91-627: Glastonbury Lake Village was an Iron Age village, situated on a crannog or man made island in the Somerset Levels , near Godney , some 3 miles (5 km) north west of Glastonbury in the southwestern English county of Somerset . It has been designated as a scheduled monument . It has been described as "the best preserved prehistoric village ever found in the United Kingdom". The site covered an area of 400 feet (122 m) north to south by 300 feet (91 m) east to west. It
182-549: A crannog or man made island, was discovered in 1892 by local medical student Arthur Bulleid , whose father was a local mayor and the founder of the Glastonbury Antiquarian Society. Bulleid had heard about the lake villages in Switzerland and believed similar sites could be found in his native Somerset. The excavation of the area began in 1892 and continued over the next 15 years, uncovering
273-526: A Celtiberian stronghold against Roman invasions. İt dates more than 2500 years back. The site was researched by Francisco Martins Sarmento starting from 1874. A number of amphoras (containers usually for wine or olive oil), coins, fragments of pottery, weapons, pieces of jewelry, as well as ruins of a bath and its pedra formosa ( lit. ' handsome stone ' ) revealed here. The Iron Age in Central Asia began when iron objects appear among
364-699: 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 been associated tentatively with the Zhang Zhung culture described by early Tibetan writings. In Japan, iron items, such as tools, weapons, and decorative objects, are postulated to have entered Japan during
455-605: A high degree of craftsmanship. Files and hammer heads were examined by metallography which showed that carbon compositions were found to be generally low. In 1905 an early British tin coin was discovered, believed to be from the 1st century A.D, which was sent to the British Museum. Various other objects from the excavation are also held by the British Museum. The metal "Glastonbury Bowl" was made from two sections riveted together and repaired several times over its life. The bottom half has been dated as having been constructed in
546-602: A long and successful military career as a staff officer . He was educated at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst , for six months at the age of fourteen and was commissioned into the Grenadier Guards on 16 May 1845 as an ensign . In the course of a thirty-two-year military career, albeit much interrupted by leave, he only once saw major front line action, at the Battle of Alma in 1854. Soon after
637-587: A member of the Fifth Class of the Order of the Medjidie in 1858 for "distinguished services before the enemy during the [Crimean War]". He was promoted to colonel on 22 January 1867 and major-general in 1877. Pitt Rivers retired in 1882 and was accorded the honorary rank of lieutenant-general . Pitt Rivers' interests in archaeology and ethnology began in the 1850s, during postings overseas, and he became
728-535: A noted scientist while he was a serving military officer. His interest began with the evolution of the rifle, which extended to other weapons and tools, and he became a collector of artifacts illustrating the development of human invention. His collection became famous, and, after being exhibited in 1874–1875 at the Bethnal Green Museum , London, was presented in 1885 to the University of Oxford. He
819-579: A paper On the improvement of the rifle as a weapon for general use . He bought a promotion to captain on 2 August 1850. He was promoted to the brevet rank of lieutenant-colonel of the army "for distinguished Service in the Field" during the Crimean War . On 15 May 1857, he bought the rank of lieutenant-colonel in the Grenadier Guards. The then brevet - major Lane Fox was appointed
910-820: A serious scholarly process of assembling evidence on periods which lacked written records, contrasted to the "ignorant and greedy spirit of mere curiosity-hunting"; views that would influence Pitt Rivers' own approach. By the time he retired, he had amassed ethnographic collections numbering tens of thousands of items from all over the world. Influenced by the evolutionary writings of Charles Darwin and Herbert Spencer , he arranged them typologically and (within types) chronologically. He viewed archaeology as an extension of anthropology and, as consequence, built up matching collections of archaeological and ethnographic objects to show longer developmental sequences to support his views on cultural evolution. This style of arrangement, designed to highlight evolutionary trends in human artefacts,
