Editing Iron Age (section)

===Beginning===
[[File:Krieger von Hirschlanden.jpg|thumb|Copy of The [[Warrior of Hirschlanden]] (German: ''Krieger von Hirschlanden''), a [[statue]] of a nude [[Phallic symbol|ithyphallic]] warrior made of [[sandstone]], the oldest known Iron Age life-size anthropomorphic statue north of the [[Alps]].]]

Although [[meteoric iron]] has been used for millennia in many regions, the beginning of the Iron Age is defined locally around the world by archaeological convention when the production of smelted [[iron]] (especially [[steel]] tools and weapons) replaces their [[bronze]] equivalents in common use.<ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Milisauskas |editor-first=Sarunas |title=European Prehistory: A Survey |year=2002 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-0306467936 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=roMxst3NKtwC&pg=PA335 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221123124135/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=roMxst3NKtwC&pg=PA335 |archive-date=23 November 2022}}</ref>

Modern archaeological evidence identifies the start of large-scale global iron production about 1200&nbsp;BC, marking the end of the [[Bronze Age]]. The Iron Age in Europe is often considered as a part of the [[Bronze Age collapse]] in the [[ancient Near East]].

[[Anthony Snodgrass]] suggests that a shortage of tin and trade disruptions in the Mediterranean about 1300&nbsp;BC forced [[Smith (metalwork)|metalworkers]] to seek an alternative to bronze.<ref>{{cite book |first=A.M. |last=Snodgrass |year=1966 |title=Arms and Armour of the Greeks |publisher=Thames & Hudson |location=London}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=A.M. |last=Snodgrass |year=1971 |title=The Dark Age of Greece |publisher=Edinburgh University Press|location=Edinburgh}}</ref> Many bronze implements were recycled into weapons during that time, and more widespread use of iron resulted in improved steel-making technology and lower costs. When tin became readily available again, iron was cheaper, stronger and lighter, and forged iron implements superseded cast bronze tools permanently.<ref>{{cite book |editor1=[[Theodore Wertime]] |editor2=J.D. Muhly |title=The Coming of the Age of Iron |publisher=New Haven |year=1979}}</ref>

In [[Hallstatt culture|Central]] and Western Europe, the Iron Age lasted from {{Circa|800 BC}} to {{Circa|1 BC}}, beginning in [[pre-Roman Iron Age]] Northern Europe in {{Circa|600 BC}}, and reaching [[Iron Age Scandinavia|Northern Scandinavian]] Europe about {{Circa|500 BC}}.

The Iron Age in the [[ancient Near East]] is considered to last from {{Circa|1200 BC}} (the [[Bronze Age collapse]]) to {{Circa|550 BC}} (or [[Battle of Opis|539 BC]]), roughly the beginning of [[historiography]] with [[Herodotus]], marking the end of the [[proto-historical]] period.

In [[History of China|China]], because writing was developed first, there is no recognizable prehistoric period characterized by ironworking, and the [[Bronze Age China]] transitions almost directly into the [[Qin dynasty]] of imperial China. [[Iron Age China|"Iron Age"]] in the context of China is used sometimes for the transitional period of {{Circa|900 BC}} to 100 BC during which ferrous metallurgy was present even if not dominant.

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 from: 0 till: 0 shift:(45,-4) text:[[Roman Empire]]

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 from:790 till:790 shift:(40,-4) text:[[Viking Age]]

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