IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/osf/osfxxx/48bgz_v1.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Commodities in Transition: How Early Iron Adoption Destabilized Bronze Age Trade Networks

Author

Listed:
  • Rieche, Fraser

Abstract

The Late Bronze Age collapse (~1200 BCE) is traditionally attributed to war, famine, migration, and natural disasters. This paper proposes that an overlooked economic factor—the gradual adoption of iron—contributed materially to systemic fragility. Although initially rare and limited to prestige contexts, iron began subtly displacing bronze in Mediterranean markets. This commodity substitution weakened the intricate trade networks critical to Bronze Age economies, creating economic vulnerabilities that amplified broader societal collapse. By examining archaeological, textual, and metallurgical evidence, this paper suggests that early shifts in material economies played a more pivotal role than previously recognized.

Suggested Citation

  • Rieche, Fraser, 2025. "Commodities in Transition: How Early Iron Adoption Destabilized Bronze Age Trade Networks," OSF Preprints 48bgz_v1, Center for Open Science.
    • Handle: RePEc:osf:osfxxx:48bgz_v1
    DOI: 10.31219/osf.io/48bgz_v1
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://osf.io/download/680fe11efc485b88f03cbf7c/
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.31219/osf.io/48bgz_v1?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:osf:osfxxx:48bgz_v1. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: OSF (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://osf.io/preprints/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.