I.

Introduction

Iron Age, the period in antiquity in which iron replaced bronze for tools and weapons. In Europe the term “Iron Age” denotes the period between the end of the Bronze Age (c. 700 bc) and the spread of the Roman Empire (27 bc-ad 68), that is, the last stage of European prehistory before the Romans brought literacy and imposed a radically new way of life. From that point of view, those areas of Europe which the legions never reached—such as Scandinavia, Central Germany, or remote parts of Britain—remained in the Iron Age throughout the Roman period. In China, the Iron Age began c. 600 bc, in sub-Saharan Africa c. 500-400 bc, and in southern Africa c. ad 200.