Iron Age

This article is about the historical/archaeological period intervening age of bronze.[1]

known as the Iron Age. For the mythological Iron Age,
see Ages of Man. For the history of iron mining, see
ferrous metallurgy.

1 Chronology

The Iron Age is the period generally occurring after the

Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. Iron
production is known to have taken place in Anatolia at
least as early as 1200 BC, with some contemporary archaeological evidence pointing to earlier dates.

Around 3000 BC, iron was a scarce and precious metal in

the Near East. The earliest known iron artifacts are nine
small beads, dated to 3200 BC, from burials in Gerzeh,
northern Egypt, that were made from meteoric iron, and
shaped by careful hammering.[4] Irons qualities, in contrast to those of bronze, were not understood. Between
1200 BC and 1000 BC, diusion in the understanding of
iron metallurgy and use of iron objects was fast and farung. In the history of ferrous metallurgy, iron smelting
the extraction of usable metal from oxidized iron
ores is more dicult than tin and copper smelting.
These other metals and their alloys can be cold-worked,
or melted in simple pottery kilns and cast in molds; but
smelted iron requires hot-working and can be melted only
in specially designed furnaces. It is therefore not surprising that humans only mastered iron smelting after several
millennia of bronze metallurgy.

The early period of the age is characterized by the

widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of these
materials coincided with other changes in society, including diering agricultural practices, religious beliefs and
artistic styles. The Iron Age as an archaeological term indicates the condition as to civilization and culture of a
people using iron as the material for their cutting tools
and weapons.[1] The Iron Age is the third principal period of the three-age system created by Christian Thomsen (17881865) for classifying ancient societies and prehistoric stages of progress.[2]
In historical archaeology, the ancient literature of the Iron
Age includes the earliest texts preserved in manuscript
tradition. Sanskrit and Chinese literature ourished in the
Iron Age. Other texts include the Avestan Gathas, the Indian Vedas and the oldest parts of the Hebrew Bible. The
principal feature that distinguishes the Iron Age from the
preceding ages is the introduction of alphabetic characters, and the consequent development of written language
which enabled literature and historic record.[1]

In 2005, metallurgical analysis by Hideo Akanuma of

iron fragments found at Kaman-Kalehyk in 1994 and
dating to c. 1800 BC revealed that some of these fragments were in fact composed of carbon steel; these currently form the worlds earliest known evidence for steel
manufacture.[5][6]

Modern archaeological evidence identies the start of

iron production as taking place in Anatolia around 1200
The beginning of the Iron Age in Europe and adja- BC, though some contemporary archaeological evidence
cent areas is characterized by certain forms of imple- points to earlier dates.
ments, weapons, personal ornaments, and pottery, and
Lack of archaeological evidence of iron production made
also by systems of decorative design, which are altogether
it seem unlikely that it had begun earlier elsewhere, and
dierent from those of the preceding age of bronze.[1]
the Iron Age was seen as a case of simple diusion of
Metalsmithing expanded from the primary form in the
a new and superior technology from an invention point
Bronze Age, casting, to include forging. The system of
in the Near East to other regions. It is now known that
decoration, which in the Bronze Age consisted chiey of
meteoric iron, or iron-nickel alloy, was used by various
a repetition of rectilinear patterns, gave way to a system
ancient peoples thousands of years before the Iron Age.
of curvilinear and owing designs.[1]
Such iron, being in its native metallic state, required no
The term "Iron Age" has low chronological value, because smelting of ores.[7][8] By the Middle Bronze Age, init did not begin simultaneously across the entire world.[3] creasing numbers of smelted iron objects (distinguishable
The dates and context vary depending on the region, and from meteoric iron by the lack of nickel in the product)
the sequence of ages is not necessarily true for every part appeared in the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and South
of the earths surface. There are areas, such as the islands Asia.
of the South Pacic, the interior of Africa, and parts of
Pure iron is softer than bronze, and therefore produces
North and South America, where peoples have passed ditools which wear out faster. The advantage of using iron
rectly from the use of stone to the use of iron without an
over bronze lay in cheaper production and the wide avail1

