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107-554: In Europe, the Iron Age is the last stage of the prehistoric period and the first of the protohistoric periods, which initially meant descriptions of a particular area by Greek and Roman writers. For much of Europe, the period came to an abrupt end after conquest by the Romans, though ironworking remained the dominant technology until recent times. Elsewhere, the period lasted until the early centuries AD, and either Christianization or

214-526: 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

321-699: 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

428-565: A few lines written in the Greek alphabet referring to " Nestor's Cup ", discovered in a grave at Pithekoussae (Ischia) dates from c.  730 BC ; it seems to be the oldest written reference to the Iliad . The fragmentary Epic Cycles , a collection of Ancient Greek epic poems that related the story of the Trojan War, were a distillation in literary form of an oral tradition developed during

535-452: A few. These Italic ethnic groups developed identities as settlers and warriors c.  900 BC . They built forts in the mountains, today a subject of much investigation. The forest has hidden them for a long time, but eventually, they will provide information about the people who built and used these buildings. The ruin of a large samnittisk temple and theater at Pietrabbondante is under investigation. These cultural relics have slumbered in

642-464: A kind of extended family structure, and that forests are specifically mentioned as useful may be associated with shifting cultivation and livestock. The "livestock grazing, as with the Arabs, far out in the wilderness" can be interpreted in the same direction. Iron Age The Iron Age ( c.  1200  – c.  550 BC ) is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages , after

749-762: A new conquest in the Migration Period . 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. For example, the Iron Age of Prehistoric Ireland begins around 500 BC, when the Greek Iron Age had already ended, and finishes around 400 AD. The use of iron and iron-working technology became widespread concurrently in Europe and Asia. The start of

856-414: A particular field or area for themselves, for the magistrates and chiefs give fields every year to the people and the clans, which have gathered so much ground in such places that it seems good for them to continue on to somewhere else after a year. "Neque quisquam agri modum certum aut fines habet proprios, sed magistratus ac principes in annos singulos gentibus cognationibusque hominum, qui tum una coierunt,

963-509: A quantum et quo loco visum est agri attribuunt atque anno post alio transire cogunt" book 6, 22. Strabo (63 BC – about AD 20) also writes about sveberne in Geographicon VII, 1, 3. Common to all the people in this area is that they can easily change residence because of their sordid way of life; that they do not grow any fields and do not collect property, but live in temporary huts. They get their nourishment from their livestock for

1070-481: A universal "Bronze Age", and many areas transitioned directly from stone to iron. Some archaeologists believe that iron metallurgy 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

1177-400: 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

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1284-669: 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,

1391-536: 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

1498-543: Is descended from the Phoenician alphabet. The Greeks adapted the system, notably introducing characters for vowel sounds and thereby creating the first truly alphabetic (as opposed to abjad ) writing system. As Greece sent colonists eastwards, across the Black Sea, and westwards towards Sicily and Italy ( Pithekoussae , Cumae ), the influence of their alphabet extended further. The ceramic Euboean artifact inscribed with

1605-490: 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;

1712-521: Is elaborate curvilinear rather than simple rectilinear; the forms and character of the ornamentation of the northern European weapons resemble Roman arms in some respects, while in other respects they are peculiar and evidently representative of northern art. The early first millennium BC marks the Iron Age in Eastern Europe. In the Pontic steppe and the Caucasus region , the Iron Age begins with

1819-530: Is exemplified in the great cemetery of Hallstatt , discovered near Gmunden in 1846, where the forms of the implements and weapons of the later part of the Bronze Age are imitated in iron. In the Swiss or La Tène group of implements and weapons, the forms are new and the transition complete. The Celtic culture , or rather Proto-Celtic groups, had expanded to much of Central Europe ( Gauls ), and, following

1926-873: 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

2033-415: Is great access to land. They change soil every year, and mark some off to spare, for they seek not a strenuous job in reaping from this fertile and vast land even greater yields—such as by planting apple orchards, or by fencing off fields; or by watering gardens; grain is the only thing they insist that the ground will provide. Tacitus discusses the shifting cultivation. The Migration Period in Europe after

2140-556: 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

2247-705: Is placed nearer to or farther from the opening years of the Christian era, but it is generally agreed that the last division of the Iron Age of Scandinavia, the Viking Period, is considered to be from 700 to 1000 AD, when paganism in those lands was superseded by Christianity. The Iron Age north of about the Rhine , beyond the Celts and then the Romans, is divided into two eras: the Pre-Roman Iron Age and

