# Iron meteorites consist overwhelmingly of nickel-iron alloys.

The metal taken

from these meteorites is known as meteoric iron and was one of the earliest
sources of usable iron available to man.
BRONZE AGE ARROW HEADS
Iron Age is the cultural phase during which iron replaced bronze
metal technology. Despite spasmodic earlier use of meteoric iron,
it wasnt until 1500 BC that the iron working techniques were
perfected.
IRON AGE SWORD
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.
No firm ending date is set for the Iron Age in any
particular society; there is simply a point where
archaeology becomes less important than
surviving history and traditions. Iron alloys
remain popular as the steels in most metallic
objects.
THE BEGINNING
THE EVOLUTION
It was after only after the Mesolithic age
that man began making settlements. With
permanence came a greater set of
advancements.
Iron Age Architecture
*The Iron Age is dated between 600 BC - 400 AD. Iron and
Bronze Age Architecture emerged as the social and cultural
environment moved on from small Neolithic groups of people
of the Stone Age to much larger tribes.

*Iron Age Hill forts mark the transition to an organized
community of people with leaders or Kings. Tribal disputes
and warfare escalated as did the use of more sophisticated
and lethal weapons made first of Bronze and then of Iron.
The History of Iron Age Architecture

*The History of Iron Age Architecture encompasses the
Bronze and Iron Age Hill forts - the ancient forts, or
fortresses, which sat on the top of hills!
*Iron and Age Architecture moved away from building the
massive sacred Stone Monoliths such as Stonehenge and
the idea of the Causewayed Camps were developed still
further with the advent of the Hill forts.
*The Hill forts were developed due to more sophisticated
weapons made first bronze and then of lead. The pattern of
fortress and castle development and changing architecture
continued up to the English Medieval Castles.
*The evidence of more than 2000 Hill forts have been found
in Britain! Hill forts - the Bronze and Iron Age equivalent to
a medieval castle!
*Iron Age Architecture in England was focused around the
construction of Hill forts. The architecture of Iron Age Hill
forts centered around a series of detached buildings
(homesteads, or farmhouses, granaries and communal
gathering areas).
*They were surrounded by at least one concentric bank and
ditch. The Bonze and Iron age architecture featured
gateways, barbicans, guardhouses, towers, ramparts,
palisades, and parapets.
*These are all terms of architecture that we commonly
associate with Medieval castles! These were massive
constructions of the Iron and Bronze Age.
*The biggest Hill fort in England was called Maiden Castle. Its
original ditch and bank measured a massive 545 meters, with
ramparts reaching a height of 20 feet - 6 meters!
Iron and Bronze Age Architecture and
Constructions

PRE HISTORIC HILL FORT
Time is an important factor in Iron Age architecture:

Social and cultural change?
Iron Age Architecture, especially in respect of the Hill forts, reflected the
social changes of people - living in large settlements permanently occupied
by tribes of people
Cultural changes led to tribes being ruled by Kings and Leaders
The Iron Age Hill forts provided a meeting place for increased trading

Changing needs of the population?
The Iron Age saw rising population levels
The Hill forts provided shelter from the climate for people and animals. They
provided a safe retreat against intrusion or invasion from other tribes

What materials were readily available for Iron Age Architecture?
Hill forts were constructed using stone, soil and wood - Timber was favored
as it was clearly lighter to transport up the hilltops and was

Iron Age Architecture - Time


used for strengthening the ramparts and for interior building construction

Were the materials easily accessible?
Yes! Materials were usually obtained from the original site

How would the materials be transported?
The wheel had been invented! Carts and wagons were available

What technology, in terms of the building tools, were available?
The Bronze Age was characterized by the first use of metal tools in human
civilization. First copper, then bronze. The process of smelting was
discovered in which metal was extracted from an ore through the use of heat.
A mixture of tin and copper ore, heated together, made bronze. Bronze tools
were harder and more durable.
It was then discovered how to extract Iron from ore
Cheap and durable metal tools such as the hook and axe-heads were
produced
New building techniques, construction methods and ideas

The Skills available? The Workforce?
Many skills were required - building, metal production, stone
cutting, transportation, organizing resources etc. To build the hill
forts would have taken a labor force of hundreds, and in the
instance of Maiden Castle thousands - mostly slaves!
Iron and Bronze Age Architecture -
Design
The design of Iron Age architecture had to be a
combination of practical use and the aesthetic
design! Iron and Bronze Age architecture had to take
the following into consideration:
What did the design and architecture of the
Causewayed Camps want to convey? Fear, Awe,
Domination, Envy, Submission, Respect, Power,
Wealth - exactly the same requirements as for
castles!
Economy - The Iron Age Hill forts would have
required considerable expense in terms of man
power and deployment of labor - the use of slaves
was considerable

*Because of climatic, geographical and topographical differences,
someone living in Yorkshire or Ireland would have eaten different
food, worn different clothing and lived in different housing
conditions from someone living in southern Britain. Due to these
ranges, and the varying evidence of the archaeology, the pattern
of every day life in an Iron Age village has to be described in quite
generalised terms.
*Since Iron Age society was primarily agricultural, it is safe to
presume that the daily routine would have revolved around the
maintenance of the crops and livestock.
*Small farmsteads were tended by, and would have supported,
isolated communities of family or extended family size, producing
enough to live on and a little extra to exchange for commodities
that the farmers were unable to provide for themselves.
Many of these small farmsteads, such as at Farley Mount in
Hampshire, delimited with a circular bank and ditch enclosure,
were surrounded by linear ditch systems that formed small
rectangular fields, radiating out from the farm itself.
Harvested crops were stored in either granaries that were
raised from the ground on posts, or in bell-shaped pits 2-3m (6-
7ft) deep, dug into the chalk landscape. Some 4,500 of these
storage pits have been found within the hillfort interior at
Danebury in Hampshire, and if they were all used to store
crops, this would have essentially made the site one large
fortified granary.


CREMATION BURIALS IN IRON I & II: Cremation burial, unknown in
the Middle and Late Bronze Ages, appears in Iron I and continues into Iron II.
The earliest form of cremation burial, urn burial, (Azor) occurs almost
exclusively in the coastal region of southern Palestine. (NOTE: only two
known examples predate the 10th century.) In the tenth-eighth century, these
urn burials (er-Reqeish, 200 cemetery Tell el-Farah S) bear striking similarity
to contemporary burials in the Phoenician colonies of north Africa. By late Iron
II, it appears that cremation urn burials may be replaced by cremation pyre
burials (see Atlit), though there is minimal evidence at this time to confirm this
observation.
SECONDARY BURIAL IN IRON I & II: Secondary burial,
which reappears in the hill country and Transjordan in Iron I,
becomes the dominant burial fashion by Iron II. Large bone piles are
usually located at the back of the tombs or in specially cut bone pits.
Late Iron II tombs, containing secondary burial, have specialized
features including bone pits, beds and even pillow rests.
OMB ARCHITECTURE IN IRON II: Tomb architecture
develops from simple rectangular structures with little
elaboration in Iron I-II to complex square tombs with
specialized features by the end of the Iron Age. The
earlier Iron II tombs tend to be rectangular rooms cut into
the slope of the tell. By the eighth century, square-
shaped tombs replace the rectangular design. Many of
these tombs have bone pits in the back, into which
earlier burials were swept; beds for the deceased; and
even headrests or lamp niches. By the end of the
seventh century, some of these square-shaped tombs
are linked together around a central entrance much like
we find in kokkim tombs of the later periods.