1001-460: A shaker and dice made from antlers. Representations of the houses were recreated at the nearby Peat Moors Centre , run by Somerset County Council , before its closure in 2009. Iron Age The Iron Age ( c. 1200 – c. 550 BC ) is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages , after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age . It has also been considered as
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#17327719868391092-591: A wealth of archaeological material from the Roman and Saxon periods. He excavated these over seventeen seasons, from the mid-1880s until his death. His approach was highly methodical by the standards of the time, and he is widely regarded as the first scientific archaeologist to work in Britain. His most important methodological innovation was his insistence that all artefacts, not just beautiful or unique ones, be collected and catalogued. This focus on everyday objects as
1183-454: A wooden palisade . There were gaps in the palisade and is believed by Minnitt and Coles to have been used to stabilise the clay floors rather than for defensive purposes. At its maximum occupation the village may have had 15 houses in use with a population of up to 200 people. Two distinct phases of occupation have been identified. Early houses were timber framed square or rectangular and built of oak but later buildings were circular huts. Some of
1274-400: Is abundant naturally, temperatures above 1,250 °C (2,280 °F) are required to smelt it, impractical to achieve with the technology available commonly until the end of the second millennium BC. In contrast, the components of bronze—tin with a melting point of 231.9 °C (449.4 °F) and copper with a relatively moderate melting point of 1,085 °C (1,985 °F)—were within
1365-669: Is also speculated that Early Iron Age sites may exist in Kandarodai , Matota, Pilapitiya and Tissamaharama . The earliest undisputed deciphered epigraphy found in the Indian subcontinent are the Edicts of Ashoka of the 3rd century BC, in the Brahmi script . Several inscriptions were thought to be pre-Ashokan by earlier scholars; these include the Piprahwa relic casket inscription,
1456-599: Is available about the most recent excavations. The landscape of the settlement has been modelled in 3D and turned into a short film. A replica of the canoe from the site has also been made and launched. The site and the finds from it are the property of the Glastonbury Antiquarian Society. Many of the finds from the site are on display in the Glastonbury Lake Village Museum at The Tribunal in Glastonbury High Street, and in
1547-536: Is considered to last from c. 1200 BC (the Bronze Age collapse ) to c. 550 BC (or 539 BC ), roughly the beginning of historiography with Herodotus , marking the end of the proto-historical period. In China , because writing was developed first, there is no recognizable prehistoric period characterized by ironworking, and the Bronze Age China transitions almost directly into
1638-543: Is divided into two periods based on the Hallstatt culture (early Iron Age) and La Tène (late Iron Age) cultures. Material cultures of Hallstatt and La Tène consist of 4 phases (A, B, C, D). The Iron Age in Europe is characterized by an elaboration of designs of weapons, implements, and utensils. These are no longer cast but hammered into shape, and decoration is elaborate and curvilinear rather than simple rectilinear;
1729-873: Is from Malhar and its surrounding area. This site is assumed as the center for smelted bloomer iron to this area due to its location in the Karamnasa River and Ganga River. This site shows agricultural technology as iron implements sickles, nails, clamps, spearheads, etc., by at least c. 1500 BC. Archaeological excavations in Hyderabad show an Iron Age burial site. The beginning of the 1st millennium BC saw extensive developments in iron metallurgy in India. Technological advancement and mastery of iron metallurgy were achieved during this period of peaceful settlements. One ironworking centre in East India has been dated to
1820-565: Is housed in The Salisbury Museum , not far from Stonehenge . The Wessex Gallery of archaeology opened in 2014, funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and other sources. Pitt Rivers and other early archaeologists such as William Stukeley who first investigated the prehistory of Wiltshire, Cranborne Chase , Avebury and Stonehenge, are celebrated in the gallery. The estates Pitt Rivers inherited in 1880 contained
1911-556: 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 about 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
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#17327719868392002-626: 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
