THE IRON PERIOD GENERALLY BRONZE AGE MARKED PREVALENT ANCIENT IRON PRODUCTION TAKEN ANATOLIA CONTEMPORARY ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE THE EARLY THE AGE IRON STEEL ADOPTION MATERIALS CHANGES IN SOCIETY AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES RELIGIOUS BELIEFS ARTISTIC ARCHAEOLOGICAL TERM THE CONDITION CIVILIZATION CULTURE PEOPLE THE MATERIAL CUTTING TOOLS THE THIRD PRINCIPAL SYSTEM CHRISTIAN THOMSEN CLASSIFYING ANCIENT SOCIETIES PREHISTORIC STAGES HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY THE ANCIENT LITERATURE MANUSCRIPT SANSKRIT CHINESE LITERATURE FLOURISHED THE AVESTA GATHA INDIAN VEDAS PARTS THE HEBREW BIBLE FEATURE DISTINGUISHES AGES INTRODUCTION ALPHABETIC CHARACTERS CONSEQUENT DEVELOPMENT OF WRITTEN LANGUAGE HISTORIC RECORD THE BEGINNING OF EUROPE ADJACENT AREAS CERTAIN PERSONAL SYSTEMS AGE OF BRONZE METALSMITH PRIMARY BRONZE CASTING FORGING THE SYSTEM REPETITION PATTERNS GAVE CURVILINEAR FLOWING IRON AGE BEGIN SIMULTANEOUSLY ENTIRE WORLD DATES CONTEXT THE SEQUENCE NECESSARILY TRUE FOR EVERY EARTHS SURFACE THE ISLANDS THE SOUTH THE INTERIOR NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA PEOPLES STONE ARTIFACTS NINE NORTHERN EGYPT IDENTIFIED METEORIC IRON CHARACTERISTIC THOUSANDS NATIVE SMELTING SMELTED APPEARS ARCHEOLOGICAL RECORD THE MIDDLE NATURALLY HIGH MELTING POINT OUT OF REACH COMMON THE END SECOND MILLENNIUM BC TINS MODERATE NEOLITHIC POTTERY KILN DATE ABLE PRODUCE TEMPERATURES GREATER THAN ADDITION DEVELOP COMPLEX IMPURITIES ADMIXTURE CARBON IN COMBINATION USEFUL BALANCE HARDNESS STRENGTH ADDING ALLOYS PREVENT RUST FERROUS METALLURGY EVIDENCE SMALL NUMBER FRAGMENTS CARBON LAYERS THE COMBINATION CARBON DATING ARCHAEOLOGICAL CONTEXT MADE OF STEEL ALREADY BEGUN MILLENNIUM CENTRAL ANATOLIA SHOWS IMPLEMENTS MADE IN LIMITED GENERAL USE BY COMMONERS HITTITE EMPIRE RECENT ARCHAEOLOGICAL REMAINS IRON WORKING GANGES VALLEY INDIA IRON SMELTING MANUFACTURING EASTERN VINDHYAS THE CENTRAL GANGA INCREASING NUMBERS LACK NICKEL THE MIDDLE EAST SOUTHEAST ASIA SOUTH ASIA AFRICAN TURNING MODERN START IRON PRODUCTION MARKING DIFFUSION THE UNDERSTANDING IRON METALLURGY FAST AND FAR ANTHONY SNODGRASS SUGGESTS BRONZE AGE COLLAPSE TRADE MEDITERRANEAN FORCED METALWORKERS SEEK ALTERNATIVE RECYCLED WEAPONS TECHNOLOGY AVAILABLE FORGED CAST BRONZE TOOLS PERMANENTLY INCREASINGLY SEEN THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST ANCIENT INDIA RIGVEDIC VEDIC CIVILIZATION ANCIENT IRAN ANCIENT GREECE THE GREEK DARK AGES REGIONS OF EUROPE THE CENTURY CENTRAL NORTHERN EUROPE NEAR EASTERN DIVIDED SUBSECTIONS CONTINUITY DISCONTINUITY PREVIOUS LATE BRONZE AGE DEFINITIVE