Iron Age - wikipedia Iron Age This article is about the historical / archaeological period known as the Iron Age. For the mythological Iron Age, see Ages of Man. The Iron Age is an archaeological era, referring to a period of time in the prehistory and protohistory of the Old World ( Afro - Eurasia ) when the dominant toolmaking material was iron. It is commonly preceded by the Bronze Age in Europe and Asia and the Stone Age in Africa, with exceptions. Meteoric iron has been used by humans since at least 3200 BC. Ancient iron production did not become widespread until the development of the ability to smelt iron ore, remove impurities and regulate the amount of carbon in the alloy. The start of the Iron Age proper is considered by many to fall between around 1200 BC and 600 BC, depending on the region. Iron Age This box : view talk edit ↑ Bronze Age Late Bronze Age collapse Ancient Near East ( 1200 BC -- 500 BC ) Anatolia Assyria, Caucasus, Cyprus, Egypt, Levant ( Israel and Judah ), Neo-Babylonian Empire, Persia South Asia ( 1200 BC -- 200 BC ) India ( 1200 BC -- 200 BC ) Painted Grey Ware Northern Black Polished Ware Maurya Empire Anuradhapura Kingdom Europe ( 1200 BC -- 1 BC ) Aegean Novocherkassk Hallstatt C La Tène C Villanovan C British Iron Age Thracians Dacia, Transylvania, Southeastern Europe Greece, Rome Scandinavia ( 600 BC - Germanic Iron Age ( 800 AD ) ) East Asia ( 600 BC -- 300 AD ) China ( 600 BC -- 200 BC ) Spring and Autumn period and Warring States period Japan ( 100 BC -- 300 AD ) Kofun period Yayoi period Korea ( 400 BC -- 400 AD ) Late Gojoseon period Proto - Three Kingdoms period Southeast Asia ( 1000 BC -- 800 AD ) Indonesia ( 400 BC -- 500 AD ) Buni culture Philippines ( 1000 BC -- 200 AD ) Jade Culture Sa Huyun culture Vietnam ( 1000 BC -- 630 AD ) Sa Huỳnh culture Óc Eo culture Sub-Saharan Africa ( 1000 BC -- 800 AD ) Nok Djenné - Djenno Igbo - Ukwu Urewe Axial Age Classical antiquity Zhou dynasty Vedic period Ancient barangays Alphabetic writing Metallurgy ↓ Ancient history Historiography Greek, Roman, Chinese, Islamic Contents 1 Chronology 2 History 2.1 Near East 2.1. 1 Ancient Egypt 2.2 Europe 2.3 Asia 2.3. 1 Central Asia 2.3. 2 East Asia 2.3. 2.1 China 2.3. 2.2 Japan 2.3. 2.3 Korea 2.3. 3 South Asia 2.3. 3.1 India 2.3. 3.2 Sri Lanka 2.3. 4 Southeast Asia 2.4 Africa 2.4. 1 Sub-saharan Africa 3 Image gallery 4 See also 5 Further reading 6 References 7 External links Chronology Dates are approximate, consult particular article for details The earliest - known iron artifacts are nine small beads dated to 3200 BC, which were found in burials at Gerzeh, Lower Egypt. They have been identified as meteoric iron shaped by careful hammering. Meteoric iron, a characteristic iron -- nickel alloy, was used by various ancient peoples thousands of years before the Iron Age. Such iron, being in its native metallic state, required no smelting of ores. Smelted iron appears sporadically in the archeological record from the middle Bronze Age. Whilst terrestrial iron is naturally abundant, its high melting point of 1,538 ° C ( 2,800 ° F ) placed it out of reach of common use until the end of the second millennium BC. Tin 's low melting point of 231.9 ° C ( 449.4 ° F ) and copper 's relatively moderate melting point of 1,085 ° C ( 1,985 ° F ) placed them within the capabilities of the Neolithic pottery kilns, which date back to 6000 BC and were able to produce temperatures greater than 900 ° C ( 1,650 ° F ). In addition to specially designed furnaces, ancient iron production needed to develop complex procedures for the removal of impurities, for regulating the admixture of carbon in combination with hot - working to achieve a useful balance of hardness and strength ( steel ) and for adding alloys to prevent rust ; see Ferrous metallurgy. The earliest tentative evidence for iron - making is a small number of iron fragments with the appropriate amounts