2093-515: Is singularly scarce in collections of Egyptian antiquities. Bronze remained the primary material there until the conquest by the Neo-Assyrian Empire in 671 BC. The explanation of this would seem to be 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
2184-482: Is sometimes spelled as "Lane-Fox". Born Augustus Henry Lane-Fox at Bramham cum Oglethorpe near Wetherby in Yorkshire , he was the son of William Lane-Fox and Lady Caroline Douglas, sister of George Douglas, 17th Earl of Morton . The politicians George Lane-Fox and Sackville Lane-Fox were his uncles. In 1880, Lane Fox inherited the estates of his cousin, Horace Pitt-Rivers, 6th Baron Rivers and with it
2275-448: Is stated as beginning with the ironworking Painted Grey Ware culture , dating from the 15th century BC , through to the reign of Ashoka in the 3rd century BC . The term "Iron Age" in the archaeology of South, East, and Southeast Asia is more recent and less common than for Western Eurasia. Africa did not have a universal "Bronze Age", and many areas transitioned directly from stone to iron. Some archaeologists believe that iron metallurgy
2366-411: Is the mass production of tools and weapons made not just of found iron, but from smelted steel alloys with an added carbon content. Only with the capability of the production of carbon steel does ferrous metallurgy result in tools or weapons that are harder and lighter than bronze . Smelted iron appears sporadically in the archeological record from the middle Bronze Age . Whilst terrestrial iron
2457-931: The Badli pillar inscription , the Bhattiprolu relic casket inscription, the Sohgaura copper plate inscription , the Mahasthangarh Brahmi inscription, the Eran coin legend, the Taxila coin legends, and the inscription on the silver coins of Sophytes . However, more recent scholars have dated them to later periods. Dates are approximate; consult particular article for details. Archaeology in Thailand at sites Ban Don Ta Phet and Khao Sam Kaeo yielding metallic, stone, and glass artifacts stylistically associated with
2548-687: The Ganges Valley in India have been dated tentatively 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
2639-540: 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 during this period. Dates are approximate; consult particular article for details. The earliest evidence of iron smelting predates
2730-727: The Indo-European Saka in present-day Xinjiang (China) 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 ( c. 6th to 3rd centuries BC) identified by excavated artifacts and mummified humans found in the Siberian permafrost in the Altay Mountains . Dates are approximate; consult particular article for details. In China, Chinese bronze inscriptions are found around 1200 BC, preceding
2821-636: The Iron Age . The upper half was probably added in the 1st century from one sheet of metal, which may have been previously used for another purpose, and the two-halves riveted together. The site yielded a number of wooden objects preserved in the peaty soil including five wheel spokes and an unfinished nave to be used as the hub of a wheel. Woven baskets recovered from the site provided evidence of woven baskets up to 700 millimetres (28 in) in width and 480 millimetres (19 in) in height. A wooden frame for stretching animal skins were also recovered along with
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2912-557: The Late Bronze Age collapse , during the 12th century BC (1200–1100 BC). The technology soon spread throughout the Mediterranean Basin region and to South Asia between the 12th and 11th century BC. Its further spread to Central Asia , Eastern Europe , and Central Europe was somewhat delayed, and Northern Europe was not reached until about the start of the 5th century BC (500 BC). The Iron Age in India
3003-513: The Museum of Somerset in Taunton . Much of the timber was left at the site and soil put back on top of it as the best way to preserve it. Surveys in the late 20th and early 21st century have shown this to be effective, however the site is still at risk because of the risk of further drying out of the soil. The village was first built circa 250 B.C. and occupied until approximately 50 B.C. when it
3094-647: The Museum of Somerset in Taunton. The burial sites of ten new born babies were uncovered, but there was no evidence of the interment of adults from the village. The artefacts recovered include fragments of pottery , charcoal , bone and a whetstone (a stone for sharpening blades). Later, on excavation, spinning whorls and weaving combs were found, suggesting textile production, although this may have been for domestic use rather than industry. Evidence of bronze -casting and iron-smelting were found. Fine jewellery made from bronze bone have also been found showing
