Everything about Iron Age totally explained
» This article is about the archaeological period known as the Iron Age; for the mythological Iron Age see Ages of Man.
In
archaeology, the
Iron Age was the stage in the development of any people in which tools and weapons whose main ingredient was
iron were prominent. The adoption of this material coincided with other changes in some past societies often including differing agricultural practices, religious beliefs and artistic styles, although this wasn't always the case.
In
history, the Iron Age is the last principal period in the
three-age system for classifying
pre-historic societies, preceded by the
Bronze Age. Its date and context vary depending on the country or geographical region.
Dates
Classically, the Iron Age is taken to begin in the
12th century BC in the
ancient Near East,
ancient Persia,
ancient India (with the post-
Rigvedic Vedic civilization), and
ancient Greece (with the
Greek Dark Ages). In other regions of
Europe, it started much later. The Iron Age began in the
8th century BC in
Central Europe and the
6th century BC in
Northern Europe. Iron use, in
smelting and forging for tools, appears in West Africa by
1200 BC, making it one of the first places for the birth of the Iron Age.
The Iron Age is divided into two subsections, Iron I and Iron II. Iron I (1200-1000) illustrates both continuity and discontinuity with the previous Late Bronze Age. There is no definitive cultural break between the thirteenth and twelfth century throughout the entire region, although certain new features in the hill country, Transjordan and coastal region may suggest the appearance of the Aramaean and Sea People groups. There is evidence, however, that shows strong continuity with Bronze Age culture, although as one moves later into Iron I the culture begins to diverge more significantly from that of the late second millennium.
Iron II (1000-550) witnessed the rise of the states of Judah and Israel in the tenth-ninth century. These small principalities exercise considerable control over their particular regions due in part to the decline of the great powers, Assyria and Egypt, from about 1200 to 900. Beginning in the eighth century and certainly in the seventh century, Assyria reestablishes its authority over the eastern Mediterranean area and exercises almost complete control. The northern state of Israel is obliterated in 722/721 by King Sargon and its inhabitants taken into exile. Judah, left alone, gradually accommodates to Assyrian control, but towards the end of the seventh century it does revolt as the Assyrian empire disintegrated. Judah's freedom was short-lived, however, and eventually snuffed out by the Chaldean kings who conquered Jerusalem and took some of the ruling class into exile to Babylon. During the period of exile in Babylon, the area, particularly from Jerusalem south, shows a mark decline. Other areas just north of Jerusalem are almost unaffected by the catastrophe that befell Judah.
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The Iron Age is usually said to end in the
Mediterranean with the onset of historical tradition during
Hellenism and the
Roman Empire, in India with the onset of
Buddhism and
Jainism, in
China with the onset of
Confucianism, and in Northern Europe with the
early Middle Ages.
The arrival of iron use in various areas is discussed in more detail below, broadly in chronological order.
Iron use in the Bronze Age
By the
Middle Bronze Age, increasing numbers of smelted iron objects (distinguishable from meteoric iron by the lack of nickel in the product) appeared throughout
Anatolia,
Mesopotamia, the
Indian subcontinent, the Levant, the Mediterranean, and
Egypt. In some places, their use appears to have been ceremonial, and during the Bronze Age iron was an expensive metal, more expensive than
gold. Some sources suggest that iron was being created in some places then as a by-product of
copper refining, as
sponge iron, and wasn't reproducible by the metallurgy of the time.
The earliest systematic production and use of iron implements originates in Anatolia. West African production of iron began at around the same time, and seems to have been clearly an independent invention (see Stanley J. Alpern's work in
History in Africa, volume 2). Recent archaeological research at
Ganges Valley, India showed early iron working by 1800 BC. Wrought iron is weaker than bronze, but because it was less expensive, and more easily sharpened, people used it anyway. Iron is by itself an adequately strong metal without additional alloys. Bronze, on the other hand, requires copper and
tin which are less common than iron. Additionally, iron can be sharpened by grinding whereas bronze must be reforged.
Around 1800 BC, for reasons yet unknown to archaeologists, tin became scarce in the Levant, causing a decline in bronze production. Copper, also, came to be in short supply. As a result, pirate groups around the Mediterranean, from around 1800-1700 BC onward, began to attack fortified cities in search of bronze, to remelt into weaponry.
