0. Intro

Travel in time with us to the Bronze Age of Ireland, which is considered the first great age in that nation. We’ll see how they first got bronze, how they lived, and why the Bronze Age ended.

Qs:

The Bronze Age of Ireland will be discussed in some detail. Can you tell me what they are?

1.Irish History a Long Time Ago

Many people are fascinated with Irish culture and history. If you have any Irish heritage, and even if you don’t, you probably want to know more about the country as well. Let’s look to the Bronze Age of Ireland to better understand the cultural roots of this fascinating country and people.

Qs:

Describe the literal and non-literal meaning of ‘root’.

2.Metal

While it may be confusing, the Bronze Age does not have a specific set of years because different parts of the world entered the Bronze Age at different times. Can you guess what technological advancement a culture started using in order to enter the Bronze Age? Yes, it was bronze! Bronze is an alloy, a combination of two or more metals, of copper and tin to make a new material stronger than either one.

For Ireland, the technology of making bronze came with settlers from mainland Europe between 2500 BCE and 2000 BCE. These people were called the Beakers because of their advanced pottery styles with unique shapes and decorations. Fortunately, Ireland had many copper deposits. While they lacked the necessary tin, another part of the British Isles had an abundant supply. Today, that area is in England.

Qs:

What is the reason for not having a specific set of years for the Bronze Age?

What technological advancements led to the Bronze Age?

What is bronze made of?

Who brought bronze making technology to Ireland? Is there a nickname for them? What is its origin?

Find out what ‘deposit’ means in the dictionary.

What metals are needed to generate bronze? Is there a metal found in Ireland? In terms of another ingredient, why didn’t it cause a problem even if it wasn’t available locally?

3.Daily Life

The introduction of bronze did not change society overnight. Most people still farmed, just on a larger scale because they could clear more land, plow, and harvest faster with better tools. Houses didn’t change much at first either. Most of them were round with wattle and daub walls, made from interwoven sticks coated with mud or clay.

In the center of the house was an area to build a fire for cooking and heating the home. People would warm rocks on the fire to a high temperature, then throw them into a pot or trough of water, causing it to boil and cook their meat and vegetables.

Qs:

There are two fields discussed about society life. What are they?

What improvements did famers experience after bronze was introduced?

When did wattle and daub walls first appear?

Synonym for trough

4.Burials

One significant change with the arrival of the Beaker culture was how people buried the dead. During the Neolithic period, people made long barrows, mounds of earth with a stone chamber inside for burials. Most of these held up to 50 bodies and had little to no objects buried with the dead. The Beakers continued the basic idea of burying people in barrows, but they used circular mounds or depressions, or an inverted mound, to bury a single person with hordes of grave goods.

Qs:

How would you describe one significant change? Is it due to the invention of bronze? Can you tell me what caused the change?

Were dead people buried with grave goods before that?

5.Late Bronze Age

<u>Populations grew, putting more pressure on farmers to produce enough food. </u>Towards the end of the Bronze Age, <u>the climate changed throughout Europe, getting colder.</u> The upland fields and lowland lakes became <u>treacherous peat bogs which required wooden pathways built to cross them</u>. People began to leave a lot of valuables and weapons in the bogs, either for <u>safekeeping or for religious reasons</u>. They also <u>sacrificed people in the bogs</u>. The increase in weapons indicates that there might have been more warfare as the environment caused food shortages. Finally, around 500 BCE, <u>the Irish Bronze Age ended with the arrival of the Hallstatt culture, </u>better known as the Celts, who brought with them tools<u> made of iron, ushering in the Iron Age of Ireland.</u>

Qs:

When did the Irish Bronze Age end? What culture followed it?

6.Lesson Summary

The Bronze Age of Ireland began when the Beakers came from the European mainland, bringing the copper and tin alloy of bronze. During the Bronze Age, houses were still made of wattle and daub, but burial styles changed from long barrows with multiple bodies to round barrows for single burials. The late Bronze Age saw climate cooling, difficulty farming, and increased warfare, ending when the Hallstatt culture brought iron to Ireland