2
ability of iron ore. The systematic production and use of
iron implements in Anatolia began around 2000 BC.[9]
Recent archaeological research in the Ganges Valley, India showed early iron working by 1800 BC.[10] However,
this metal was expensive, perhaps because of the complications of steel-making.
Anthony Snodgrass[11][12] suggests that a shortage of tin,
as a part of the Bronze Age Collapse and trade disruptions in the Mediterranean around 1300 BC, forced
metalworkers to seek an alternative to bronze. As evidence, many bronze implements were recycled into
weapons during this time. More widespread use of iron
led to improved steel-making technology at lower cost.
Thus, even when tin became available again, iron was
cheaper, stronger, and lighter, and forged iron implements superseded cast bronze tools permanently.[13]
Recent archaeological work has modied not only the
above chronology, but also the causes of the transition
from bronze to iron. New dates from India suggest
that iron was being worked there as early as 1800 BC,
and African sites are turning up dates as early as 1200
BC,[14][15][16] confounding the idea that there was a simple discovery and diusion model. Increasingly, the Iron
Age in Europe is being seen as a part of the Bronze Age
collapse in the ancient Near East, in ancient India (with
the post-Rigvedic Vedic civilization), ancient Iran, and
ancient Greece (with the Greek Dark Ages). In other regions of Europe, the Iron Age began in the 8th century
BC in Central Europe and the 6th century BC in Northern
Europe. The Near Eastern Iron Age is divided into two
subsections, Iron I and Iron II. Iron I (12001000 BC)
illustrates both continuity and discontinuity with the previous Late Bronze Age. There is no denitive cultural
break between the 13th and 12th century BC 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 signicantly
from that of the late 2nd millennium.

HISTORY

iron, were more common in lower-priced goods. Many

techniques have been used to create steel; Mediterranean
ones dier dramatically from African ones, for example.
Sometimes the nal product is all steel, sometimes techniques like case-hardening or forge welding were used to
make cutting edges stronger.

2.1 Near East

Southwest Asia / Middle East
Main article: Ancient Near East
In the Mesopotamian states of Sumer, Akkad and
Assyria, the initial use of iron reaches far back, to perhaps 3000 BC.[3] One of the earliest smelted iron artifacts known was a dagger with an iron blade found in a
Hattic tomb in Anatolia, dating from 2500 BC.[17] The
widespread use of iron weapons which replaced bronze
weapons rapidly disseminated throughout the Near East
(North Africa, southwest Asia) by the beginning of the
1st millennium BC.
2.1.1 Near East timeline
Dates are approximate,
consult particular article
for details
Prehistoric (or Protohistoric)
Iron
Age
Historic Iron Age
2.1.2 Ancient Near East
Main article: Ancient Near East

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 and Balkans in
the late 2nd millennium BC (c. 1300 BC).[19] However,
this theory has been challenged by the emergence of those
placing the transition in price and availability issues rather
than the development of technology on its own. The ear2 History
liest bloomery smelting of iron is found at Tell Hammeh,
During the Iron Age, the best tools and weapons were Jordan around 930 BC (C14 dating).
made from steel, particularly alloys which were produced The development of iron smelting was once attributed
with a carbon content between approximately 0.30% and to the Hittites of Anatolia during the Late Bronze Age.
1.2% by weight. Alloys with less carbon than this, such It was believed that they maintained a monopoly on
as wrought iron, cannot be heat treated to a signicant ironworking, and that their empire had been based on
degree and will consequently be of low hardness, while a that advantage.[20] Accordingly, the invading Sea Peoples
higher carbon content creates an extremely hard but brit- were responsible for spreading the knowledge through
tle material that cannot be annealed, tempered, or oth- that region. This theory is no longer held in the comerwise softened. Steel weapons and tools were nearly mon current thought of the majority of scholarship,[20]
the same weight as those of bronze, but stronger. How- since there is no archaeological evidence of the alleged
ever, steel was dicult to produce with the methods avail- Hittite monopoly. While there are some iron objects
able, and alloys that were easier to make, such as wrought from Bronze Age Anatolia, the number is comparable to

