We explain what the Iron Age is and what its characteristics are. In addition, we explain its advances, importance and the end of the Metal Age.
The oldest evidence of iron working was found in the Near East.
What is the Iron Age?
The Iron Age is the prehistoric period in which the use of iron in the manufacture of tools, weapons and utensils is systematized. This era falls within the Age of Metals, after the Copper Age and the Bronze Age. The chronologies for dating this periodization vary in different regions of the world because the developments in metallurgical technology occurred at different times.
Archaeological evidence indicates that The oldest popularized use of iron occurred around 1200 BC. c. almost simultaneously in the Near East, in the Aegean region and in India.
The Iron Age is often considered the last period of Prehistory. since it is established that it ends with the invention or adoption of writing in each society (a fact that marks the beginning of History, with the Ancient Age). However, some societies, such as Ancient Egypt and the Sumerian city-states, developed metallurgical technology after the invention of writing and the creation of centralized states.
See also: Stone Age
Characteristics of the Iron Age
The Iron Age was characterized by:
- The discovery of iron, as a metal harder than bronze and more abundant in nature.
- The slow diffusion of iron casting techniques, more complex than those of bronze because they require higher temperatures.
- The increase in higher density populations and armed confrontations.
- The use of iron to make weapons, armor and tools.
- The disparate adoption of iron among the different populations of the world.
Importance of iron
Ironworking allowed for the manufacture of more resistant weapons and tools.
The importance of iron lay in two aspects. On the one hand, made it possible to manufacture more resistant weapons which granted military superiority. On the other hand, it allowed for great advances in agriculture due to the new tools for working the land.
The work of iron It involved a sophisticated advance compared to the work of other metalsdue to the higher temperatures of the ovens, their structure and materials used to handle it.
Major civilizations of the Iron Age
The development of iron metallurgy was carried out by civilizations from Africa, Asia and Europe. In America and Oceania there was no indigenous development prior to colonization and contact with foreign peoples.
In the regions of the Caucasus and Anatolia, iron casting and working techniques were discovered around the 14th century BC. c. It is believed that the Hittites were among the first to use iron for the manufacture of weapons and war technology. and that this gave them a military superiority that was essential for the expansion of their empire. From there, the use of iron for the manufacture of tools became popular and spread to the East and West.
In India, the oldest evidence of widespread use of iron dates back to 1200 BC. c., although some findings seem to indicate that for some previous centuries, in the region of Uttar Pradesh, different forms of casting and forging had been experimented with. On the other hand, in China, the arrival of iron is much later. The oldest records of its systematized use date back to the 6th century BC. c.
In Europe, the use of iron was introduced around the 10th century BC. c., and expanded throughout the continent during the following centuries. In the Aegean Sea region, the first uses of iron are attributed to the Dorian tribes that prevailed over the Mycenaean states.
The Etruscans (in the Italian peninsula), the Gauls in present-day France, the Iberians (in the Iberian Peninsula) and the Celts (in the north and the British Isles) were the most prominent peoples of the European Iron Age.
In Africa, however, the development of iron handling technologies was indigenous.. Around 1000 BC. C., the Nok culture (of western sub-Saharan Africa) refined iron using smelting techniques.
Continue with: Paleolithic
References
- Eiroa, JJ (2003). Notions of general prehistory. Planet Group (GBS).
- Alimen, MH, & Steve, MJ (Eds.). (1989). Prehistory (Vol. 1). Siglo XXI of Spain Editors.
- “Iron Age” in History.
- “Iron Age” on Britannica.
- “Iron Age” in National Geographic History.