tribes and peoples. Through the Scythians, even individual items of Greek and Egyptian production reached them. Greek historian Herodotus, who lived in the 5th century. BC, knew the Ananyin people and called them Tissagets.

Wars also served to enrich people. Under these conditions, society becomes stratified, and wealth inequality. Tribal leaders and clan elders began to enjoy benefits that did not exist before.

With the advent of property inequality, the decomposition of the primitive communal system begins. This process is well reflected in archaeological materials.

The Ananyin people had practically the same funeral rites as the clerks. However social change appeared here too. In some graves two, sometimes even five or six, ordinary soldiers were buried, simple people, maybe even slaves from among the captives. In some cases, the dead lie in special “houses of the dead” made from logs. Poor things were placed next to them. But there are also very rich graves, where tribal leaders and ancestors are buried with expensive weapons, jewelry made of gold and silver. The custom arose of placing tombstones over the graves of military leaders. These stones usually depicted a warrior and weapons.

The direct descendants of the Ananyin people were Pianobor tribes. They lived on the territory of Tatarstan from the turn of the 3rd-2nd centuries. BC.

The drunkards continued to develop the culture of the previous population. They lived mainly in unfortified villages, but during times of military danger they hid in specially built shelters.

In the society of drunkards, there was a further increase in property inequality. The basis of the tribal organization was large patriarchal families. Wars and military affairs occupied a significant place in the life of society. This is evidenced by numerous burials of men with iron swords, spears and other weapons, as well as collective (massive) graves of warriors who died during fierce inter-tribal fights.

Thus, various tribes lived on the territory of the region during the Stone, Bronze and Early Iron Ages. Their image and standard of living changed from century to century. A complex tribal organization was created, and the transition to a producing economy was made.

The tribes of the Volga-Kama, Volosovo, Prikazanskaya, Ananyinskaya and Pyanoborskaya cultures were not directly related to the history of the Tatar people. They belonged to the group of the so-called Volga Finns and became the ancestors of modern Mari, Udmurts and Komi.

Questions and tasks

1. What changes in the economic life of local tribes occurred during the Early Metal Age? Trace these changes using the example of the Volosovo and Prikazan tribes. 2. The tribes of the Srubnaya culture were newcomers. Try to explain why they were at approximately the same level of development as the clerks? 3. What happens in the Bronze Age in the field of public relations? Why is matriarchy becoming a thing of the past at this time? 4. Which tribes living on the territory of Tatarstan were the first to enter the Iron Age? Justify your statement. 5. Why did military clashes between tribes become more frequent during the Iron Age? How did this manifest itself in the way of life of the Ananyin people? 6. How can you confirm the emergence of property inequality between people at that time? 7. Why does this inequality lead to the disintegration of the primitive communal system? What is remarkable about the structure of life of the Pyanobor tribes in this regard? 8. What modern peoples Are they descendants of local tribes from the Stone Age - Early Iron Age?