Early Italy Cultures (Bronze Age)

The system which has evolved to catalogue the various archaeological expressions of human progress is one which involves cultures. The task of cataloguing the vast range of human cultures which emerged from Africa and the Near East right up until human expansion reached the Americas is covered in the related feature (see link, right).

Following the first entry into Early Italy of anatomically modern humans, subsequent cultural complexity appeared and increased as human populations increased. What had been a single human culture across Europe eventually divided in two which - at least at first - can be equated to Northern Europe and Southern Europe.

The arrival of Neolithic Farmers in Mesolithic Greece between about 7000-6700 BC sparked a rapid increase in migration into the region, and then into the Balkans and across the northern Mediterranean coast. In the Italian Neolithic it was Impressed Ware which initially dominated amongst farming communities.

The Italian Chalcolithic (Copper Age) was a transitional phase between the Neolithic and Bronze Age Italy. This period saw the earliest examples of metalworking in Italy even though it had already been practiced in Central Europe for several hundred years.

The Bronze Age is calculated to have begun in Italy around 2300 BC. This predates the arrival of the ancestors of the Mycenaeans in Bronze Age Greece and the arrival of proto-Italic people into Italy, but does match the end of the widespread Bell Beaker culture which had intruded into northern Italy.

It can be broken down into four stages, starting with the 'Early Bronze Age' between about 2300-1700 BC. Small, distinct regional communities more widely began to experiment with copper and tin alloys to create stronger tools and weapons. The 'Middle Bronze Age' between about 1700-1350 BC saw cultures become more uniform across the various regions (which includes the Apennine culture), with larger, more organised settlements emerging.

The 'Recent Bronze Age' between about 1350-1150 BC saw trade networks expand across the Mediterranean, including contact with Mycenaean Greece. Fortified villages and distinct warrior elites also appeared.

The people of Greece were more advanced in their working of bronze, and there existed extensive contact between Mycenaeans and the populations in Italy. Two Mycenaean trading posts are known to have existed, at Scoglio del Tonno in the heel of Italy, near Tarentum, and at Lipari in the Aeolian islands to the north of Sicily.

Mycenaean pottery has been found at sites all over Italy, including Rome, but the archaeological record does not indicate any Mycenaean presence much before 1400 BC so it is highly unlikely that the Mycenaeans taught the Italians bronze-working. A much more likely candidate for initial southern Italian exposure to this development is to be found in the Minoans.

The 'Final Bronze Age' between about 1150-950 BC witnessed a reversal, with major trade networks shifting or collapsing, leading to the formation of smaller regional groups which laid the groundwork for Iron Age Italy's urban societies. This period coincides with the assumed entry into the peninsula of the proto-Italics, with that disruption likely being the cause of the sudden and dramatic changes.

European Kingdoms

Early Cultures

Images and text copyright © all contributors mentioned on this page. An original king list page for the History Files.