of carbon admixture found in the Proto - Hittite layers at Kaman - Kalehöyük and dated to 2200 -- 2000 BC. Akanuma ( 2008 ) concludes that `` The combination of carbon dating, archaeological context, and archaeometallurgical examination indicates that it is likely that the use of ironware made of steel had already begun in the third millennium BC in Central Anatolia ''. Souckova - Siegolová ( 2001 ) shows that iron implements were made in Central Anatolia in very limited quantities around 1800 BC and were in general use by elites, though not by commoners, during the New Hittite Empire ( ∼ 1400 -- 1200 BC ). Similarly, recent archaeological remains of iron working in the Ganges Valley in India have been tentatively dated to 1800 BC. Tewari ( 2003 ) concludes that `` knowledge of iron smelting and manufacturing of iron artifacts was well known in the Eastern Vindhyas and iron had been in use in the Central Ganga Plain, at least from the early second millennium BC ''. By the Middle Bronze Age increasing numbers of smelted iron objects ( distinguishable from meteoric iron by the lack of nickel in the product ) appeared in the Middle East, Southeast Asia and South Asia. African sites are turning up dates as early as 1200 BC. Modern archaeological evidence identifies the start of large - scale iron production in around 1200 BC, marking the end of the Bronze Age. Between 1200 BC and 1000 BC diffusion in the understanding of iron metallurgy and use of iron objects was fast and far - flung. Anthony Snodgrass 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 that 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. Maiden Castle in England. More than 2,000 Iron Age hillforts are known in Britain. 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 ( 1200 -- 1000 BC ) illustrates both continuity and discontinuity with the previous Late Bronze Age. There is no definitive cultural break between the 13th and 12th centuries 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, of 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 2nd millennium. History During the Iron Age the best tools and weapons were made from steel, particularly alloys with a carbon content between approximately 0.30 % and 1.2 % by weight. Alloys with less carbon than this, such as wrought iron, can not be heat treated to a significant degree and will consequently be of low hardness, whilst a higher carbon content creates an extremely hard but brittle material that can not be annealed, tempered, or otherwise softened. Steel weapons and tools were nearly the same weight as those of bronze but stronger. However steel was difficult to produce with the methods available, and alloys that were easier to make, such as wrought iron, were more common in lower - priced goods. Many techniques have been used to create steel ; Mediterranean ones differ dramatically from African ones, for example. Sometimes the final product is all steel, sometimes techniques such as case - hardening and forge welding were used to make cutting edges stronger. Near 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. 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. 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. 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 ). 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 earliest bloomery smelting of iron is found at Tell Hammeh, Jordan around 930 BC ( C dating ). The development of iron smelting was once attributed to the Hittites of Anatolia during the Late Bronze Age. It was believed that they maintained a monopoly on ironworking, and that their empire had been based on that advantage. Accordingly, the invading Sea Peoples were responsible for spreading the knowledge through that region. This theory is no longer held in the common current thought of the majority of scholarship, since there is no archaeological evidence of the alleged Hittite monopoly. While there are some iron objects from Bronze Age Anatolia, the number is comparable to iron objects found in Egypt and other places of the same time period ; and only a small number of these objects are weapons. 