2.3

Asia

iron objects found in Egypt and other places of the same

time period; and only a small number of these objects
are weapons.[21] As part of the Late Bronze Age-Early
Iron Age, the Bronze Age collapse saw the slow, comparatively continuous spread of iron-working technology
in the region. The Ugaritic script was in use during this
time, around 1300 BC. Ugarit was one of the centres of
the literate world.
Assyro-Babylonian literature, written in the Akkadian
language, of Mesopotamia (Assyria and Babylonia) continues into the Iron Age up until the 6th centuries BC.
The oldest Phoenician alphabet inscription is the Ahiram
epitaph, engraved on the sarcophagus of King Ahiram
from circa 1200 BC.[22] It has become conventional to
refer to the alphabetic script as Proto-Canaanite until
the mid-11th century BC, when it is rst attested on inscribed bronze arrowheads, and as Phoenician only after 1050 BC.[23] The Paleo-Hebrew alphabet is identical
to the Phoenician alphabet and dates to the 10th century
BC.

2.2

Europe

Main article: Iron Age Europe

In Europe, the use of iron covers the last years of the
prehistoric period and the early years of the historic
period.[3] The regional Iron Age may be dened as including the last stages of the prehistoric period and the rst of
the proto-historic periods.[1] Iron working was introduced
to Europe in the late 11th century BC,[24] probably from
the Caucasus, and slowly spread northwards and westwards over the succeeding 500 years. The widespread
use of the technology of iron was implemented in Europe
simultaneously with Asia.[25]
Archaeological artifact from the work developed in
the area of Citnia de Briteiros
Cross or cruzado in Citnia de Breteiros

2.3 Asia
The widespread use of the technology of iron was implemented in Asia simultaneously with Europe.[25] In China,
the use of iron reaches far back, to perhaps 600 years
BC.[3]
2.3.1 Central Asia
The Iron Age in Central Asia began when iron objects
appear among the Indo-European Saka in present-day
Xinjiang between the 10th century BC and the 7th century BC, such as those found at the cemetery site of
Chawuhukou.[26]
2.3.2 North Asia
The Pazyryk culture is an Iron Age archaeological culture (ca. 6th to 3rd centuries BC) identied by excavated
artifacts and mummied humans found in the Siberian
permafrost in the Altay Mountains.
2.3.3 Southeast Asia
Archaeology in Thailand at sites Ban Don Ta Phet and
Khao Sam Kaeo yielding metallic, stone, and glass artifacts stylistically associated with the Indian subcontinent
suggest Indianization of Southeast Asia beginning in the
fourth to second centuries BC during the late Iron Age.[27]
South Asia timeline
Dates are approximate,
consult particular article
for details
Prehistoric (or Protohistoric)
Iron
Age
Historic Iron Age

Informative plaque of the proto-historic settlement

Indian subcontinent Main article: Iron Age India
of Citnia de Breteiros
Another artifact from Citnia de Briteiros
A pedra formosa

The history of metallurgy in the Indian subcontinent began during the 2nd millennium BC. 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 1800 BC 1200 BC.[10] Archaeological excavations in Hyderabad show an Iron Age
burial site.[28] Rakesh Tewari[29] believes that around the
beginning of the Indian Iron Age (13th century BC), iron
smelting was widely practiced in India. Such use suggests
that the date of the technologys inception may be around
the 16th century BC.[10]

The Iron Age in Europe is characterized by an elaboration

of designs in weapons, implements, and utensils.[3] These
are no longer cast but hammered into shape, and decoration is elaborate curvilinear rather than simple rectilinear; the forms and character of the ornamentation of the
northern European weapons resembles in some respects
Roman arms, while in other respects they are peculiar and
evidently representative of northern art. The dead were
buried in an extended position, whereas in the preceding Epic India is traditionally placed around early 10th century BC and later on from the Sanskrit epics of Sanskrit
Bronze Age cremation had been the rule.