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2354-626: 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

2461-515: 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

2568-411: 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

2675-544: Is usual; however, two or more pairs occur in a few wild species and in some domesticated breeds of sheep. Polycerate (multi-horned) sheep breeds include the Hebridean , Icelandic , Jacob , Manx Loaghtan , and the Navajo-Churro . Horns usually have a curved or spiral shape, often with ridges or fluting. In many species, only males have horns. Horns start to grow soon after birth and continue to grow throughout

2782-752: Is well Sami who often have names such as; skridfinner, which is probably a later form, derived from skrithibinoi or some similar spelling. The two old terms, screrefennae and skrithifinoi, are probably origins in the sense of neither ski nor finn. Furthermore, in Jordanes' ethnographic description of Scandza are several tribes, and among these are finnaithae "who was always ready for battle" Mixi evagre and otingis that should have lived like wild beasts in mountain caves, "further from them" lived osthrogoth, raumariciae, ragnaricii, finnie, vinoviloth and suetidi that would last prouder than other people. Adam of Bremen describes Sweden, according to information he received from

2889-554: 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, 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

2996-931: 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

3103-631: The Baltic Sea in the west to the Oka in the east, and between the Middle Dnieper in the south and northern Latvia to the north. In the first century A.D. , the Baltic people began mass production of iron from the available limonite , widely available in swamps . The local smiths learned to harden iron into steel , which resulted in tougher weapons than stone or horn instruments. In

3210-606: 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 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

3317-590: The Chalcolithic and Bronze Age . It has also been considered as 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

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3424-829: The Gallic invasion of the Balkans in 279 BC, as far east as central Anatolia ( Galatians ). In Central Europe, the prehistoric Iron Age ends with the Roman conquest. From the Hallstatt culture, the Iron Age spreads westwards with the Celtic expansion from the 6th century BC. In Poland, the Iron Age reaches the late Lusatian culture in about the 6th century, followed in some areas by the Pomeranian culture . The ethnic ascription of many Iron Age cultures has been bitterly contested, as

3531-687: 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

3638-540: 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

3745-537: The Greek Dark Ages , edged iron weapons were widely available, but a variety of explanations fits the available archaeological evidence. From around 1200 BC, the palace centers and outlying settlements of the Mycenaean culture began to be abandoned or destroyed, and by 1050 BC, the recognizable cultural features (such as Linear B script ) had disappeared. The Greek alphabet began in the 8th century BC. It

3852-727: 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

3959-578: The Koban and the Chernogorovka and Novocherkassk cultures from c.  900 BC . By 800 BC, it was spreading to Hallstatt culture via the alleged " Thraco-Cimmerian " migrations. Along with the Chernogorovka and Novocherkassk cultures, on the territory of ancient Russia and Ukraine the Iron Age is, to a significant extent, associated with Scythians , who developed iron culture since

4066-730: 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;

4173-511: 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

4280-778: The Roman Iron Age . In Scandinavia, further periods followed up to 1100: the Migration Period , the Vendel Period and the Viking Age . The earliest part of the Iron Age in northwestern Germany and southern Jutland was dominated by the Jastorf culture . Early Scandinavian iron production typically involved the harvesting of bog iron . The Scandinavian peninsula, Finland and Estonia show sophisticated iron production from c. 500 BC. Metalworking and Ananyino culture pottery co-occur to some extent. Another iron ore used

4387-589: 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

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4494-642: The brochs and duns of northern Scotland and the hillforts that dotted the islands . On the Iberian Peninsula , the Paleohispanic scripts began to be used between 7th century to the 5th century BC. These scripts were used until the end of the 1st century BC or the beginning of the 1st century AD. In 2017, a Celtic warrior's grave, dated to about BC 320 to 174, was discovered at a housing development under construction in Pocklington at

4601-445: The 13th–10th century BC with the Nuragic civilization, perhaps via Cyprus. The 'Celtic' culture had expanded to the group of islands of northwest Europe ( Insular Celts ) and Iberia ( Celtiberians , Celtici and Gallaeci ). In the British Isles , the British Iron Age lasted from about 800 BC until the Roman Conquest and until the 5th century in non-Romanized areas. Structures dating from this time are often impressive, for example,

4708-458: The 6th century BC the first written sources dealing with the territory north of the Danube appear in Greek sources. By this time the Getae (and later the Daci ) had branched out from the Thracian-speaking populations. In Central Europe, the Iron Age is generally divided in the early Iron Age Hallstatt culture (HaC and D, 800–450 BC) and the late Iron Age La Tène culture (beginning in 450 BC). The transition from bronze to iron in Central Europe