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. 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 9 0 16 33 49 1200 -- 1100 BC 8 26 37 N.A. 37 1100 -- 1000 BC 13 31 33 80 N.A. 80 1000 -- 900 BC 37 + 30 115 29 211 N.A. 211 Total Bronze Age 5 9 0 16 33 49 Total Iron Age 51 35 163 88 328 N.A. 328 Dates are approximate, consult particular article for details Prehistoric ( or Proto - historic ) Iron Age Historic Iron Age Ancient Egypt Main article : 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. 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. A dagger with an iron blade found in Tutankhamun 's tomb, 13th century BC, was recently examined and found to be of meteoric origin. Iron metal is singularly scarce in collections of Egyptian antiquities. Bronze remained the primary material there until the conquest by Neo-Assyrian Empire in 671 BC. 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 of these or for any religious purposes. It was attributed to Seth, the spirit of evil who according to Egyptian tradition governed the central deserts of Africa. 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. The regional Iron Age may be defined as including the last stages of the prehistoric period and the first of the proto - historic periods. Iron working was introduced to Europe in the late 11th century BC, 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. Archaeological artifact from the work developed in the area of Citânia de Briteiros Cross or cruzado in Citânia de Briteiros Informative plaque of the proto - historic settlement of Citânia de Briteiros Another artifact from Citânia de Briteiros A pedra formosa The Iron Age in Europe is characterized by an elaboration of designs in weapons, implements, and utensils. 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. Asia The widespread use of the technology of iron was implemented in Asia simultaneously with Europe. 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. The Pazyryk culture is an Iron Age archaeological culture ( ca. 6th to 3rd centuries BC ) identified by excavated artifacts and mummified humans found in the Siberian permafrost in the Altay Mountains. East Asia Dates are approximate, consult particular article for details Prehistoric ( or Proto - historic ) Iron Age Historic Iron Age China Main article : Iron Age China In China, Chinese bronze inscriptions are found around 1200 BC. The development of iron metallurgy was known by the 9th century BC. The large seal script is identified with a group of characters from a book entitled Shĭ Zhoù Piān ( c. 800 BC ). Iron metallurgy reached the Yangzi Valley toward the end of the 6th century BC. 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-to - late Warring States period ( from about 350 BC ). Important non-precious husi style metal finds include Iron tools found at the tomb at Guwei - cun of the 4th century BC. 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. Japan Main articles : Yayoi period and Kofun period Iron items, such as tools, weapons, and decorative objects, are postulated to have entered Japan during the late Yayoi period ( c. 300 BC -- AD 300 ) or the succeeding Kofun period ( c. AD 250 -- 538 ), most likely through contacts with the Korean Peninsula and China. Distinguishing characteristics of the Yayoi period include the appearance of new pottery styles and the start of intensive rice agriculture in paddy fields. Yayoi culture flourished in a geographic area from southern Kyūshū to northern Honshū. 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. Korea Main article : Proto -- Three Kingdoms of Korea Silla chest and neck armour from National Museum 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. 