Did the bronze age start in the Caucasus ?

Ryes

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I read on Wikipedia that the Caucasian bronze age started in 3500 bc but the Mesopotamian and Egyptian bronze age only in 3100 bc. Does that mean that the Caucasus was the most advanced place in the world at the time ?
 
It is difficult to know exactly where the Bronze Age started because bronze cannot be carbon-dated (only organic remains found together). Based on the current archaeological data, if I am not missing anything, the oldest bronze objects were found in the Maykop culture of the North Caucasus, indeed around 3500 BCE. Bronze smelting techniques spread quickly to the Pontic-Caspian steppe, which by that time had maintained close ties with the North Caucasus for over a thousand years.

It is likely that the Proto-Indo-European speakers from the steppes were able to expand over such a huge area (from Ireland to India) and overthrow the advanced societies of the Balkans and the Middle East justly because they were the first to develop and refine bronze weapons. The oldest sword in the world also comes from the Maykop culture.

It is odd that Maykop isn't more famous since it played such an revolutionary role in human history. Had they not been the first to master the art of bronze working, we would probably not speak Indo-European languages in Europe and South Asia today, and Europeans would look quite different physically (more like Near Easterners).
 
According to the excellent Encyclopedia of Prehistory: Europe v. 4, the Caucasian Bronze Age started circa 3600 BCE.

The Maykop rulers enjoyed the most sumptuous gold and silver artefacts, jewellery with turquoise, lapis lazuli and other (semi-)previous stones, overshadowing the early city-states of Mesopotamia (Ur, Uruk) and of course Predynastic Egypt. Maykop may have been the first true kingdom anywhere. The famous gold bull is a testimony of the advanced artistic skills of the North Caucasus 5,500 years ago.
 
bronze usage most probably started in caucasia, since the caucasions warriors ruled the mesopotamian cities temporarly with the swords in their hands. but it does not mean they had higher level of civilisation. the civilisation started in mesopotomia, egypt, india and china since they were all located near the big overflowing rivers. there were no knowledge of agriculture depending on rain in that time.

specialists are musts for the cities. you need specialists to built buildings, priests to satisfy goddess (in agriculture civilization it is mostly goddess referring to the fertility, instead of gods), rulers, clerks etc. who will not work in the farm. so, there must be excess food for them provided by the farmers. it was possible only in the lands mentioned above to create that much excessive food for the rest of the cities.

nomads life was more simple but wilder, they were following climates without having cities with less amount of social rules.

their wild life made them conqueror against peaceful agriculture cities.

this cycle (agriculture and livestock or goddess and god) war had been worked more then 5000 years (see huns, mongolians).

sorry for my english.
 
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