3185-730: The Orchid Island . Early evidence for iron technology in Sub-Saharan Africa can be found at sites such as KM2 and KM3 in northwest Tanzania and parts of Nigeria and the Central African Republic. 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 . Archaeometallurgical scientific knowledge and technological development originated in numerous centers of Africa;
3276-633: The Qin dynasty of imperial China. "Iron Age" in the context of China is used sometimes for the transitional period of c. 900 BC to 100 BC during which ferrous metallurgy was present even if not dominant. The Iron Age in the Ancient Near East is believed to have begun after the discovery of iron smelting and smithing techniques in Anatolia , the Caucasus or Southeast Europe during
3367-533: The Roman conquests of the 1st century BC serve as marking the end of the Iron Age. The Germanic Iron Age of Scandinavia is considered to end c. AD 800 , with the beginning of the Viking Age . The three-age method of Stone, Bronze, and Iron Ages was first used for the archaeology of Europe during the first half of the 19th century, and by the latter half of the 19th century, it had been extended to
3458-535: The Severn Estuary . The village was approached by causeways up to 130 feet (40 m) long and log boats have been recovered from sites close to the village at what may have been a landing stage which was repaired and rebuilt several times. Despite the wet surroundings vegetable and small domesticated and wild mammals, including beaver and otter, made up more of the diet than fish. The remains of wheat, barley and beans have also been recovered. The lake village,
3549-589: The Yangtse 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
3640-459: The Indian subcontinent began prior to the 3rd millennium BC. Archaeological sites in India, such as Malhar, Dadupur, Raja Nala Ka Tila, Lahuradewa, Kosambi and Jhusi , Allahabad in present-day Uttar Pradesh show iron implements in the period 1800–1200 BC. As the evidence from the sites Raja Nala ka tila, Malhar suggest the use of Iron in c. 1800/1700 BC. The extensive use of iron smelting
3731-770: 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 Huynh 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, as well as
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3822-632: The Late Bronze Age continued into the Early Iron Age. Thus, there is a sociocultural continuity during this transitional period. In Iran, the earliest actual iron artifacts were unknown until the 9th century BC. For Iran, the best studied archaeological site during this time period is Teppe Hasanlu . In the Mesopotamian states of Sumer , Akkad and Assyria , the initial use of iron reaches far back, to perhaps 3000 BC. One of
3913-589: The Late Bronze Age. 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. It was long believed that the success of the Hittite Empire during the Late Bronze Age had been based on the advantages entailed by the "monopoly" on ironworking at the time. Accordingly, the invading Sea Peoples would have been responsible for spreading
4004-607: The Romans, though ironworking remained the dominant technology until recent times. Elsewhere it may last until the early centuries AD, and either Christianization or a new conquest during the Migration Period . Iron working was introduced to Europe during the late 11th century BC, probably from the Caucasus , and slowly spread northwards and westwards over the succeeding 500 years. The Iron Age did not start when iron first appeared in Europe but it began to replace bronze in
4095-478: The archaeologist Augustus Pitt Rivers . They found remains of the village. It consisted of a series of 89 mounds from 1.2 metres (3 ft 11 in) to 4.3 metres (14 ft) in diameter, made up of clay laid over the boggy ground, many of which had central hearths. The whole site was surrounded by a wooden palisade made from Alder . Each of the finds from large timber to small fragments of pottery were drawn and described with some also being photographed. In 1909
4186-568: The archaeology of the Ancient Near East was developed during the 1920s and 1930s. Meteoric iron, a natural iron–nickel alloy , was used by various ancient peoples thousands of years before the Iron Age. The earliest-known meteoric iron artifacts are nine small beads dated to 3200 BC , which were found in burials at Gerzeh in Lower Egypt , having been shaped by careful hammering. The characteristic of an Iron Age culture