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 in southern Korea. 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 Iron ingots were an important mortuary item and indicated the wealth or prestige of the deceased in this period. South Asia Dates are approximate, consult particular article for details Prehistoric ( or Proto - historic ) Iron Age Historic Iron Age India Main article : Iron Age India 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 -- 1200 BC. Archaeological excavations in Hyderabad show an Iron Age burial site. Rakesh Tewari 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 technology 's inception may be around the 16th century BC. 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 first millennium BC. In Southern India ( present day Mysore ) iron appeared as early as 12th to 11th centuries BC ; these developments were too early for any significant close contact with the northwest of the country. The Indian Upanishads mention metallurgy. and the Indian Mauryan period saw advances in metallurgy. As early as 300 BC, certainly by AD 200, high quality steel was produced in southern India, by what would later be called the crucible technique. In this system, high - purity wrought iron, charcoal, and glass were mixed in a crucible and heated until the iron melted and absorbed the carbon. Sri Lanka The protohistoric Early Iron Age in Sri Lanka lasted from 1000 BC to 600 BC. how ever evidence of Iron usage was found in Excavation of a Protohistoric Canoe burial Site in Haldummulla and has been dated to 2400 BCE. Radiocarbon evidence has been collected from Anuradhapura and Aligala shelter in Sigiriya. The Anuradhapura settlement is recorded to extend 10 ha ( 25 acres ) by 800 BC and grew to 50 ha ( 120 acres ) by 700 -- 600 BC to become a town. The skeletal remains of an Early Iron Age chief were excavated in Anaikoddai, Jaffna. 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. It is also speculated that Early Iron Age sites may exist in Kandarodai, Matota, Pilapitiya and Tissamaharama. Southeast Asia lingling - o earrings from Luzon, Philippines Dates are approximate, consult particular article for details Prehistoric ( or Proto - historic ) Iron Age Historic Iron Age 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 4th to 2nd centuries BC during the late Iron Age. In Philippines and Vietnam the Sa Huyun culture showed evidence of an extensive trade network. Sa Huynh beads were made from glass, carnelian, agate, olivine, zircon, gold and garnet ; most of these materials were not local to the region, and were most likely imported. Han - Dynasty - style bronze mirrors were also found in Sa Huynh sites. Conversely, Sa Huynh produced ear ornaments have been found in archaeological sites in Central Thailand, Taiwan ( Orchid Island ). Africa In Africa, where there was no continent - wide universal Bronze Age, the use of iron succeeded immediately the use of stone. Metallurgy was characterized by the absence of a Bronze Age, and the transition from `` stone to steel '' in tool substances. Early evidence for iron technology in Sub-Saharan Africa can be found at sites such as KM2 and KM3 in northwest Tanzania. 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. Dates are approximate, consult particular article for details Prehistoric ( or Proto - historic ) Iron Age Historic Iron Age Sub-Saharan Africa Main article : Iron metallurgy in Africa See also : Nok culture, Urewe, and Bantu expansion Iron Age finds in East and Southern Africa, corresponding to the early 1st millennium Bantu expansion Very early copper and bronze working sites in Niger may date to as early as 1500 BC. There is also evidence of iron metallurgy in Termit, Niger from around this period. In Central Africa, iron working may have been practiced as early as the 3rd millennium BC. It was once believed that iron and copper working in