4815-409: The 7th century BC. The majority of remains of their iron-producing and blacksmithing industries from the 5th to 3rd centuries BC was found near Nikopol in Kamenskoye Gorodishche , which is believed to be the specialized metallurgic region of the ancient Scythia . The Old Iron Age was an era of immense changes in the lands inhabited by the Balts , i.e. the territories from the Vistula Lagoon and

4922-407: The AD 800. Julius Caesar wrote about Svebians, "Commentarii de Bello Gallico, "book 4.1; they are not by private and secluded fields, "privati ac separati agri apud eos nihil est", they cannot stay more than one year in a place for cultivation's sake, "Neque longius anno remanere uno in loco colendi causa licet ". The Svebes lived between the Rhine and the Elbe. About the Germans, he wrote: No one has

5029-409: The Alps. In Northern Europe, there was usually only one crop harvested before grass growth took over, while in the south, suitable fall was used for several years and the soil was quickly exhausted. Slash and burn shifting cultivation, therefore, ceased much earlier in the south than the north. Most of the forests in the Mediterranean had disappeared by classical times. The classical authors wrote about

5136-405: The Bronze Age. In Central and Western Europe, 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

5243-483: The Central European Urnfield culture ( c.  1300 –750 BC), and 'Celtic' Hallstatt culture (which succeeded the Urnfield culture). Cremated remains were housed in double-cone shaped urns and buried. The Etruscans Old Italic alphabet spread throughout Italy from the 8th century. The Etruscan Iron Age was then ended with the rise of the Roman Republic , which conquered the last Etruscan city of Velzna in 264 BC. In Sardinia, iron working seems to have begun around

5350-428: The Danish king Sven Estridson or also called Sweyn II of Denmark in 1068: "It is very fruitful, the earth holds many crops and honey, it has a greater livestock than all other countries, there are a lot of useful rivers and forests, with regard to women they do not know moderation, they have for their economic position two, three, or more wives simultaneously, the rich and the rulers are innumerable." The latter indicates

5457-407: The Greek Dark Age. The traditional material from which the literary epics were drawn treats the Mycenaean Bronze Age culture from the perspective of the Iron Age and later Greece. Notable and autochthonous groups of peoples and tribes of Southeastern Europe organised themselves in large tribal unions such as the Thracian Odrysian kingdom in the east of Southeastern Europe in the 5th century BC. By

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5564-406: 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

5671-592: 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

5778-425: The Iron Age is marked by new cultural groupings, or at least terms for them, with the Late Bronze Age Mycenaean Greece collapsing in some confusion, while in Central Europe the Urnfield culture had already given way to the Hallstatt culture . In north Italy the Villanovan culture is regarded as the start of Etruscan civilization . Like its successor La Tène culture , Hallstatt is regarded as Celtic . Further to

5885-443: 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

5992-440: 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

6099-407: The Nordic countries it has survived. The clans in pre-Roman Italy seemed to be living in temporary locations rather than established cities. They cultivated small patches of land, guarded their sheep and their cattle, traded with foreign merchants, and at times fought with one another: etruscans, umbriere, ligurianere, sabinere, Latinos, campaniere, apulianere, faliscanere, and samniter, just to mention

6206-433: The Roman Empire and immediately before the Viking Age suggests that it was still more profitable for the peoples of Central Europe to move on to new forests after the best parcels were exhausted than to wait for the new forest to grow up. Therefore, the peoples of the temperate zone in Europe slash and burners, remained for as long as the forests permitted. This exploitation of forests explains this rapid and elaborate move. But

6313-488: 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

6420-630: The Yorkshire Wolds. After archeologists completed a very long excavation project, the site was found to include a bronze shield, remains of a chariot and the skeletons of ponies. The shield's boss bears a resemblance to the Wandsworth shield boss (circa BC 350 to 150), owned by the British Museum . One design element on the extremely well-preserved Pocklington shield, a scalloped border, "is not comparable to any other Iron Age finds across Europe, adding to its valuable uniqueness", said Paula Ware, managing director at MAP Archaeological Practice Ltd in late 2019. Horses were rarely included in Iron Age burials, making

6527-467: The archaeological record. For instance, in China, written history started before iron smelting began, so 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