HISTORY

literature. Composed between approximately 1500 BC

consult particular article
and 600 BC of pre-classical Sanskrit, the Vedic literature
for details
forms four Vedas (the Rig, Yajur, Sma and Atharva).
Prehistoric (or ProtoThe main period of Vedic literary activity is the 9th to
historic)
Iron
Age
7th centuries when the various schools of thought comHistoric Iron Age
piled and memorized their respective corpora. Following this, the scholarship around 500 to 100 BC organized
knowledge into Sutra treatises.
China Main article: Iron Age China
The beginning of the 1st millennium BC saw extensive
developments in iron metallurgy in India. Technological advancement and mastery of iron metallurgy was
achieved during this period of peaceful settlements. One
iron working centre in east India has been dated to the
rst millennium BC.[30] In Southern India (present day
Mysore) iron appeared as early as 12th to 11th centuries
BC; these developments were too early for any signicant close contact with the northwest of the country.[30]
The Indian Upanishads mention metallurgy.[31] and the
Indian Mauryan period saw advances in metallurgy.[32]
As early as 300 BC, certainly by 200 AD, high quality
steel was produced in southern India, by what would later
be called the crucible technique. In this system, highpurity wrought iron, charcoal, and glass were mixed in
crucible and heated until the iron melted and absorbed
the carbon.[33]
India timeline
Dates are approximate,
consult particular article
for details
Prehistoric (or Protohistoric)
Iron
Age
Historic Iron Age
Sri Lanka The protohistoric Early Iron Age in Sri
Lanka lasted from 1000 to 600 BC. Radiocarbon evidence has been collected from Anuradhapura and Aligala
shelter in Sigiriya.[34][35][36][37] The Anuradhapura settlement is recorded to extend 10 hectares by 800 BC and
grew to 50 hectares by 700 - 600 BC to become a town.[38]
The skeletal remains of an Early Iron Age chief were excavated in Anaikoddai, Jana. The name 'Ko Veta' is
engraved in Brahmi script on a seal buried with the skeleton and is assigned by the excavators to the 3rd century
BC. Ko, meaning King in Tamil, is comparable to such
names as Ko Atan and Ko Putivira occurring in contemporary Brahmi inscriptions in south India.[39] It is also
speculated that Early Iron Age sites may exist in Kandarodai, Matota, Pilapitiya and Tissamaharama.[40]
2.3.4

East Asia

In China, Chinese bronze inscriptions are found around

1200 BC. The development of iron metallurgy was transpired by the 9th century BC.[41][42] The large seal script
is identied with a group of characters from a book
entitled Sh Zho Pin (ca. 800 BC). Iron metallurgy
reached the Yangzi Valley toward the end of the 6th
century BC.[43] The few objects were found at Changsha and Nanjing. The mortuary evidence suggests that
the initial use of iron in Lingnan belongs to the mid-tolate Warring States period (from about 350 BC). Important non-precious husi style metal nds include Iron tools
found at the Tomb at Ku-wei tsun of the fourth century
BC.[44]
The techniques used in Lingnan are 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.

Korea Main article: ProtoThree Kingdoms of Korea

Iron objects were introduced to the Korean peninsula
through trade with chiefdoms and state-level societies in
the Yellow Sea area in the 4th century BC, just at the
end of the Warring States Period but before the Western Han Dynasty began.[45][46] Yoon proposes that iron
was rst introduced to chiefdoms located along North
Korean river valleys that ow into the Yellow Sea such
as the Cheongcheon and Taedong Rivers.[47] Iron production quickly followed in the 2nd century BC, and
iron implements came to be used by farmers by the
1st century in southern Korea.[45] The earliest known
cast-iron axes in southern Korea are found in the Geum
River basin. The time that iron production begins is the
same time that complex chiefdoms of Proto-historic Korea emerged. The complex chiefdoms were the precursors of early states such as Silla, Baekje, Goguryeo, and
Gaya[46][48] Iron ingots were an important mortuary item
and indicated the wealth or prestige of the deceased in
this period.[49]