Sub-Saharan 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 AD 400. Sub-Saharan Africa has produced very early instances of carbon steel found to be in production around the 1st century AD in northwest Tanzania, based on complex preheating principles. These discoveries, according to Schmidt and Avery ( archaeologists credited with the discovery ) are significant for the history of metallurgy. At the end of the Iron Age, Nubia became a major manufacturer and exporter of iron. This was after being expelled from Egypt by Assyrians, who used iron weapons. Image gallery Iron Age Examples Dun Carloway broch, Lewis, Scotland A replica Iron Age thatched roof, Butser Ancient Farm, Hampshire, England Iron Age roundhouse Iron Age roundhouse Iron Age roundhouse Broborg Knivsta, prehistoric castle See also Blast furnace Fogou Human timeline Life timeline List of archaeological periods List of archaeological sites Roman metallurgy 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. Göteburg : Paul Astöms Förlag ( 1978 ), 56 - 8 References Jump up ^ Rehren T, et al, `` 5,000 years old Egyptian iron beads made from hammered meteoritic iron '', Journal of Archaeological Science 2013 text Jump up ^ Archaeomineralogy, p. 164, George Robert Rapp, Springer, 2002 Jump up ^ Understanding materials science, p. 125, Rolf E. Hummel, Springer, 2004 Jump up ^ James E. McClellan III ; Harold Dorn. Science and Technology in World History : An Introduction. JHU Press ; 14 April 2006. ISBN 978 - 0 - 8018 - 8360 - 6. p. 21. Jump up ^ Akanuma, Hideo ( 2008 ). `` The Significance of Early Bronze Age Iron Objects from Kaman - Kalehöyük, Turkey '' ( PDF ). Anatolian Archaeological Studies. 17 : 313 -- 320. Jump up ^ Souckova - Siegolová, J. ( 2001 ). `` Treatment and usage of iron in the Hittite empire in the 2nd millennium BC ''. Mediterranean Archaeology. 14 : 189 -- 93... ^ Jump up to : Tewari, Rakesh ( 2003 ). `` The origins of Iron Working in India : New evidence from the Central Ganga plain and the Eastern Vindhyas '' ( PDF ). Antiquity. 77 : 536 -- 545. ^ Jump up to : Duncan E. Miller and N.J. Van Der Merwe, ' Early Metal Working in Sub Saharan Africa ' Journal of African History 35 ( 1994 ) 1 -- 36 ; Minze Stuiver and N.J. Van Der Merwe, ' Radiocarbon Chronology of the Iron Age in Sub-Saharan Africa ' Current Anthropology 1968. Jump up ^ How Old is the Iron Age in Sub-Saharan Africa ? -- by Roderick J. McIntosh, Archaeological Institute of America ( 1999 ) Jump up ^ Iron in Sub-Saharan Africa -- by Stanley B. Alpern ( 2005 ) Jump up ^ A.M. Snodgrass ( 1966 ), `` Arms and Armour of the Greeks ''. ( Thames & Hudson, London ) Jump up ^ A.M. Snodgrass ( 1971 ), `` The Dark Age of Greece '' ( Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh ). Jump up ^ Theodore Wertime and J.D. Muhly, eds. The Coming of the Age of Iron ( New Haven, 1979 ). ^ Jump up to : Chisholm, H. ( 1910 ). The Encyclopædia Britannica. New York : The Encyclopædia Britannica Co. Jump up ^ 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. Jump up ^ 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 ). ^ Jump up to : Muhly, James D. ' Metalworking / Mining in the Levant ' pp. 174 - 183 in Near Eastern Archaeology ed. Suzanne Richard ( 2003 ), pp. 179 - 180. Jump up ^ Waldbaum, Jane C. From Bronze to Iron. Göteburg : Paul Astöms Förlag ( 1978 ) : 56 - 8. Jump up ^ `` Alex Webb, `` Metalworking in Ancient Greece '' ``. freeserve.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2007 - 12 - 01. Jump up ^ 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 Jump up ^ Comelli, Daniela ; d'Orazio, Massimo ; Folco, Luigi ; El - Halwagy, Mahmud ; et al. ( 2016 ). `` The meteoritic origin of Tutankhamun 's iron dagger blade ''. Meteoritics & Planetary Science. Wiley Online. 