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6634-416: The author Procopius provides information on the big island Scandza, which the Goths come from. He expects that of the tribes who live here, some are adogit living far north with 40 days of the midnight sun. After adogit come screrefennae and suehans who also live in the north. Screrefennae moved a lot and did not bring to the field crops, but made their living by hunting and collecting bird eggs. Suehans

6741-430: 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

6848-482: 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

6955-496: 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. Horn (anatomy) One pair of horns

7062-417: 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

7169-420: 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

7276-489: The east and north, and in Iberia and the Balkans , there are a number of local terms for the early Iron Age culture. Roman Iron Age is a term used in the archaeology of Northern Europe (but not Britain) for the period when the unconquered peoples of the area lived under the influence of the Roman Empire . 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

7383-434: 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

7490-530: The elderly. Some people, notably The Enigma , have horn implants; that is, they have implanted silicone beneath the skin as a form of body modification . Animals have a variety of uses for horns and antlers, including defending themselves from predators and fighting members of their own species ( horn fighting ) for territory, dominance or mating priority. Horns are usually present only in males but in some species, females too may possess horns. It has been theorized by researchers that taller species living in

7597-505: 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

7704-583: 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

7811-498: 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

7918-501: The find particularly significant. "The discoveries are set to widen our understanding of the Arras (Middle Iron Age) culture and the dating of artefacts to secure contexts is exceptional," according to Paula Ware. The early Iron Age forms of Scandinavia show no traces of Roman influence, though such influences become abundant toward the middle of the period. The duration of the Iron Age is variously estimated according to how its commencement

8025-465: 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

8132-559: The forest could not tolerate this in the long run; it first ended in the Mediterranean. The forest here did not have the same vitality as the powerful coniferous forest in Central Europe. Deforestation was partly caused by burning for pasture fields. Missing timber delivery led to higher prices and more stone constructions in the Roman Empire (Stewart 1956 123). The forest also decreased gradually northwards in Europe, but in

8239-480: 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

8346-418: The great forests (Semple 1931 261–296). Homer writes of wooded Samothrace , Zakynthos , Sicily and other wooded land. The authors give us the general impression that the Mediterranean countries had more forest than now, but that it had already lost much forest, and that it was left there in the mountains (Darby 1956 186). It is clear that Europe remained wooded, and not only in the north. However, during

8453-618: The head of animals in various other families: Many mammal species in various families have tusks , which often serve the same functions as horns, but are in fact oversized teeth. These include the Moschidae (Musk deer, which are ruminants), Suidae ( Wild Boars ), Proboscidea ( Elephants ), Monodontidae ( Narwhals ) and Odobenidae ( Walruses ). Polled animals or pollards are those of normally-horned (mainly domesticated ) species whose horns have been removed, or which have not grown. In some cases such animals have small horny growths in

8560-413: The hillside with good drainage, and traces of cattle quarters are evident here. The Greek explorer and merchant Pytheas of Massalia made a voyage to Northern Europe c. 330 BC. Part of his itinerary has survived to this day thanks to the accounts by Polybius , Strabo and Pliny . Pytheas had visited Thule , which lay a six-day voyage north of Britain . There "the barbarians showed us the place where

8667-498: 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

8774-567: 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

8881-528: 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

8988-597: The late Roman Iron Age and early Viking Age , forest areas drastically reduced in Northern Europe, and settlements were regularly moved. There is no good explanation for this mobility, and the transition to stable settlements from the late Viking period, as well as the transition from shifting cultivation to stationary use of arable land. At the same time plows appears as a new group of implements were found both in graves and in depots. It can be confirmed that early agricultural people preferred forest of good quality in

9095-550: 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

9202-575: The latter half of the 19th century, it had been extended to 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

9309-422: The life of the animal (except in pronghorns, which shed the outer layer annually, but retain the bony core). Partial or deformed horns in livestock are called scurs . Similar growths on other parts of the body are not usually called horns, but spurs , claws , or hooves , depending on the part of the body on which they occur. The term "horn" is also popularly applied to other hard and pointed features attached to

9416-425: The male blue wildebeest reams the bark and branches of trees to impress the female and lure her into his territory . Some animals such as goats with true horns use them for cooling with the blood vessels in the bony core allowing them to function as a radiator . After the death of a horned animal, the keratin may be consumed by the larvae of the horn moth . In some instances, wildlife parks may decide to remove

