Editing Iron Age (section)

===Europe===
{{main|Iron Age Europe}}

[[File: Aerial photograph of Maiden Castle, 1935.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|[[Maiden Castle, Dorset|Maiden Castle]], Dorset, England. More than 2,000 Iron Age [[Hillforts in Britain|hillforts]] are known in Britain.]]

In Europe, the Iron Age is the last stage of [[prehistoric Europe]] and the first of the [[protohistory|protohistoric]] periods, which initially means descriptions of a particular area by Greek and Roman writers. For much of Europe, the period came to an abrupt local end after conquest by the Romans, though ironworking remained the dominant technology until recent times. Elsewhere it may last until the early centuries AD, and either Christianization or a new conquest during the [[Migration Period]].

[[Ferrous metallurgy|Iron working]] was introduced to Europe during the late 11th century BC,<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last1=Riederer |first1=Josef |last2=Wartke |first2=Ralf-B. |title=Iron |editor1=Cancik, Hubert |editor2=Schneider, Helmuth |encyclopedia=[[Brill's New Pauly]] |publisher=Brill |year=2009}}</ref> probably from the [[Caucasus]], and slowly spread northwards and westwards over the succeeding 500 years. The Iron Age did not start when iron first appeared in Europe but it began to replace bronze in the preparation of tools and weapons.<ref>{{Britannica URL|topic/history-of-Europe/The-Iron-Age|title=History of Europe – The Iron Age}}</ref> It did not happen at the same time throughout Europe; local cultural developments played a role in the transition to the Iron Age. For example, the Iron Age of [[Prehistoric Ireland]] begins about 500 BC (when the Greek Iron Age had already ended) and finishes about 400 AD. The widespread use of the technology of iron was implemented in Europe simultaneously with Asia.<ref>{{cite book |first=John |last=Collis |title=The European Iron Age |year=1989}}</ref> The prehistoric Iron Age in Central Europe is divided into two periods based on the [[Hallstatt culture]] (early Iron Age) and [[La Tène culture|La Tène]] (late Iron Age) cultures.<ref>{{Britannica URL|topic/history-of-Europe/The-chronology-of-the-Metal-Ages#ref309570|title=History of Europe – The chronology of the Metal Ages}}</ref> Material cultures of Hallstatt and La Tène consist of 4 phases (A, B, C, D).<ref>{{Britannica URL|place/La-Tene#ref111430|title=La Tène {{!}} archaeological site, Switzerland}}</ref><ref>{{Britannica URL|place/Hallstatt-archaeological-site-Austria|title=Hallstatt {{!}} archaeological site, Austria}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Exploring The World of "The Celts"|publisher=Thames and Hudson |edition=1st paperback |year=2005|isbn=978-0-500-27998-4|page=21}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
!Culture
!Phase A
!Phase B
!Phase C
!Phase D
|-
!Hallstatt
|1200–700 BC<br>Flat graves
|1200–700 BC<br>Pottery made of polychrome
|700–600 BC<br>Heavy iron and bronze swords
|600–475 BC<br>Dagger swords, brooches, and ring ornaments, girdle mounts
|-
!La Tène
|450–390 BC<br>S-shaped, spiral and round designs
|390–300 BC<br>Iron swords, heavy knives, lanceheads
|300–100 BC<br>Iron chains, iron swords, belts, heavy spearheads
|100–15 BC<br>Iron reaping-hooks, saws, scythes and hammers
|}
[[File:Cogotas-II (dagas)-Segunda Edad del Hierro.jpg|thumb|upright|A sword of the Iron Age Cogotas II culture in Spain.]]
The Iron Age in Europe is characterized by an elaboration of designs of weapons, implements, and utensils.<ref name="EB1911"/> These are no longer cast but hammered into shape, and decoration is elaborate and curvilinear rather than simple rectilinear; the forms and character of the ornamentation of the northern European weapons resemble in some respects Roman arms, while in other respects they are peculiar and evidently representative of northern art.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ransone |first1=Rob |title=Genesis Too: A Rational Story of How All Things Began and the Main Events that Have Shaped Our World |date= 2019 |publisher=Dorrance Publishing |isbn=978-1-64426237-5 |page=45}}</ref>

[[Citânia de Briteiros]], located in [[Guimarães]], Portugal, is one of the examples of archaeological sites of the Iron Age. This settlement (fortified villages) covered an area of {{convert|3.8|hectare}}, and served as a Celtiberian stronghold against Roman invasions. İt dates more than 2500 years back. The site was researched by Francisco Martins Sarmento starting from 1874. A number of [[amphora]]s (containers usually for wine or olive oil), coins, fragments of pottery, weapons, pieces of jewelry, as well as ruins of a bath and its {{lang|la|pedra formosa}} ({{literal translation|lk=no|handsome stone}}) revealed here.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wceh2014.ecum.uminho.pt/images/editortexto/Cit%C3%A2nia%20de%20Briteiros_English.pdf|title=Citânia de Briteiros|author=Francisco Sande Lemos|translator=Andreia Cunha Silva|access-date=2021-02-19}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.csarmento.uminho.pt/docs/nephl/citania/citania_de_briteiros.pdf|title=Citânia de Briteiros|language=Portuguese|access-date=3 December 2018|archive-date=16 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180516161706/http://www.csarmento.uminho.pt/docs/nephl/citania/citania_de_briteiros.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>