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The Iron Age is the period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. Iron production is known to have taken place in Anatolia at least as early as 1200 BC, with some contemporary archaeological evidence pointing to earlier dates. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of these materials coincided with other changes in society, including differing agricultural practices, religious beliefs and artistic styles. The ''Iron Age'' as an archaeological term indicates the condition as to civilization and culture of a people using iron as the material for their cutting tools and weapons.〔 The ''Iron Age'' is the third principal period of the three-age system created by Christian Thomsen (1788–1865) for classifying ancient societies and prehistoric stages of progress.〔C. J. Thomsen and Jens Jacob Asmussen Worsaae first applied the system to artifacts.〕 In historical archaeology, the ancient literature of the Iron Age includes the earliest texts preserved in manuscript tradition. Sanskrit and Chinese literature flourished in the Iron Age. Other texts include the Avestan Gathas, the Indian Vedas and the oldest parts of the Hebrew Bible. The principal feature that distinguishes the Iron Age from the preceding ages is the introduction of alphabetic characters, and the consequent development of written language which enabled literature and historic record.〔 The beginning of the Iron Age in Europe and adjacent areas is characterized by certain forms of implements, weapons, personal ornaments, and pottery, and also by systems of decorative design, which are altogether different from those of the preceding age of bronze.〔 Metalsmithing expanded from the primary form in the Bronze Age, casting, to include forging. The system of decoration, which in the Bronze Age consisted chiefly of a repetition of rectilinear patterns, gave way to a system of curvilinear and flowing designs.〔 The term "''Iron Age''" has low chronological value, because it did not begin simultaneously across the entire world.〔Chisholm, H. (1910). The Encyclopædia Britannica. New York: The Encyclopædia Britannica Co.〕 The dates and context vary depending on the region, and the sequence of ages is not necessarily true for every part of the earth's surface. There are areas, such as the islands of the South Pacific, the interior of Africa, and parts of North and South America, where peoples have passed directly from the use of stone to the use of iron without an intervening age of bronze.〔The Junior Encyclopædia Britannica: A reference library of general knowledge. (1897). Chicago: E.G. Melvin.〕 ==Chronology== Around 3000 BC, iron was a scarce and precious metal in the Near East. The earliest known iron artifacts are nine small beads, dated to 3200 BC, from burials in Gerzeh, northern Egypt, that were made from meteoric iron, and shaped by careful hammering.〔Rehren T, et al, "5,000 years old Egyptian iron beads made from hammered meteoritic iron", Journal of Archaeological Science 2013 (text )〕 Iron's qualities, in contrast to those of bronze, were not understood. Between 1200 BC and 1000 BC, diffusion in the understanding of iron metallurgy and use of iron objects was fast and far-flung. In the history of ferrous metallurgy, iron smelting — the extraction of usable metal from oxidized iron ores — is more difficult than tin and copper smelting. These other metals and their alloys can be cold-worked, or melted in simple pottery kilns and cast in molds; but smelted iron requires hot-working and can be melted only in specially designed furnaces. It is therefore not surprising that humans only mastered iron smelting after several millennia of bronze metallurgy. In 2005, metallurgical analysis by Hideo Akanuma of iron fragments found at Kaman-Kalehöyük in 1994 and dating to ''c''. 1800 BC revealed that some of these fragments were in fact composed of carbon steel; these currently form the world's earliest known evidence for steel manufacture. Modern archaeological evidence identifies the start of iron production as taking place in Anatolia around 1200 BC, though some contemporary archaeological evidence points to earlier dates. Lack of archaeological evidence of iron production made it seem unlikely that it had begun earlier elsewhere, and the Iron Age was seen as a case of simple diffusion of a new and superior technology from an invention point in the Near East to other regions. It is now known that meteoric iron, or iron-nickel alloy, was used by various ancient peoples thousands of years before the Iron Age. Such iron, being in its native metallic state, required no smelting of ores.〔(''Archaeomineralogy'', p. 164 ), George Robert Rapp, Springer, 2002〕〔(''Understanding materials science'', p. 125 ), Rolf E. Hummel, Springer, 2004〕 By the Middle Bronze Age, increasing numbers of smelted iron objects (distinguishable from meteoric iron by the lack of nickel in the product) appeared in the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and South Asia. Pure iron is softer than bronze, and therefore produces tools which wear out faster. The advantage of using iron over bronze lay in cheaper production and the wide availability of iron ore. The systematic production and use of iron implements in Anatolia began around 2000 BC.〔(Ironware piece unearthed from Turkey found to be oldest steel ) in ''The Hindu'', Thursday, March 26, 2009〕 Recent archaeological research in the Ganges Valley, India showed early iron working by 1800 BC.〔 However, this metal was expensive, perhaps because of the complications of steel-making. Anthony Snodgrass〔A.M.Snodgrass (1966), "Arms and Armour of the Greeks". (Thames & Hudson, London)〕〔A. M. Snodgrass (1971), "The Dark Age of Greece" (Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh).〕 suggests that a shortage of tin, as a part of the Bronze Age Collapse and trade disruptions in the Mediterranean around 1300 BC, forced metalworkers to seek an alternative to bronze. As evidence, many bronze implements were recycled into weapons during this time. More widespread use of iron led to improved steel-making technology at lower cost. Thus, even when tin became available again, iron was cheaper, stronger, and lighter, and forged iron implements superseded cast bronze tools permanently.〔Theodore Wertime and J. D. Muhly, eds. ''The Coming of the Age of Iron'' (New Haven, 1979).〕 Recent archaeological work has modified not only the above chronology, but also the causes of the transition from bronze to iron. New dates from India suggest that iron was being worked there as early as 1800 BC, and African sites are turning up dates as early as 1200 BC,〔Duncan E. Miller and N.J. Van Der Merwe, 'Early Metal Working in Sub Saharan Africa' ''Journal of African History'' 35 (1994) 1–36; Minze Stuiver and N.J. Van Der Merwe, 'Radiocarbon Chronology of the Iron Age in Sub-Saharan Africa' ''Current Anthropology'' 1968.〕〔(How Old is the Iron Age in Sub-Saharan Africa? ) — by Roderick J. McIntosh, Archaeological Institute of America (1999)〕〔(Iron in Sub-Saharan Africa ) — by Stanley B. Alpern (2005)〕 confounding the idea that there was a simple discovery and diffusion model. Increasingly, the Iron Age in Europe is being seen as a part of the Bronze Age collapse in the ancient Near East, in ancient India (with the post-Rigvedic Vedic civilization), ancient Iran, and ancient Greece (with the Greek Dark Ages). In other regions of Europe, the Iron Age began in the 8th century BC in Central Europe and the 6th century BC in Northern Europe. The Near Eastern Iron Age is divided into two subsections, Iron I and Iron II. Iron I (1200–1000 BC) illustrates both continuity and discontinuity with the previous Late Bronze Age. There is no definitive cultural break between the 13th and 12th century BC throughout the entire region, although certain new features in the hill country, Transjordan, and coastal region may suggest the appearance of the Aramaean and Sea People groups. There is evidence, however, that shows strong continuity with Bronze Age culture, although as one moves later into Iron I the culture begins to diverge more significantly from that of the late 2nd millennium. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Iron Age」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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