Research: The Bronze Era

The last 3 blog posts were dedicated to the Stone age which was divided into 3 era: Paleolithic, mesolithic and Neolithic. I have covered the basics of those eras, so it is now time to move on to the next era, The Bronze Era. 

This era spanned from 3300 BCE to 1200 BCE. It is most famous for the use of copper and bronze to manufacture their weapons.

During this era, they started developing a writing system. There was an abundance of clay and lack of stone. This is what separates this era from the previous one. They started developing more techniques and materials, moving away from the stone. They used brick led for the development of the pilaster, column, frescoes and enameled tiles. 

They used to colour the walls some times with zinc on gold. 

'During the Old Kingdom, from 2686-2181 BCE, the Egyptian pyramids and other more natural sculptures were built. The first-known portraits were also completed. At the end of the Old Kingdom, the Egyptian style moved toward formalized seminude figures with long bodies and large eyes' (lumen learning, n.d.)

There were also many petroglyphs across difference continents. Petroglyphs were engravings on rocks. 

Laxe dos carballos (fourth-second millennium BCE): Cup-and-ring mark and deer hunting scenes. (The cup-and-ring mark lies to the right of the deer.) Campo Lameiro, Galicia, Spain.

One symbol was called the cup and ring mark which is shown in the picture. It was very common for this symbol to be seen.

'This symbol consists of a concave depression, no more than a few centimeters in diameter, pecked into a rock surface and often surrounded by concentric circles also etched into the stone. Sometimes a linear channel called a gutter protrudes from the middle' (lumen learning, n.d.)

The evolution of metallurgy in the Bronze age, helped discover bronze. Metals such as tin, lead and copper were discovered during that period. 

Socketed axe blades.: A hoard of axes from the Bronze Age found in modern Germany. Archaeological Museum of the state of Brandenburg.

The two forms of bronze seen in the bronze era were the 'classic bronze' which had 10% tin and the 'mild bronze' which had about 6%. Weapons were made out of classic bronze.

It is thought that bronze is considered a 'store of value and an indicator of social status' (Lumen learning, n.d.) which can be a good material to use in this lamp designs.

 

Axes were the most valued tool in this time period so I can consider the shape of the axes.

Conclusion:

I am starting to reach the ending stage of my initial research. This research will help me gather brief information about each era so I can start generating ideas. Once I am finished with all 5 eras, I will start my initial ideas and then further research so I can develop them. 

Links to my design. 

Now I have to make some links from this research to see how I can use this to create products. 

1. Use bronze for the designs. 
2. Coat it with zinc or gold.
3. Look at different symbols engraved and how I can use their shape to get inspiration.
4. Get inspiration from the pyramids. 
5. Inspiration from the axes.

I think the pyramids would be an interesting concept to look at made out of bronze. I can use it to create a more defined and modern lamp with a different shape. 

As mentioned in previous blog posts, these posts are very short and precise. They are just initial research in order to start forming some ideas. More in-depth research will follow after initial ideas.

References:

Lumen Learning (n.d.) The Neolithic Period. Available at: https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-arthistory/chapter/the-neolithic-period/  [Accessed: 03/05/21]