East Asia timeline

Japan
Dates are approximate,

Main articles: Yayoi period and Kofun period

2.4

Africa

5
2.4.1 Africa timeline
Dates are approximate,
consult particular article
for details
Prehistoric (or Protohistoric)
Iron
Age
Historic Iron Age
2.4.2 Ancient Egypt
In the Black Pyramid of Abusir, dating before 2000 BC,
Gaston Maspero found some pieces of iron. In the funeral
text of Pepi I, the metal is mentioned.[3] A sword bearing
the name of pharaoh Merneptah as well as a battle axe
with an iron blade and gold-decorated bronze shaft were
both found in the excavation of Ugarit.[51]

Iron metal is singularly scarce in collections of Egyptian

antiquities. Bronze remained the primary material there
until the conquest by Assyria. The explanation of this
would seem to lie in the fact that the relics are in most
cases the paraphernalia of tombs, the funeral vessels and
vases, and iron being considered an impure metal by the
ancient Egyptians it was never used in their manufacture
Silla chest and neck armour from National Museum of Korea.
of these or for any religious purposes. It was attributed to
Seth, the spirit of evil who according to Egyptian tradition
[3]
Iron items, such as tools, weapons, and decorative ob- governed the central deserts of Africa.
jects, are postulated to have entered Japan during the late
Yayoi period (c. 300 BC to 300 AD)[50] or the succeed2.4.3 Sub-Saharan
ing Kofun period (c. 250 AD to 538 AD), most likely
through contacts with the Korean Peninsula and China.
See also: Nok culture, Urewe and Bantu expansion
Distinguishing characteristics of the Yayoi period include Very early copper and bronze working sites in Niger,
the appearance of new pottery styles and the start of intensive rice agriculture in paddy elds. Yayoi culture
ourished in a geographic area from southern Kysh
to northern Honsh. The Kofun and the subsequent
Asuka periods are sometimes referred to collectively as
the Yamato period; The word kofun is Japanese for the
type of burial mounds dating from that era.

2.4

Africa

In Africa, where there was no continent-wide universal

Bronze Age, the use of iron succeeded immediately the
use of stone.[3] Metallurgy was characterized by the absence of a Bronze Age, and the transition from stone to
steel in tool substances. Sub-Saharan Africa has produced very early instances of carbon steel found to be in
production around 2000 years ago in northwest Tanzania,
based on complex preheating principles. Nubia was one
of the relatively few places in Africa to have a sustained
Bronze Age along with Egypt and much of the rest of
North Africa. The Meroitic script was developed in the Iron Age nds in East and Southern Africa, corresponding to the
early 1st millennium Bantu expansion.
Napatan Period (c. 700300 BC).

West Africa may date to as early as 1500 BC. There is also

evidence of iron metallurgy in Termit, Niger from around
this period.[14][52] In Central Africa, iron working may
have been practiced as early as the 3rd millennium BC.[53]
It was once believed that iron and copper working in SubSaharan Africa spread in conjunction with the Bantu expansion, from the Cameroon region to the African Great
Lakes in the 3rd century BC, reaching the Cape around
400 AD.[14]
Sub-Saharan Africa has produced very early instances of
carbon steel found to be in production around 2,000 years
ago in northwest Tanzania, based on complex preheating principles. These discoveries, according to Schmidt
and Avery (archaeologists credited with the discovery)
are signicant for the history of metallurgy.[54]

REFERENCES

[4] Rehren T, et al, 5,000 years old Egyptian iron beads

made from hammered meteoritic iron, Journal of Archaeological Science 2013 text
[5] Akanuma, H. (2005). The signicance of the composition of excavated iron fragments taken from Stratum III
at the site of Kaman-Kalehyk, Turkey. Anatolian Archaeological Studies 14: 147158.
[6] Ironware piece unearthed from Turkey found to be oldest steel. The Hindu (Chennai, India). 2009-03-26. Retrieved 2009-03-27.
[7] Archaeomineralogy, p.
Springer, 2002