51 ( 7 ) : 1301. Bibcode : 2016M&PS... 51.1301 C. doi : 10.1111 / maps. 12664. Free full text available. Jump up ^ Walsh, Declan ( 2 June 2016 ). `` King Tut 's Dagger Made of ' Iron From the Sky, ' Researchers Say ''. The New York Times. NYC : The New York Times Company. Retrieved 4 June 2016... the blade 's composition of iron, nickel and cobalt was an approximate match for a meteorite that landed in northern Egypt. The result `` strongly suggests an extraterrestrial origin ''... Jump up ^ Panko, Ben ( 2 June 2016 ). `` King Tut 's dagger made from an ancient meteorite ''. Science. American Association for the Advancement of Science. Retrieved 5 June 2016. Jump up ^ The Junior Encyclopædia Britannica : A reference library of general knowledge. ( 1897 ). Chicago : E.G. Melvin. Jump up ^ Riederer, Josef ; Wartke, Ralf - B. : `` Iron '', Cancik, Hubert ; Schneider, Helmuth ( eds. ) : Brill 's New Pauly, Brill 2009 ^ Jump up to : John Collis, `` The European Iron Age '' ( 1989 ) Jump up ^ Mark E. Hall, `` Towards an absolute chronology for the Iron Age of Inner Asia, '' Antiquity 71.274 ( 1997 ), 863 - 74. Jump up ^ Derevianki, A.P. 1973. Rannyi zheleznyi vek Priamuria Jump up ^ David N. Keightley. The Origins of Chinese Civilization. Page 226. Jump up ^ Higham, Charles. 1996. The Bronze Age of Southeast Asia Jump up ^ Encyclopedia of World Art : Landscape in art to Micronesian cultures. McGraw - Hill. 1964. Jump up ^ Prehistoric Archaeological Periods in Japan, Charles T. Keally ^ Jump up to : 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 : 1 -- 29. ^ Jump up to : Taylor, Sarah. 1989. The Introduction and Development of Iron Production in Korea. World Archaeology 20 ( 3 ) : 422 -- 431. Jump up ^ Yoon, Dong - suk. 1989. Early Iron Metallurgy in Korea. Archaeological Review from Cambridge 8 ( 1 ) : 92 -- 99. Jump up ^ Barnes, Gina L. 2001. State Formation in Korea : Historical and Archaeological Perspectives. Curzon, London. Jump up ^ Lee, Sung - joo. 1998. Silla -- Gaya Sahoe - eui Giwon - gwa Seongjang ( The Rise and Growth of Silla and Gaya Society ). Hakyeon Munhwasa, Seoul. Jump up ^ `` Iron Age burial site discovered ''. The Hindu. 2008 - 09 - 10. Jump up ^ Director of Archaeology, ( Uttar Pradesh ) ^ Jump up to : Early Antiquity By I.M. Drakonoff. Published 1991. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0 - 226 - 14465 - 8. pg 372 Jump up ^ Upanisads By Patrick Olivelle. Published 1998. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0 - 19 - 283576 - 9. pg xxix Jump up ^ The New Cambridge History of India By J.F. Richards, Gordon Johnson, Christopher Alan Bayly. Published 2005. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0 - 521 - 36424 - 8. pg 64 Jump up ^ Juleff, G. ( 1996 ), `` An ancient wind powered iron smelting technology in Sri Lanka '', Nature, 379 ( 3 ) : 60 -- 63. Jump up ^ `` Excavation of a Protohistoric Canoe burial Site in Haldummulla -- 2010 ''. Jump up ^ Lahiru Weligamage ( 2002 ) The Ancient Sri Lanka Jump up ^ Deraniyagala, Siran, The Prehistory of Sri Lanka ; an ecological perspective. ( revised ed. ), Colombo : Archaeological Survey Department of Sri Lanka, 1992 : 709 - 29 Jump up ^ Karunaratne and Adikari 1994, Excavations at Aligala prehistoric site. In : Bandaranayake and Mogren ( 1994 ). Further studies in the settlement archaeology of the Sigiriya - Dambulla region. Sri Lanka, University of Kelaniya : Postgraduate Institute of Archaeolog : 58 Jump up ^ Mogren 1994. Objectives, methods, constraints and perspectives. In : Bandaranayake and Mogren ( 1994 ) Further studies in the settlement archaeology of the Sigiriya - Dambulla region. Sri Lanka, University of Kelaniya : Postgraduate Institute of Archaeolog : 39. Jump up ^ F.R. Allchin 1989. City and State Formation in Early Historic South Asia. South Asian Studies 5 : 1 - 16 : 3 Jump up ^ Indrapala, K. The Evolution of an ethnic identity : The Tamils of Sri Lanka, pp. 324 Jump up ^ Deraniyagala, Siran, The Prehistory of Sri Lanka ; an ecological perspective. ( revised ed. ), Colombo : Archaeological Survey Department of Sri Lanka, 1992 : 730 - 2, 735 Jump up ^ Glover, I.C. ; Bellina, B. ( 2011 ). `` Ban Don Ta Phet and Khao Sam Kaeo : The Earliest Indian Contacts Re-assessed ''. Early Interactions Between South and Southeast Asia : Reflections on Cross-cultural Exchange. 