Did British Tin Really Start the Bronze Age?

Discover the pivotal role Britain played in sparking Europe’s Bronze Age in this free history documentary! Unearth the secrets of the Bell Beaker folk, who mainstreamed tin-bronze in the British Isles around 2200 BC, revolutionising metallurgy with Cornwall and Devon’s rich tin deposits. Focusing on a new reconstruction of the iconic Huntshaw dagger, see how such early bronze weapons, buried in sacred barrows, symbolised power and spirituality. Dive into the history of tin trade, ancient craftsmanship, and the cultural significance of Bronze Age daggers, including exclusive insights from master swordsmith Neil Burridge. Why were these state-of-the-art weapons buried with the dead? Watch to uncover the mysteries of Britain’s Bronze Age legacy! #bronzeage #britishhistory #ancientweapons

Full interview with Neil Burridge sword smith:    • The Greatest Living Bronze Sword Smith  
Drone and additional camera work in Cornwall by ‪@ROTPband‬
More on the Huntshaw barrows:    • Road built over pagan burial ground! Darra...  
Second channel for streaming ‪@jivetalk‬
Art of Beaker chief by Christian Sloan Hall
Bronze Age map by Dan Kogosov

Learn about bronze metallurgy and more in The Book by Hungry Minds! https://mdsh.io/ix55im556n

Music:
Intro theme by Wolcensmen
Hildigaldra - Sun in Time
Styrkr -Old father
Realisation of a new Earth - I think I can help you
Bark sound productions - EGD
Bark sound productions - Forn
Borg - The choosing ceremony
Tom May - Atlantis Falling
Elegiac - Invocation of Ingwaz
Outro = Xurious - Steppe expansion

Sources:

Doe, G.M. The Examination of two Barrows near Torrington.(1875)

Jones, Quinnell. ‘Daggers in the West: Early Bronze Age Daggers and Knives in the South-west Peninsula’. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society (2013)

Wang, Strekopytov, Roberts,’Copper ingots from a probable Bronze Age shipwreck off the coast of Salcombe, Devon: Composition and microstructure’ Journal of Archaeological Science, Volume 97, 2018.

Williams et al. From Land's End to the Levant: did Britain's tin sources transform the Bronze Age in Europe and the Mediterranean?. Antiquity (2025)

https://www.legendarydartmoor.co.uk/2...

00:00 Introduction
00:37 Beaker Folk discover tin
06:03 The Book
07:33 Early bronze weapons
09:08 A bronze sword smith explains the process
13:59 The Huntshaw dagger
20:18 Why were weapons placed in graves?