164, George Robert Rapp,

[8] Understanding materials science, p. 125, Rolf E. Hummel,

Springer, 2004

At the end of the Iron Age, Nubia became a major

[9] Ironware piece unearthed from Turkey found to be oldest
manufacturer and exporter of iron. This was after besteel in The Hindu, Thursday, March 26, 2009
ing expelled from Egypt by Assyrians, who used iron
[10] The origins of Iron Working in India: New evidence from
weapons.[55]

3
4

Gallery
See also

General Fogou
Lists List of archaeological periods, List of archaeological sites
Metallurgy Blast furnace, Roman metallurgy
Other Synoptic table of the principal old world prehistoric cultures

Further reading
Peter van der Veen, "Early Iron Age Epigraphy and
Chronological Revision: a summary article", in: P.
James and P. van der Veen (eds.), Solomon and
Shishak, BAR International Series 2732, Archaeopress, Oxford, 2015, 190-198
Jane C. Waldbaum, From Bronze to Iron. Gteburg:
Paul Astms Frlag (1978), 56-8

References

[1] The Junior Encyclopdia Britannica: A reference library

of general knowledge. (1897). Chicago: E.G. Melvin.

the Central Ganga plain and the Eastern Vindhyas by

Rakesh Tewari (Director, U.P. State Archaeological Department)
[11] A.M.Snodgrass (1966), Arms and Armour of the
Greeks. (Thames & Hudson, London)
[12] A. M. Snodgrass (1971), The Dark Age of Greece (Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh).
[13] Theodore Wertime and J. D. Muhly, eds. The Coming of
the Age of Iron (New Haven, 1979).
[14] Duncan E. Miller and N.J. Van Der Merwe, 'Early Metal
Working in Sub Saharan Africa' Journal of African History 35 (1994) 136; Minze Stuiver and N.J. Van Der
Merwe, 'Radiocarbon Chronology of the Iron Age in SubSaharan Africa' Current Anthropology 1968.
[15] How Old is the Iron Age in Sub-Saharan Africa? by
Roderick J. McIntosh, Archaeological Institute of America (1999)
[16] Iron in Sub-Saharan Africa by Stanley B. Alpern
(2005)
[17] Richard Cowen () The Age of Iron Chapter 5 in a series
of essays on Geology, History, and People prepares for a
course of the University of California at Davis. Online
version.
[18] Alex Webb, Metalworking in Ancient Greece"".
freeserve.co.uk.
[19] Jane C. Waldbaum, From Bronze to Iron: The Transition
from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age in the Eastern Mediterranean (Studies in Mediterranean Archaeology, vol. LIV,
1978).

[2] C. J. Thomsen and Jens Jacob Asmussen Worsaae rst applied the system to artifacts.

[20] Muhly, James D. 'Metalworking/Mining in the Levant'

pp. 174-183 in Near Eastern Archaeology ed. Suzanne
Richard (2003), pp. 179-180.

[3] Chisholm, H. (1910). The Encyclopdia Britannica. New

York: The Encyclopdia Britannica Co.

[21] Waldbaum, Jane C. From Bronze to Iron. Gteburg: Paul

Astms Frlag (1978): 56-8.

[22] Coulmas, Florian, Writing Systems of the World, Blackwell Publishers Ltd, Oxford, 1989. p. 141.

[42] David N. Keightley. The Origins of Chinese Civilization.

Page 226.

[23] Markoe, Glenn E., Phoenicians. University of California

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[43] Higham, Charles. 1996. The Bronze Age of Southeast Asia

[24] Riederer, Josef; Wartke, Ralf-B.: Iron, Cancik, Hubert;

Schneider, Helmuth (eds.): Brills New Pauly, Brill 2009
[25] John Collis, The European Iron Age (1989)
[26] Mark E. Hall, Towards an absolute chronology for the
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[27] Glover, I.C.; Bellina, B. Ban Don Ta Phet and Khao Sam
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[28] News By Industry. The Times Of India. 2008-09-10.