4277-486: The archaeology of the Ancient Near East. Its name harks back to the mythological " Ages of Man " of Hesiod . As an archaeological era, it was first introduced to Scandinavia by Christian Jürgensen Thomsen during the 1830s. By the 1860s, it was embraced as a useful division of the "earliest history of mankind" in general and began to be applied in Assyriology . The development of the now-conventional periodization in
4368-615: The area around Stonehenge forms the basis of the collection at The Salisbury Museum in Wiltshire. Throughout most of his life he used the surname Lane Fox, under which his early archaeological reports are published. In 1880 he adopted the Pitt Rivers name on inheriting from Lord Rivers (a cousin) an estate of more than 32,000 acres in Cranborne Chase . His family name is often spelled as "Pitt-Rivers". His middle name
4459-665: The battle, he was found unfit for active service and returned to England. In 1851 he became a member of the committee to experiment and report on the respective merits of the army's smoothbore muskets. He was appointed to Woolwich to instruct in the use of the new Minié rifle in 1852. Subsequently, he was largely responsible for founding the Hythe school of Musketry in Kent and became its principal instructor, revising its Instruction of Musketry manual. The remainder of his service career revolved around musketry instruction and in 1858 he published
4550-430: The beginning of the Western Han dynasty . 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 during 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
4641-434: The beginning of the Iron Age is defined locally around the world by archaeological convention when the production of smelted iron (especially steel tools and weapons) replaces their bronze equivalents in common use. In Anatolia and the Caucasus , or Southeast Europe , the Iron Age began during the late 2nd millennium BC ( c. 1300 BC). In the Ancient Near East , this transition occurred simultaneously with
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#17327719868394732-482: The capabilities of Neolithic 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 required the development of complex procedures for the removal of impurities, the regulation of the admixture of carbon, and the invention of hot-working to achieve a useful balance of hardness and strength in steel. The use of steel has also been regulated by
4823-621: The centers of origin were located in West Africa , Central Africa , and East Africa ; consequently, as these origin centers are located within inner Africa, these archaeometallurgical developments are thus native African technologies. Iron metallurgical development occurred 2631–2458 BC at Lejja, in Nigeria, 2136–1921 BC at Obui, in Central Africa Republic, 1895–1370 BC at Tchire Ouma 147, in Niger, and 1297–1051 BC at Dekpassanware, in Togo. Augustus Pitt Rivers Lieutenant General Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt Rivers FRS FSA FRAI (14 April 1827 – 4 May 1900)
4914-438: The clay spreads were used for barns or animal enclosures rather than houses. The village was close to the old course of the River Brue and was thought to be surrounded by water, hence the title "Lake Village"; however more recent work suggests the title Swamp Village may be more appropriate as for most of the year the surrounding land was not open water. The Brue was an important water-borne trade route from central Somerset to
5005-417: The development of iron metallurgy, which was known by the 9th century BC. The large seal script is identified with a group of characters from a book entitled Shǐ Zhòu Piān ( c. 800 BC). Therefore, in China prehistory had given way to history periodized by ruling dynasties by the start of iron use, so "Iron Age" is not used typically to describe a period of Chinese history. Iron metallurgy reached
5096-420: The earliest smelted iron artifacts known is 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 development of iron smelting was once attributed to the Hittites of Anatolia during
5187-434: The economics of the metallurgical advancements. 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 in modern-day Turkey, dated to 2200–2000 BC. Akanuma (2008) concludes that "The combination of carbon dating, archaeological context, and archaeometallurgical examination indicates that it
5278-505: The emergence of the Iron Age proper by several centuries. Iron was being used in Mundigak to manufacture some items in the 3rd millennium BC such as a small copper/bronze bell with an iron clapper, a copper/bronze rod with two iron decorative buttons, and a copper/bronze mirror handle with a decorative iron button. Artefacts including small knives and blades have been discovered in the Indian state of Telangana which have been dated between 2400 BC and 1800 BC. The history of metallurgy in