Bronze was much more abundant in the period before the 12th to 10th century and Snodgrass suggests that a shortage of tin, as a result of the
trade disruptions in the Mediterranean at this time, forced peoples to seek an alternative to bronze. That many bronze items were recycled and made from implements into weapons during this time, is evidence of this.
Ancient Near East
Transition
The Iron Age in the
Ancient Near East is believed to have begun with the discovery of iron smelting and smithing techniques in
Anatolia or the
Caucasus in the late
2nd millennium BC (circa
1300 BC).
The use of iron weapons instead of
bronze weapons spread rapidly throughout the Near East by the beginning of the
1st millennium BC. Anatolians had begun forging weapons out of iron, which was a superior metal to bronze by 1500 BC at the latest.
The use of iron weapons by the
Hittites was believed to have been a major factor in the rapid rise of the Hittite Empire. Because the area in which iron technology first developed was near the
Aegean, the technology expanded into into both Asia and Europe simultaneously, aided by Hittite expansion. The
Sea Peoples and the related
Philistines are often associated with the introduction of iron technology into Asia, as are the
Dorians with respect to
Greece.
Finds of Iron
Early examples and distribution of non precious metal finds.
| Date |
Crete |
Aegean |
Greece |
Cyprus |
Total |
Anatolia |
Grand total |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 1300-1200 BC |
5 |
2 |
9 |
0 |
16 |
33 |
65 |
| 1200-1100 BC |
1 |
2 |
8 |
26 |
37 |
N.A. |
74 |
| 1100-1000 BC |
13 |
3 |
31 |
33 |
80 |
N.A. |
160 |
| 1000-900 BC |
37 |
30 |
115 |
29 |
1.40 |
N.A. |
211 |
| Total Bronze Age |
5 |
2 |
9 |
0 |
16 |
33 |
65 |
| Total Iron Age |
51 |
35 |
163 |
88 |
337 |
N.A. |
511 |
Assyria
Levant
Anatolia
Aegean
Egypt
Indian subcontinent
Archaeological sites in India, such as
Malhar, Dadupur, Raja Nala Ka Tila and Lahuradewa in present day
Uttar Pradesh show iron implements in the period between
1800 BC -
1200 BC. Some scholars believe that by the early
13th century BC, iron smelting was practiced on a bigger scale in India, suggesting that the date the technology's inception may be placed earlier.
In
Southern India (present day
Mysore) iron appeared as early as
11th to
12th centuries BC; these developments were too early for any significant close contact with the northwest of the country.
The
Mauryan period in India saw advancements in technology; this technological change involved metallurgy.
Perhaps as early as
300 BC, although certainly by
AD 200, high quality steel was being produced in southern India also by what Europeans would later call the
crucible technique. In this system, high-purity wrought iron, charcoal, and glass were mixed in crucible and heated until the iron melted and absorbed the carbon.
East Asia
China
In 1972, near the city of
Gaocheng (藁城) in
Shijiazhuang (now
Hebei province), an iron-bladed
bronze tomahawk (铁刃青铜钺) dating back to the
14th century BC was excavated. After a scientific examination, the iron was shown to be made from
aerosiderite. The Iron Age in East Asia began in earnest, however, when cast-iron objects appeared in
Yangzi Valley toward the end of the
6th century BC. The few objects were found at Changsha and Nanjing. According to the mortuary evidence suggests that the initial use of iron in Lingnan belongs to the mid to late
Warring States period (from about 350 BC).
The techniques used in Lingnan is a combination of bivalve moulds of distinct southern tradition and the incorporation of piece mould technology from the
Zhongyuan The products of the combination of these two periods are bells, vessels, weapons and ornaments and the sophisticated cast.
An Iron Age culture of the
Tibetan Plateau has tentatively been associated with the
Zhang Zhung culture described in early Tibetan writings.
Japan
The is an era in the
history of Japan from about
500 BC to
300 AD. Distinguishing characteristics of the Yayoi period include the appearance of new pottery styles and the start of an intensive rice agriculture in paddy fields. The Yayoi followed the
Jōmon period (14,000 BC to
500 BC) and Yayoi culture flourished in a geographic area from southern
Kyūshū to northern
Honshū.
The succeeding lasts from around 250 to 538. The word
kofun is Japanese for the type of
burial mounds dating from this era. The Kofun and the subsequent
Asuka periods are sometimes referred to collectively as the
Yamato period.