[44] Encyclopedia of World Art: Landscape in art to Micronesian cultures. McGraw-Hill. 1964.
[45] Kim, Do-heon. 2002. Samhan Sigi Jujocheolbu-eui Yutong Yangsang-e Daehan Geomto [A Study of the Distribution Patterns of Cast Iron Axes in the Samhan Period]. Yongnam Kogohak [Yongnam Archaeological Review] 31:129.
[46] Taylor, Sarah. 1989. The Introduction and Development of Iron Production in Korea. World Archaeology
20(3):422431.
[47] Yoon, Dong-suk. 1989. Early Iron Metallurgy in Korea.
Archaeological Review from Cambridge 8(1):9299.

[29] Director of Archaeology, (Uttar Pradesh)

[48] Barnes, Gina L. 2001. State Formation in Korea: Historical and Archaeological Perspectives. Curzon, London.

[30] Early Antiquity By I. M. Drakono. Published 1991.

University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-14465-8. pg
372

[49] Lee, Sung-joo. 1998. Silla Gaya Sahoe-eui Giwon-gwa

Seongjang [The Rise and Growth of Silla and Gaya Society]. Hakyeon Munhwasa, Seoul.

[31] Upanisads By Patrick Olivelle. Published 1998. Oxford

University Press. ISBN 0-19-283576-9. pg xxix

[50] Prehistoric Archaeological Periods in Japan, Charles T.

Keally

[32] The New Cambridge History of India By J. F. Richards,

Gordon Johnson, Christopher Alan Bayly. Published
2005. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-364248. pg 64

[51] Richard Cowen, 'The Age of Iron Chapter 5 in a series

of essays on Geology, History, and People prepares for a
course of the University of California at Davis. Online version

[33] Jule, G. (1996), An ancient wind powered iron smelting

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[52] Iron in Africa: Revising the History, UNESCO Aux origines de la mtallurgie du fer en Afrique, Une anciennet
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[34] Lahiru Weligamage (2002) The Ancient Sri Lanka

[35] Deraniyagala, Siran, The Prehistory of Sri Lanka; an ecological perspective. (revised ed.), Colombo: Archaeological Survey Department of Sri Lanka, 1992: 709-29
[36] Karunaratne and Adikari 1994, Excavations at Aligala
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Sigiriya-Dambulla region. Sri Lanka, University of Kelaniya: Postgraduate Institute of Archaeolog :58
[37] Mogren 1994. Objectives, methods, constraints and perspectives. In: Bandaranayake and Mogren (1994) Further studies in the settlement archaeology of the SigiriyaDambulla region. Sri Lanka, University of Kelaniya:
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[38] F. R. Allchin 1989. City and State Formation in Early
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[39] Indrapala, K. The Evolution of an ethnic identity: The
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[40] Deraniyagala, Siran, The Prehistory of Sri Lanka; an ecological perspective. (revised ed.), Colombo: Archaeological Survey Department of Sri Lanka, 1992: 730-2, 735
[41] Derevianki, A. P. 1973. Rannyi zheleznyi vek Priamuria

[53] Heather Pringle, Seeking Africas rst Iron Men. Science

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[55] Collins, Rober O. and Burns, James M. The History of
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7 External links
General
A site with a focus on Iron Age Britain from resourcesforhistory.com
Publications
Andre Gunder Frank and William R. Thompson,
Early Iron Age economic expansion and contraction
revisited. American Institute of Archaeology, San
Francisco, Ca., January, 2004.

News
Mass burial suggests massacre at Iron Age hill fort.
Archaeologists have found evidence of a massacre
linked to Iron Age warfare at a hill fort in Derbyshire. BBC. 17 April 2011

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Iron Age Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Age?oldid=673301900 Contributors: Andre Engels, Rmhermen, Christian List,
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8.2

Images

File:East&southern_africa_early_iron_age.png Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/82/East%26southern_

africa_early_iron_age.png License: Public domain Contributors: own painting in a PD map (File:BlankMap-World.png) Original artist:
User:Ulamm
File:Korea-Silla-Iron.armor-01.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/32/Korea-Silla-Iron.armor-01.jpg
License: Public domain Contributors: Transfered from en.wikipedia Original artist: Original uploader was Good friend100 at en.wikipedia

8.3

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