5369-520: The end of the Bronze Age . The Iron Age in Europe is often considered as a part of the Bronze Age collapse in the ancient Near East . Anthony Snodgrass suggests that a shortage of tin and trade disruptions in the Mediterranean about 1300 BC forced metalworkers to seek an alternative to bronze. Many bronze implements were recycled into weapons during that time, and more widespread use of iron resulted in improved steel-making technology and lower costs. When tin became readily available again, iron
5460-438: The excavation of Ugarit. A dagger with an iron blade found in Tutankhamun's tomb , 13th century BC, was examined recently and found to be of meteoric origin. In Europe, the Iron Age is the last stage of prehistoric Europe and the first of the protohistoric periods, which initially means descriptions of a particular area by Greek and Roman writers. For much of Europe, the period came to an abrupt local end after conquest by
5551-497: The extent of the settlement and publishing the results. From 1892 until 1899 Bulleid worked with labourers for six months of each year and spent the other six months describing and cataloguing the finds. He then left the site to complete his medical studies and returned in 1904 with Harold St George Gray to continue the excavation until 1907. The curator of the Taunton museum of the Somerset Archaeological and Natural History Society , Gray had been trained in archaeological techniques by
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#17327719868395642-534: The final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progressing to protohistory (before written history). In this usage, it is preceded by the Stone Age (subdivided into the Paleolithic , Mesolithic and Neolithic ) and Bronze Age. These concepts originated for describing Iron Age Europe and the Ancient Near East . The indigenous cultures of the New World did not develop an iron economy before 1500 . Although meteoric iron has been used for millennia in many regions,
5733-399: The first Inspector of Ancient Monuments: a post created by anthropologist and parliamentarian John Lubbock who married Pitt Rivers' daughter, Alice. Charged with cataloguing archaeological sites and protecting them from destruction, he worked with his customary methodical zeal but was hampered by the limitations of the law, which gave him little real power over the landowners on whose property
5824-401: 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 200 AD, high-quality steel
5915-424: The forms and character of the ornamentation of the northern European weapons resemble in some respects Roman arms, while in other respects they are peculiar and evidently representative of northern art. Citânia de Briteiros , located in Guimarães , Portugal, is one of the examples of archaeological sites of the Iron Age. This settlement (fortified villages) covered an area of 3.8 hectares (9.4 acres), and served as
6006-412: The key to understanding the past broke decisively with earlier archaeological practice, which verged on treasure hunting. It is Pitt Rivers' most important, and most lasting, scientific legacy. His work inspired Mortimer Wheeler , among others, to add to the scientific approach of archaeological excavation techniques. Following the passage of the Ancient Monuments Protection Act 1882 , Pitt Rivers became
6097-446: The knowledge through that region. The idea of such a "Hittite monopoly" has been examined more thoroughly and no longer represents a scholarly consensus. 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. Dates are approximate; consult particular article for details. Iron metal
6188-508: The lack of nickel in the product) appeared in the Middle East , Southeast Asia and South Asia . African sites are revealing dates as early as 2000–1200 BC. However, some recent studies date the inception of iron metallurgy in Africa between 3000 and 2500 BC, with evidence existing for early iron metallurgy in parts of Nigeria, Cameroon, and Central Africa, from as early as around 2,000 BC. The Nok culture of Nigeria may have practiced iron smelting from as early as 1000 BC, while
6279-409: The late 2nd millennium BC ( c. 1300 BC). The earliest bloomery smelting of iron is found at Tell Hammeh , Jordan about 930 BC (determined from C dating ). The Early Iron Age in the Caucasus area is divided conventionally into two periods, Early Iron I, dated to about 1100 BC, and the Early Iron II phase from the tenth to ninth centuries BC. Many of the material culture traditions of