9523-649: The migration Period in Europe. The exploitation of forests demanded constant displacement, and large areas were deforested. Locations of the tribes described by Jordanes in Norway, contemporary with, and some possibly ruled by Rodulf . Jordanes was of Gothic descent and ended up as a monk in Italy. In his work De origine actibusque Getarum ( The Origin and Deeds of the Getae/Goths ), the Gothic origins and achievements,

9630-584: The most part, and like nomads, they pack all their goods in wagons and go on to wherever they want. Horazius writes in 17 BC (Carmen säculare, 3, 24, 9 ff .) about the people of Macedonia. The proud Getae also live happily, growing free food and cereal for themselves on land that they do not want to cultivate for more than a year, "vivunt et rigidi Getae, immetata quibus iugera liberal fruges et Cererem freunt, nec cultura placet longior annua." Several classical writers have descriptions of shifting cultivation people. Many peoples' various shifting cultivations characterized

9737-531: 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

9844-540: The now-conventional periodization in 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

9951-438: The open are more visible from longer distances and more likely to benefit from horns to defend themselves against predators. Female bovids that are not hidden from predators due to their large size or open savannahlike habitat are more likely to bear horns than small or camouflaged species. In addition, horns may be used to root in the soil or strip bark from trees. In animal courtship , many use horns in displays. For example,

10058-452: 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

10165-652: The roots of Germanic , Baltic and Slavic peoples were sought in this area. In Italy, the Iron Age was probably introduced by the Villanovan culture , which succeeded the Bronze Age Proto-Villanovan culture in the territory of Tuscany and northern Latium and spread in parts of Romagna , Campania and Fermo in the Marche . The burial characteristics relate the Villanovan culture to

10272-712: The shadow of the glorious history of the Roman Empire. Many of the Italic tribes realized the benefits of allying with the powerful Romans. When Rome built the Via Amerina 241 BC, the Faliscan people established themselves in cities on the plains, and they collaborated with the Romans on road construction. The Roman Senate gradually gained representatives from many Faliscan and Etruscan families. The Italic tribes are now settled farmers. (Zwingle, National Geographic, January 2005). An edition of Commentarii de Bello Gallico from

10379-687: The skin where their horns would be – these are known as scurs . Cutaneous horns are the only examples of horns growing on people. Cases of people growing horns have been historically described, sometimes with mythical status. Researchers have not however discovered photographic evidence of the phenomenon. There are human cadaveric specimens that show outgrowings, but these are instead classified as osteomas or other excrescences . The phenomenon of humans with horns has been observed in countries lacking advanced medicine. There are living people, several in China, with cases of cutaneous horns, most common in

10486-510: The spring they drove the cattle up into the mountain pastures and stayed there all summer." This description may fit well with Norwegian coast. Here is an instance of both dairy farming and drying/threshing in a building. In Italy, shifting cultivation was already a thing of the past at the birth of Christ. Tacitus describes it as the strange cultivation methods he had experienced among the Germans, whom he knew well from his stay with them. Rome

10593-637: 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

10700-439: The sun does not go to sleep. It happened because there the night was very short -- in some places two, in others three hours -- so that the sun shortly after its fall soon went up again." He says that Thule was a fertile land, "rich in fruits that were ripe only until late in the year, and the people there used to prepare a drink of honey. And they threshed the grain in large houses, because of the cloudy weather and frequent rain. In

10807-460: Was ironsand (such as red soil ). Its high phosphorus content can be identified in slag . Such slag is sometimes found together with asbestos-ceramic-associated axe types belonging to the Ananyino culture . In Southern Europe climates, forests consisted of open evergreen and pine forests. After slash and burn techniques these forests had little capacity for regrowth than the forests north of

10914-486: Was a seminomadic tribe that had good horses like Thüringians and ran fur hunting to sell the skins. It was too far north to grow grain. Prokopios, ca. AD 550, also describes a primitive hunter people he calls skrithifinoi. These pitiful creatures had neither wine nor corn, for they did not grow any crops. "Both men and women engaged incessantly just in hunting the rich forests and mountains, which gave them an endless supply of game and wild animals." Screrefennae and skrithifinoi

11021-488: 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

11128-400: 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

11235-502: Was entirely dependent on shifting cultivation by the barbarians to survive and maintain " Pax Romana ", but when the supply from the colonies "trans alpina" began to wear out, the Roman Empire collapsed. Tacitus writes in AD 98 about the Germans: fields are proportionate to the participating growers, but they share their crops with each other by reputation. Distribution is easy because there

11342-561: 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

11449-458: 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 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

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