The Masters of Fire: The National Museum of Archaeology’s Extended Historical Exhibit

It's a distant period, far removed from our modern lives. Yet theBronze Age profoundly changed life in Europe, and made the French territory an area of culture and exchange. The Musée d'Archéologie Nationale, the Institut National de Recherches Archéologiques Préventives and the Association pour la Promotion des Recherches sur l'Age du Bronze join forces to tell us about a time that those less than 3,000 years old could never have known.

The National Archaeology Museum – Saint-Germain-en-Laye estate is opening its doors to showcase the exhibition The Masters of Fire, running from June 13, 2025, to June 15, 2026. The exhibition has been extended and is scheduled to close after the European Archaeology Days.

Visitors of all ages can learn more about these prehistoric peoples, who lived in France between 2300 and 800 BC, in an itinerary divided into four themes. These centuries of discovery and evolution, marked by new knowledge and new ways of doing things, definitely changed European societies.

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This exhibition explains how metallurgy has had an impact on all European peoples, from trade andartto the way they saw the world and imagined the future and the present.

These new tools and techniques have revolutionized production and exchange systems. Thanks to these new objects and knowledge, new means of communication could be developed, both by sea and by land. Men, women and goods were able to travel more, and further, bringing with them this era of change and evolution.

The Musée d'Archéologie Nationale has assembled a number of exceptional pieces for this exhibition, from French and European museums. Visitors can also admire fascinating recent archaeological discoveries, which shed light on the lives and talents of these Bronze Age ancestors.

To complement the exhibition, the museum offers a range of experiments, workshops and activities for children and adults alike.