Korea
Iron objects were introduced to the
Korean peninsula through trade with chiefdoms and state-level societies in the
Yellow Sea area in the fourth century BC, just at the end of the Warring States Period but before the Western
Han Dynasty began. Yoon proposes that iron was first introduced to chiefdoms located along North Korean river valleys that flow into the Yellow Sea such as the Cheongcheon and Taedong Rivers. Iron production quickly followed in the 2nd century BC, and iron implements came to be used by farmers by the 1st century AD in southern Korea.
Europe
Iron working was introduced to
Europe around
1000 BC, probably from
Asia Minor and slowly spread northwards and westwards over the succeeding 500 years.
Eastern Europe
The early 1st millennium BC marks the Iron Age in Eastern Europe. In the
Pontic steppe and the
Caucasus region, the Iron Age begins with the
Koban and the
Chernogorovka and Novocherkassk cultures from ca. 900 BC. By 800 BC, it was spreading to
Hallstatt C via the alleged "
Thraco-Cimmerian" migrations.
Along with Chernogorovka and Novocherkassk cultures, on the territory of ancient
Russia and
Ukraine the Iron Age is to a significant extent associated with
Scythians, who developed iron culture since the 7th century BC. The majority of remains of their iron producing and blacksmith's industries from 5th to 3rd century BC was found near
Nikopol in
Kamenskoe Gorodishche, which is believed to be the specialized
metallurgic region of the ancient
Scythia.
From the Hallstatt culture, the Iron Age spreads west with the
Celtic expansion from the 6th century BC. In Poland, the Iron Age reaches the late
Lusatian culture in about the 6th century, followed in some areas by the
Pomeranian culture.
The ethnic ascriptions of many Iron Age cultures has been bitterly contested, as the roots of
Germanic,
Baltic and
Slavic peoples were sought in this area.
Central Europe
In Central Europe, the Iron Age is generally divided in the early Iron Age
Hallstatt culture (HaC and D,
800-
450) and the late Iron Age
La Tène culture (beginning in
450 BC). The Iron Age ends with the Roman Conquest.
Italy
In Italy, the Iron Age was probably introduced by the
Villanovan culture but this culture is otherwise considered a Bronze Age culture, while the following
Etruscan civilization is regarded as part of Iron Age proper. The Etruscan Iron Age was then ended with the rise and conquest of the
Roman Republic, which conquered the last Etruscan city of
Velzna in
265 BC.
British Isles
In the
British Isles, the Iron Age lasted from about the
5th century BC until the Roman conquest and until the
5th century AD in non-Romanised parts. Defensive structures dating from this time are often impressive, for example the
brochs and
duns of northern
Scotland and the
hill forts that dotted the rest of the
islands.
Northern Europe
The Iron Age is divided into the
Pre-Roman Iron Age and the
Roman Iron Age. This is followed by the
migration period. Northern Germany and Denmark was dominated by the
Jastorf culture, whereas the culture of the southern half of the Scandinavia was dominated by the very similar
Gregan Iron Age.
Early Scandinavian iron production typically involved the harvesting of
bog iron. Scandinavian peninsula,
Finland and
Estonia show sophisticated iron production very early, but further dating is currently impossible. The range varies from 3000 BP - 2000 BP. This knowledge is associated with the non-Germanic part of Scandinavia. Metalworking and
Asbestos-Ceramic pottery are somewhat synonymous in
Scandinavia due to the latter's capacity to resist and retain heat. The
iron ore used is believed to have been
iron sand (such as
red soil), because its high phosphorus content can be identified in
slag. They are sometimes found together with
asbestos ware axes belonging to the
Ananjino Culture. The Asbestos-Ceramic ware remains a mystery, because there are other
adiabatic vessels with unknown usage.
Sub-Saharan Africa
Inhabitants at Termit, in eastern
Niger became the first iron
smelting people in
West Africa and among the first in the world around 1500 BC. Iron and copper working then continued to spread southward through the continent, reaching the
Cape around AD 200.
The widespread use of iron revolutionized the
Bantu-speaking farming communities who adopted it, driving out and absorbing the rock tool using hunter-gatherer societies they encountered as they expanded to farm wider areas of
savannah. The technologically superior Bantu-speakers spread across southern Africa and became wealthy and powerful, producing iron for tools and weapons in large, industrial quantities.
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