readx;? In archaeology, the Iron Age refers to the time when people began to use iron to make tools and weapons. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 The main differences from previous eras are agricultural development, religious beliefs and cultural patterns. This was a stage in the development of human society after the Bronze Age. In fact, the Iron Age refers to the early stage, in which all countries have entered the age of civilization with written records, and it is often called the era by the dynasties of each country.

The Iron Age is an extremely important era in the history of human development. The earliest known iron was iron in meteorites, which the ancient Egyptians called a fetishe. This natural iron has been used to make blades and ornaments for a long time, and this is the earliest use of iron by humans. Natural iron is rare on earth, so the smelting of iron and the manufacture of iron tools have gone through a long period of time. When people gradually mastered the technology of smelting iron on the basis of smelting bronze, the iron age came.

Iron tools are hard, tough, and sharp, outperforming stone and bronze tools. The widespread use of iron tools has brought human tool making into a whole new field, and productivity has been greatly improved. The use of iron tools has led some nations in the world to develop from primitive societies to slave societies, and also promoted some nations to break free from the shackles of slavery and enter feudal society.

The timing of the Iron Age varies from region to region, even in Europe, the Germanic regions and Rome. Although the timing of the Iron Age varies from region to region, and it is difficult to accurately mark the year, the difference between the Iron Age and the preceding era is clear. The Iron Age refers to the fact that it was already possible to produce iron tools using very complex metalwork. The high hardness, high melting point and high content of iron ore make iron cheaper and more versatile than bronze, so its demand soon far exceeds that of bronze.

The sequence of the Iron Age in each region is as follows:

The first use of iron tools in the Iron Age was by the Sumerians and the ancient Egyptians, and by 4000 BC it had been used in very small quantities, but most of the iron was obtained from meteorites rather than from iron ore.

Between 3000 and 2000 BC, in Asia Minor, Egypt and Mesopotamia, iron was increasingly refined from meteorite mines, but mostly for ceremonial purposes. And iron was an extremely expensive metal at the time, even more expensive than gold. There is some archaeological evidence that iron was produced at the time as a by-product of copper extraction, called sponge iron, and that it was not possible to produce it in large quantities by smelting technology at the time.

The Hittite Empire, which had mastered the technology of iron smelting in 1400 BC, had mastered the technology of iron smelting in large quantities and kept it under strict control by detaining blacksmiths who had mastered it.

By 1200 B.C., iron had been widely used throughout the Middle East, due to the invasion of the Phoenician people of the sea, which had allowed the secret of the Hittite Empire to spread iron smelting technology after the Hittites were destroyed by the Phoenicia. In Europe, it was spread by ancient Greece after absorbing the Hittites' iron-smelting technology.

Around the 1000s BC, iron tools and weapons began to be widely used in ancient Greece and Rome.

Around 500 BC, iron tools were widely used on the European continent.

China began to use iron in the middle of the Shang Dynasty, and in 1972, near Hebei, an iron-plated bronze battle axe was excavated, which was carefully studied to have been made around the 14th century BC. After identification, this iron should have been obtained from iron meteorites, which is a rare thing. In the late Western Zhou Dynasty, China began to use iron tools, and entered the era of iron, copper and stone (or early iron age), and the copper-handled iron sword unearthed in the tomb of Yuguo in Sanmenxia, Henan Province can prove that China has artificially smelted iron tools in the late Western Zhou Dynasty. In the Spring and Autumn period, iron farming tools began to appear, and pig iron products appeared in China in the 6th century BC. The earliest written record of the use of iron tools in China is the cast iron tripod of the Jin Kingdom in the Zuo Chuan. During the Spring and Autumn Period, iron tools were already widely used in agriculture and handicraft production. During the Warring States period, the use of iron farming tools expanded rapidly. In the 2nd century BC, that is, during the Qin and Han dynasties, the Iron Age was completely entered. Although China's iron smelting industry appeared later than that of West Asia and Europe, it has developed rapidly, and has been in the forefront of the world's metallurgical technology for a long time. The use of iron tools also promoted social and economic development and accelerated the disintegration of the slave society. By the end of the Qing Dynasty, China had entered the machine age.

Around 1000 B.C., iron tools appeared in Europe, and they slowly spread westward from Asia Minor. In the Netherlands, iron tools appeared around 800 BC.

Around 1000 BC, Eastern Europe had begun to enter the Iron Age. In the 6th century BC, iron smelting spread throughout Eastern Europe through the Celts.

In Central Europe, the Iron Age is generally divided into Pre-Iron Age (800 BC to 450 AD) and Post-Iron Age (from 450 BC onwards).

In Italy, the Itolurican civilization is considered the founding civilization of the Italian Iron Age.

In England, the Iron Age began in the fifth century BC.

Northern Scandinavia and Finland: There is evidence that iron tools existed in Scandinovia (including Finland) from about 3000 BC to around 1000 AD, but it is unknown that the iron ore mined here contains a large amount of iron sand, as it is shown that it contains a small amount of phosphorus, like ballast. Otherwise, it is still mythical, to be archaeologically proven.

Northern Germany and Southern Scandinavia: The Iron Age in this region is divided into Pre-Roman Iron Age and Roman Iron Age.

In the Americas and Oceania, there was no Iron Age, because the use of iron was introduced by Europeans.

The earliest place in Africa where iron tools were made was in East Africa, around 1400 BC. In 1323 B.C., the Egyptian pharaoh Tutkamun was buried with an iron dagger and a golden sword. In the vicinity of present-day Khotum, the main iron-smelting site was located between the 6th and 5th centuries BC.

In West Africa, the Roques were the first people to master the technology of iron smelting. Since then, iron and copper smelting technology has spread to the interior of Africa until it reached the Cape of Good Hope in 200 AD. The widespread spread of iron technology allowed the Bantu to improve their farming techniques, allowing them to break away from the Stone Age and expand their agriculture into the savannah. Because of their mastery of iron smelting, they have a dominant position in South Africa, and they are a very wealthy people, and they can also make iron tools and weapons.

Around 300 B.C., and possibly in 200 A.D., there were already peoples in southern India who were able to produce high-quality steel.

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