2 ( 17 ) : 17 -- 45. ISBN 9789814345101. Jump up ^ Higham, C., 2014, Early Mainland Southeast Asia, Bangkok : River Books Co., Ltd., ISBN 9786167339443 Jump up ^ Iron in Africa : Revising the History, UNESCO Aux origines de la métallurgie du fer en Afrique, Une ancienneté méconnue : Afrique de l'Ouest et Afrique centrale. Jump up ^ Heather Pringle, Seeking Africa 's first Iron Men. Science 323 : 200 - 202. 2009. Jump up ^ Peter Schmidt, Donald H. Avery. Complex Iron Smelting and Prehistoric Culture in Tanzania, Science 22 September 1978 : Vol. 201. no. 4361, pp. 1085 - 1089 Jump up ^ Collins, Rober O. and Burns, James M. The History of Sub-Saharan Africa. New York : Cambridge University Press, p. 37. ISBN 978 - 0 - 521 - 68708 - 9. External links General A site with a focus on Iron Age Britain from resourcesforhistory.com Human Timeline ( Interactive ) -- Smithsonian, National Museum of Natural History ( August 2016 ). 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 Three - age system Stone Age Prehistoric technology Stone tool Flint tool Paleolithic Lower Paleolithic Middle Paleolithic Upper Paleolithic Mesolithic Neolithic Japanese Paleolithic Paleolithic Europe Middle Stone Age Later Stone Age Epipaleolithic Pre-Pottery Neolithic Pre-Pottery Neolithic A Pre-Pottery Neolithic B Neolithic Revolution List of Neolithic cultures of China Nordic Stone Age Neolithic British Isles South Asian Stone Age Stone - Age Poland Recent African origin of modern humans Bronze Age Bronze Bronze Age collapse Continent Africa Near East Bronze Age Levant Asia Europe Atlantic Bronze Age Chalcolithic Nordic Bronze Age Bronze Age in Romania Iron Age History of ferrous metallurgy Iron meteorite Metallurgy Continent Africa Asian China India Eupope British Pre-Roman Roman Germanic Scandinavia List of archaeological periods List of time periods GND : 4014102 - 0 HDS : 24601 NDL : 00572799 NKC : ph137453 Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Iron_Age&oldid=811740751 '' Categories : Iron Age 2nd - millennium BC establishments Hidden categories : All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from December 2013 Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Articles which contain graphical timelines Talk Contents About Wikipedia Afrikaans Alemannisch አማርኛ Aragonés অসমীয়া Asturianu Azərbaycanca বাংলা Bân - lâm - gú Башҡортса Беларуская Беларуская ( тарашкевіца ) ‎ Български བོད ་ ཡིག Bosanski Brezhoneg Català Чӑвашла Čeština Cymraeg Dansk Deutsch Eesti Ελληνικά Emiliàn e rumagnòl Español Esperanto Euskara فارسی Fiji Hindi Français Frysk Gaeilge Galego 贛 語 한국어 Հայերեն हिन्दी Hrvatski Ilokano Bahasa Indonesia Íslenska Italiano עברית Basa Jawa ქართული Kaszëbsczi Қазақша Kiswahili Kurdî Latgaļu Latina Latviešu Lietuvių Limburgs Lumbaart Magyar Македонски മലയാളം मराठी მარგალური مصرى Bahasa Melayu Mirandés Монгол မြန်မာဘာသာ Nederlands Nedersaksies नेपाल भाषा 日本 語 Napulitano Nordfriisk Norsk Norsk nynorsk Occitan Олык марий Oʻzbekcha / ўзбекча ਪੰਜਾਬੀ پنجابی Patois Piemontèis Plattdüütsch Polski Português Română Русиньскый Русский Саха тыла संस्कृतम् Scots Seeltersk Shqip Sicilianu සිංහල Simple English Slovenčina Slovenščina کوردی Српски / srpski Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски Suomi Svenska Tagalog தமிழ் ไทย Türkçe Türkmençe Українська اردو Vèneto Vepsän kel ' Tiếng Việt Võro 文言 West - Vlams Winaray ייִדיש 粵語 Zazaki Žemaitėška 中文 Kabɩyɛ Edit links This page was last edited on 23 November 2017, at 17 : 01. 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Question: when did the use of iron began in the subcontinent
Answer: during the 2nd millennium BC