1200s BC

Archaeology

In a campaign commemorated about 850 bce by Greek bard Homer, the Mycenaeans from Greece lay siege to Troy (Turkey). See also 1800 bce Archaeology; 1183 bce Archaeology.

Ducts beneath the floors of the palace of the King of Arzawa, built about this time in southwestern Anatolia (Turkey), suggest that the palace had central heating. Not only is this the earliest known evidence of central heating, but there is no other evidence of the practice for the next thousand years. See also 40,000 bce Energy; 900 bce Energy.

Iron is in common use throughout the Near East, so 1200 bce is commonly taken as the beginning of the Iron Age for this region, although iron has been known for millennia. See also 4000 bce Materials; 1185 bce Materials.

Bells cast in bronze appear in China.

It can definitely be established that Egyptian surveyors use a 3-4-5 right triangle to establish right angles, but the account of Greek historian Herodotus puts this practice back at least as far as 1850 bce. The construction of unusually good right angles in the major pyramids suggests that the method may go back to before 2500 bce. See also 1850 bce Mathematics; 600 bce Mathematics.

Mesopotamians build devices that convert rotary motion into a back-and-forth motion.

A small freighter loaded with copper and bronze is wrecked at what we now call Cape Gelidonya on the southwest coast of Asia Minor (Turkey). See also 1960 ce Archaeology.