Editing Iron Age (section)

====East Asia====
{{further|History of metallurgy in China#Iron}}
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 from: -771 till: -465 text:[[Spring and Autumn Period|Spring and Autumn]]
 from: -465 till: -221 text:[[Warring States period|Warring States]]
 from: -771 till: -221 shift:(0,5) text:[[Iron Age China]]
 from: -221 till: 500 shift:(0,4) text:[[Imperial China]]
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 from: -221 till: 500 shift:(0,-7) text:[[Early Imperial China|(Early period)]]
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 from: -300 till: 300 text:[[Yayoi period|Yayoi]]
 from: 300 till: 500 text:[[Kofun period|Kofun]]
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 from: -500 till: -108 text:[[Gojoseon|Late Gojoseon]]
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 from: -108 till: -18 shift:(0,4) text:[[Proto–Three Kingdoms of Korea|Proto–Kingdoms]]
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Dates are approximate
* {{color box|#f2d97f}}{{color box|#ffd880}} Prehistoric (or proto-historic) Iron Age {{color box|#cccccc}} Historic Iron Age
In China, [[Chinese bronze inscriptions]] are found around 1200&nbsp;BC, preceding the development of iron metallurgy, which was known by the 9th century&nbsp;BC.<ref>{{cite book|first =David N.|last = Keightley |title = The Origins of Chinese Civilization|page= 226|isbn = 978-0-520-04229-2|publisher= University of California Press|date = September 1983}}</ref> Iron metallurgy reached the [[Yangtze]] valley in the late 6th century&nbsp;BC.<ref>{{cite book |last =Higham|first= Charles|date= 1996|title =The Bronze Age of Southeast Asia|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=RZ-CV14nXHcC|publisher = Cambridge University Press|isbn= 978-0-521-56505-9}}</ref> The few objects were found at [[Changsha]] and [[Nanjing]]. The mortuary evidence suggests that the initial use of iron in [[Lingnan]] belongs to the mid-to-late [[Warring States period]] (from {{circa|350&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}). Important non-precious husi style metal finds include iron tools found at the tomb at Guwei-cun of the 4th century&nbsp;BC.<ref>{{cite book | title=Encyclopedia of World Art: Landscape in art to Micronesian cultures | publisher=McGraw-Hill | year=1964 }}</ref>

The techniques used in Lingnan are a combination of bivalve moulds of distinct southern tradition and the incorporation of piece mould technology from the ''Zhongyuan''. The products of the combination of these two periods are bells, vessels, weapons and ornaments, and the sophisticated cast.

An Iron Age culture of the [[Tibetan Plateau]] has been associated tentatively with the [[Zhangzhung culture]] described by early Tibetan writings.

{{anchor|Japan}}
In Japan, iron items, such as tools, weapons, and decorative objects, are postulated to have entered Japan during the late [[Yayoi period]] ({{circa|300&nbsp;BC|300&nbsp;AD|lk=no}})<ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.t-net.ne.jp/~keally/preh.html|title = Prehistoric Archaeological Periods in Japan|first= Charles T. |last =Keally|website = Japanese Archaeology|date = 14 October 2002}}</ref> or the succeeding [[Kofun period]] ({{circa|250|lk=no}}{{snd}}538&nbsp;AD), most likely from the Korean Peninsula and China.

Distinguishing characteristics of the Yayoi period include the appearance of new pottery styles and the start of intensive rice agriculture in paddy fields. Yayoi culture flourished in a geographic area from southern [[Kyūshū]] to northern [[Honshū]]. The Kofun and the subsequent [[Asuka period]]s are sometimes referred to collectively as the [[Yamato period]]; The word {{tlit|ja|kofun}} is Japanese for the type of [[tumulus|burial mounds]] dating from that era.

{{anchor|Korea}}
[[File:Korea-Silla-Iron.armor-01.jpg|thumb|[[Silla]] chest and neck armour from the [[National Museum of Korea]] in [[Seoul]] (3rd century&nbsp;AD)]]

Iron objects were introduced to the [[Korean peninsula]] through trade with chiefdoms and state-level societies bordering the [[Yellow Sea]] during the 4th century&nbsp;BC, at the end of the [[Warring States period]], but before the beginning of the [[Western Han dynasty]].<ref name="kim">{{cite journal |last=Kim |first=Do-heon |year=2002 |title=Samhan Sigi Jujocheolbu-eui Yutong Yangsang-e Daehan Geomto |trans-title=A Study of the Distribution Patterns of Cast Iron Axes in the Samhan Period |journal=Yongnam Kogohak [Yongnam Archaeological Review] |issue=31|pages=1–29 |language=ko}}</ref><ref name="taylor">{{cite journal | last=Taylor | first=Sarah | title=The introduction and development of iron production in Korea: A survey | journal=World Archaeology | volume=20 | issue=3 | date=1989 | issn=0043-8243 | doi=10.1080/00438243.1989.9980082 | pages=422–433}}</ref> Yoon proposes that iron was first introduced to chiefdoms located along North Korean river valleys that flow into the Yellow Sea such as the Cheongcheon and Taedong Rivers.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Yoon | first=D. S. | title=Early iron metallurgy in Korea | journal=Archaeological Review from Cambridge | volume=8 | issue=1 | date=1989 | issn=0261-4332 | pages=92–99}}</ref> Iron production quickly followed during the 2nd century&nbsp;BC, and iron implements came to be used by farmers by the 1st century in southern Korea.<ref name="kim" /> The earliest known cast-iron axes in southern Korea are found in the [[Geum River]] river basin. The time that iron production begins is the same time that complex chiefdoms of [[Samhan|Proto-historic Korea]] emerged. The complex chiefdoms were the precursors of early states such as [[Silla]], [[Baekje]], [[Goguryeo]], and [[Gaya confederacy|Gaya]]<ref name="taylor" /><ref>{{cite book | last=Barnes | first=Gina Lee | title=State Formation in Korea: Historical and Archaeological Perspectives | publisher=Psychology Press | publication-place=Richmond, Surrey | date=2001 | isbn=0-7007-1323-9 }}</ref> Iron ingots were an important mortuary item and indicated the wealth or prestige of the deceased during this period.<ref>{{cite book |last=Lee |first=Sung-joo |year=1998 |title=Silla&nbsp;– Gaya Sahoe-eui Giwon-gwa Seongjang |trans-title=The Rise and Growth of Silla and Gaya Society |publisher=Hakyeon Munhwasa |location=Seoul |language=ko}}</ref>