﻿474 
  ANNUAL 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  1943 
  

  

  to 
  have 
  been 
  the 
  principal 
  if 
  not 
  the 
  only 
  domestic 
  animals. 
  Little, 
  

   however, 
  is 
  known 
  of 
  this 
  new 
  culture 
  as 
  yet. 
  

  

  DISTRIBUTION 
  

  

  Both 
  Kansu 
  and 
  Shensi 
  (for 
  these 
  provinces, 
  see 
  map 
  of 
  China, 
  

   fig. 
  21), 
  we 
  should 
  note, 
  are 
  situated 
  along 
  the 
  eastern 
  terminus 
  of 
  

   the 
  more 
  northern 
  of 
  the 
  two 
  transcontinental 
  migration 
  routes. 
  

   (See 
  map, 
  fig. 
  1.) 
  Hence 
  the 
  presumption 
  that 
  bronze 
  and 
  the 
  

   herding 
  of 
  sheep 
  had 
  diffused 
  themselves 
  to 
  China 
  from 
  the 
  west 
  

   (where 
  both 
  these 
  culture 
  traits 
  had 
  been 
  known 
  much 
  earlier) 
  be- 
  

   comes 
  almost 
  irresistible. 
  

  

  The 
  Chalcolithic 
  period 
  in 
  eastern 
  Asia 
  still 
  forms 
  a 
  "dark 
  age." 
  

   In 
  many 
  areas, 
  indeed, 
  it 
  probably 
  never 
  appeared 
  at 
  all, 
  the 
  tran- 
  

   sition 
  from 
  the 
  Neolithic 
  period 
  to 
  a 
  fully 
  developed 
  Bronze 
  Age 
  or 
  

   even 
  to 
  one 
  of 
  iron 
  having 
  been 
  a 
  direct 
  one, 
  without 
  intermediate 
  

   phases. 
  

  

  BRONZE 
  AGE 
  

   GENERAL 
  CHARACTERISTICS 
  

  

  A 
  Bronze 
  Age 
  is 
  by 
  no 
  means 
  an 
  invariable 
  cultural 
  phase 
  every- 
  

   where 
  on 
  the 
  globe. 
  It 
  has, 
  on 
  the 
  contrary, 
  been 
  strictly 
  limited 
  in 
  

   both 
  time 
  and 
  space. 
  Roughly 
  it 
  extended 
  along 
  the 
  North 
  Temperate 
  

   Zone 
  of 
  the 
  Old 
  World, 
  from 
  the 
  Atlantic 
  to 
  the 
  Pacific. 
  (See 
  map, 
  

   fig. 
  4.) 
  Before 
  it 
  had 
  had 
  time 
  to 
  diffuse 
  itself 
  beyond 
  this 
  area, 
  

   bronze 
  had 
  been 
  overtaken 
  and 
  supplanted, 
  save 
  for 
  limited 
  uses, 
  by 
  

   that 
  cheaper 
  and 
  more 
  useful 
  metal, 
  iron. 
  

  

  DIFFUSION 
  

  

  The 
  true 
  Bronze 
  Age, 
  as 
  distinct 
  from 
  the 
  Chalcolithic 
  period 
  that 
  

   ushered 
  it 
  in, 
  began 
  in 
  the 
  Near 
  East 
  some 
  6,000 
  or 
  7,000 
  years 
  ago, 
  

   and 
  lasted 
  until 
  about 
  3,000 
  years 
  ago, 
  when 
  it 
  gradually 
  gave 
  way 
  

   to 
  the 
  Iron 
  Age. 
  It 
  reached 
  western 
  Europe 
  and 
  eastern 
  Asia 
  less 
  

   than 
  4,000 
  years 
  ago, 
  and 
  lasted 
  there 
  for 
  about 
  1,500 
  years. 
  

  

  All 
  the 
  Bronze 
  Age 
  civilizations 
  are 
  based 
  on 
  the 
  same 
  set 
  of 
  funda- 
  

   mental 
  elements. 
  These 
  were 
  : 
  the 
  use 
  of 
  bronze 
  itself 
  for 
  weapons 
  and 
  

   implements 
  ; 
  possession 
  of 
  the 
  common 
  domestic 
  animals, 
  and 
  cultivated 
  

   plants 
  ; 
  knowledge 
  of 
  the 
  wheel 
  and 
  of 
  animal 
  traction 
  ; 
  and 
  some 
  form 
  

   of 
  writing. 
  The 
  spread 
  of 
  these 
  cultural 
  traits 
  took 
  place 
  in 
  various 
  

   ways, 
  through 
  war, 
  trade, 
  and 
  migration, 
  and 
  of 
  course 
  took 
  a 
  long 
  time. 
  

   Our 
  present 
  civilization 
  has 
  spread 
  far 
  more 
  rapidly, 
  mainly 
  as 
  the 
  

   result 
  of 
  improved 
  means 
  of 
  communication 
  and 
  transportation. 
  Wit- 
  

   ness, 
  for 
  example, 
  the 
  rapidity 
  with 
  which 
  the 
  airplane, 
  invented 
  

   hardly 
  a 
  generation 
  ago, 
  has 
  reached 
  all 
  parts 
  of 
  the 
  earth. 
  

  

  