Iron Age was the period when the use of iron became widespread. It is the third age of a three-age classification system originally established to describe prehistoric societies in Europe. The Iron Age followed the Bronze Age, which followed the Stone Age. In some regions, the widespread use of iron occurred with other cultural and technological innovations, marking the end of prehistoric times.
People in certain areas had begun to smelt iron ore and use the iron for tools by about 3,500 B.C., during the Bronze Age. These areas included highland Anatolia (now part of Turkey), Egypt, Mesopotamia (now Iraq and parts of Syria and Turkey), and India. However, scholars mark the beginning of the Iron Age at 1,200 B.C., following the collapse of the great Bronze Age civilizations. These civilizations included ancient Egypt and the Mycenaean culture in the Aegean region. About this time, people in Asia Minor (now part of Turkey) learned how to achieve the necessary firing temperature to smelt quality iron in larger amounts. Iron technology quickly spread over much of Africa, Asia, and Europe. Iron’s chief advantage was its cheapness—because iron ore is abundant and widespread—and its strength. Workers did not have to alloy (combine) iron with other metals to form an effective tool or weapon.
Scholars generally mark the end of the Iron Age in the Mediterranean region around 323 B.C., with the beginning of the Hellenistic Age in Greece. They mark the end of the Iron Age in India with the rise of Buddhism and in China with the rise of Confucianism.