6370-431: The late Yayoi period ( c. 300 BC – 300 AD) or the succeeding Kofun period ( c. 250–538 AD), most likely from 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
6461-419: The nearby Djenné-Djenno culture of the Niger Valley in Mali shows evidence of iron production from c. 250 BC. Iron technology across much of sub-Saharan Africa has an African origin dating to before 2000 BC. These findings confirm the independent invention of iron smelting in sub-Saharan Africa. Modern archaeological evidence identifies the start of large-scale global iron production about 1200 BC, marking
6552-501: The new surname in 1880, their births are registered under the name of Fox (or Lane-Fox). Augustus' descendants include his grandson, anthropologist, eugenicist, and anti-Semite George Pitt-Rivers , who was interned in 1940 under Defence Regulation 18B . George's children included Michael Pitt-Rivers , and his brother, anthropologist and ethnographer Julian A. Pitt-Rivers . A further generation includes Augustus's great-great-grandson, equestrian William Fox-Pitt . Lane Fox had
6643-580: The preparation of tools and weapons. It did not happen at the same time throughout Europe; local cultural developments played a role in the transition to the Iron Age. For example, the Iron Age of Prehistoric Ireland begins about 500 BC (when the Greek Iron Age had already ended) and finishes about 400 AD. The widespread use of the technology of iron was implemented in Europe simultaneously with Asia. The prehistoric Iron Age in Central Europe
6734-486: The remainder of the Richard Rigby fortune. It was "an event that transformed his life". He was required to adopt the surname Pitt-Rivers as part of the bequest 'either alone or in addition to his or their surname'. On 3 February 1853, Pitt-Rivers (still under the surname Fox) married The Honourable Alice Margaret Stanley (1828–1910), daughter of the politician Edward Stanley, 2nd Baron Stanley of Alderley and of
6825-642: The risk to the buried timbers if the site dries out further. Bulleid and Gray later went on to excavate a similar site at Meare Lake Village approximately 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) south west of the Glastonbury site. Small scale excavations were later carried out on the site by Michael Avery (unpublished), the Somerset Levels Project, Somerset County Council Heritage Service and the South West Heritage Trust. A film
6916-636: The site was visited by George V while he was the Prince of Wales , along with his wife. They were given a silver replica of the Glastonbury Bowl. Much of the timber was reburied as the best way of preserving it, and a survey in 2005 found this to have been quite successful, despite reports warning of the area drying out and the peat coverage being reduced. The site is included in the Heritage at Risk Register produced by English Heritage because of
7007-530: The sites stood. On the advice of Pitt-Rivers, Kit's Coty House and Little Kit's Coty House , Kent, were among the first ancient British remains to be protected by the state. Railings were erected around the stones there to prevent vandalism. Pitt Rivers was a leading member of the Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society , and was president of the society from 1890 to 1893. The Rushmore estate near Tollard Royal in Wiltshire
7098-637: 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. Iron objects were introduced to the Korean peninsula through trade with chiefdoms and state-level societies in the Yellow Sea area during the 4th century BC, just at the end of the Warring States Period but prior to
7189-532: The term is used infrequently for the archaeology of China. For the Ancient Near East, the establishment of the Achaemenid Empire c. 550 BC is used traditionally and still usually as an end date; later dates are considered historical according to the record by Herodotus despite considerable written records now being known from well back into the Bronze Age. In Central and Western Europe,
7280-531: The women's education campaigner Henrietta Stanley, Baroness Stanley of Alderley . Alice had a slew of siblings active in the public issues of the day, several of whom married into prominent families. The Pitt Rivers Museum suggests that some of the founding collection, particularly some Indian items, may have come from John Constantine Stanley (1837–1878), younger brother of Alice. Augustus and Alice had nine children who reached adulthood; they were born between 1855 and 1866. As they were all born before Augustus took