CULTURAL BREAK ENTIRE FEATURES THE HILL TRANSJORDAN COASTAL REGION APPEARANCE ARAMAEAN SEA PEOPLE STRONG AS ONE MOVES THE CULTURE BEGINS JUSTIFY COLORS BACKGROUND TILL TEXT MIDDLE AGES THE BEST PARTICULARLY CONTENT LESS WROUGHT IRON CANNOT HEAT TREATED DEGREE HIGHER CREATES HARD BRITTLE MATERIAL TEMPERED NEARLY EASIER TECHNIQUES USED TO CREATE ONES DRAMATICALLY SOMETIMES PRODUCT ALL STEEL FORGE WELDING CUTTING EDGES SOUTHWEST ASIA MIDDLE EAST MESOPOTAMIAN SUMER AKKAD ASSYRIA INITIAL DAGGER BLADE TOMB DATING DISSEMINATED NEAR EAST THE MILLENNIUM ANCIENT NEAR EAST ACHAEMENID SELEUCID EMPIRE PARTHIAN EMPIRE SASSANID EMPIRE CONSULT PARTICULAR ARTICLE DETAILS BELIEVED THE DISCOVERY OF SMITHING THE CAUCASUS BALKANS THEORY EMERGENCE THE TRANSITION PRICE AVAILABILITY RATHER BLOOMERY TELL HAMMEH JORDAN ONCE ATTRIBUTED THE HITTITES THE LATE BRONZE AGE MONOPOLY IRONWORKING EMPIRE SEA PEOPLES THE KNOWLEDGE LONGER THE COMMON CURRENT THOUGHT THE MAJORITY ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE OF ALLEGED BRONZE AGE ANATOLIA NUMBER EGYPT SAME TIME ARE WEAPONS SAW CONTINUOUS SPREAD UGARITIC SCRIPT UGARIT WRITTEN IN AKKADIAN LANGUAGE CENTURIES PHOENICIAN ALPHABET INSCRIPTION AHIRAM ENGRAVED SARCOPHAGUS KING AHIRAM CIRCA CONVENTIONAL REFER TO SCRIPT PHOENICIAN ALPHABET IDENTICAL COVERS THE LAST PREHISTORIC PERIOD REGIONAL DEFINED PROBABLY ELABORATION DESIGNS HAMMERED SIMPLE THE FORMS CHARACTER NORTHERN EUROPEAN ROMAN EVIDENTLY REPRESENTATIVE OF NORTHERN THE DEAD BURIED CREMATION ASIA IN CENTRAL ASIA APPEAR SAKA XINJIANG THE CEMETERY SITE PAZYRYK CULTURE ARCHAEOLOGICAL CULTURE HUMANS SIBERIA PERMAFROST ALTAY MOUNTAINS THE HISTORY OF METALLURGY INDIAN SUBCONTINENT ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES IN MALHAR RAJA NALA TILA LAHURADEWA UTTAR PRADESH SHOW ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXCAVATIONS HYDERABAD BURIAL SITE RAKESH TEWARI INDIAN IRON AGE INCEPTION EPIC INDIA TRADITIONALLY LATER ON SANSKRIT EPICS SANSKRIT LITERATURE VEDIC LITERATURE FOUR VEDAS VEDIC ACTIVITY THE VARIOUS SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT COMPILED MEMORIZED SCHOLARSHIP ORGANIZED SUTRA TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENT MASTERY ONE IRON EAST INDIA FIRST MILLENNIUM BC SOUTHERN INDIA MYSORE FOR ANY CLOSE CONTACT THE NORTHWEST UPANISHAD MENTION MAURYAN PERIOD CERTAINLY HIGH QUALITY SOUTHERN THE CRUCIBLE TECHNIQUE GLASS MIXED CRUCIBLE IRON AGE INDIA JANAPADAS MAHA JANAPADAS DYNASTY PRADYOTA DYNASTY HARYANKA DYNASTY SHISHUNAGA DYNASTY NANDA DYNASTY MAURYA DYNASTY PROTOHISTORIC EARLY IRON AGE SRI LANKA LASTED RADIOCARBON COLLECTED ANURADHAPURA SHELTER SIGIRIYA SETTLEMENT HEC