7371-529: The world. The museum was founded in 1884 when the university accepted the gift of more than 20,000 artifacts from Pitt Rivers. The university awarded him the Doctorate of Civil Law in 1886, and he was later named a Fellow of the Royal Society. The collections continue to grow, and the museum has been described as one of the "six great ethnological museums of the world". Pitt Rivers' Wessex Collection
7462-604: Was a revolutionary innovation in museum design. Pitt Rivers' ethnological collections form the basis of the Pitt Rivers Museum which is still one of Oxford 's attractions. His researches and collections cover periods from the Lower Paleolithic to Roman and medieval times, and extend all over the world. The Pitt Rivers Museum curates more than half a million ethnographic and archaeological artifacts, photographic and manuscript collections from all parts of
7553-526: Was abandoned, possibly due to a rise in the water level. It was built on a morass on an artificial foundation of timber filled with brushwood, bracken, rubble and clay. At least 1,000 tonnes (1,100 tons) of clay were transported to the site from higher ground around 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) away. The village housed people in five to seven groups of round houses, each for an extended family, with sheds and barns, made of hazel and willow covered with reeds, and surrounded either permanently or at certain times by
7644-522: Was an English officer in the British Army , ethnologist , and archaeologist . He was noted for innovations in archaeological methodology, and in the museum display of archaeological and ethnological collections. His international collection of about 22,000 objects was the founding collection of the Pitt Rivers Museum at the University of Oxford while his collection of English archaeology from
7735-488: Was attributed to Seth, the spirit of evil who according to Egyptian tradition governed the central deserts of Africa. 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
7826-400: Was cheaper, stronger and lighter, and forged iron implements superseded cast bronze tools permanently. In Central and Western Europe, the Iron Age lasted from c. 800 BC to c. 1 BC , beginning in pre-Roman Iron Age Northern Europe in c. 600 BC , and reaching Northern Scandinavian Europe about c. 500 BC . The Iron Age in the Ancient Near East
7917-509: Was developed in sub-Saharan Africa independently from Eurasia and neighbouring parts of Northeast Africa as early as 2000 BC . The concept of the Iron Age ending with the beginning of the written historiographical record has not generalized well, as written language and steel use have developed at different times in different areas across the archaeological record. For instance, in China, written history started before iron smelting began, so
8008-971: Was elected, in the space of five years, to the Ethnological Society of London (1861), the Society of Antiquaries of London (1864) and the Anthropological Society of London (1865). In 1867, Pitt Rivers left full-time military service and went on half pay . The same year, he visited an archaeological excavation being carried out in the Yorkshire Wolds by Canon William Greenwell , librarian of Durham Cathedral and an established archaeologist, to whom he may have been introduced by mutual friends George Rolleston or Albert Way . Pitt Rivers received his first instruction in excavation from Greenwell, and later described himself as Greenwell's pupil. Greenwell viewed archaeology as
8099-445: Was first constructed 250 B.C. by laying down timber and clay. Wooden houses and barns were then built on the clay base and occupied by up to 200 people at any time until the village was abandoned around 50 B.C. The site was discovered by Arthur Bulleid in 1892 and excavated over the next 15 years. Artefacts uncovered include wooden and metal objects, many of which are now on display at The Tribunal in Glastonbury High Street, and in
8190-511: Was part of his 1880 inheritance, and there he created the Larmer Tree Gardens , a pleasure garden which was opened to the public in 1885. In 1884 he served as High Sheriff of Dorset . Pitt Rivers was an advocate for cremation . Even though many people believed that it was immoral to destroy a corpse, the cremation movement favoured a practical way to dispose of bodies. Pitt Rivers was cremated after his death in 1900. Among
8281-561: 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. The protohistoric Early Iron Age in Sri Lanka lasted from 1000 BC to 600 BC. Radiocarbon evidence has been collected from Anuradhapura and Aligala shelter in Sigiriya . The Anuradhapura settlement
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