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En [[arkeologiezh]], eo '''Oadvezh an houarn''' eo stad diorroadur forzh peseurt pobl ma veze implijet dreist-holl benvegoù hag armoù en [[houarn]]. Implij an danvez-se a glot gant cheñchamantoù arall e kevredigezhioù all en amzer dremenet, en o zouez doareoù disheñvel da labourat an douar, kredennoù relijiel ha gizioù arzel disheñvel, daoust ma ne veze ket gwir atav.
En [[istor]], oadvezheo Oadvezh an houarn eo an diwezhañ prantad pennañ e [[reizhiad an tri oadvezh]] a dalvez da rummata ar c'hevredigezhioù [[ragistor]]el. Dont a ra goude [[Oadvezh an arem]]. Kemm a ra deroù ha diwezh an oadvezh-se diouzh ar broioù pe ar rannvroioù.
== Deiziadoù ==
[[Skeudenn:Dun Carloway.jpg|thumb|222px|[[DunDùn CarlowayChàrlabhaigh]], [[Leòdhas]], [[Skos|Bro-Skos]]]]
[[Skeudenn:Ironageroof.jpg|thumb|222px|Toenn soul heñvel ouzh re Oadvezh an houarn, Butser Farm, [[Hampshire]], [[Rouantelezh-Unanet]]]]
Lakaat a reer Oadvezh an houarn da gregiñ en XII{{vet}} kantved kent J.-K. er [[Reter-Nesañ]] kozh, [[Persia]], [[HenindiaHenindez]] (gant ar sevenadurioù [[sevenadurioù vedek]]), ha [[Henc'hres]] (gant an amzervezh teñval gresian). E broioù all eus [[Europa]], e krogas kalz diwezhatoc'h. Komañs a reas Oadvezh an houarn en VIII{{vetVIIIvet kantved kt JK}} kantved e [[sevenadur Halstatt|kreiz Europa]] hag er VI{{vetVIvet kantved kt JK}} kent J.-K. e norzh Europa. Anadiñ a ra implij aanan houarn da deuziñ ha da c'hoveliañ benvegoù, e kornôg Afrika war-dro 12001 200 kent J.-K., ar pezh a ra anezhi unan eus ar c'hentañ lec'hioù ma tiwanas Oadvezh an houarn<ref>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.</ref><ref>[http://www.homestead.com/wysinger/ironage.html "How Old is the Iron Age in Sub-Saharan Africa?"], Roderick J. McIntosh, [[Archaeological Institute of America]] (1999)</ref><ref>[http://muse.jhu.edu/demo/history_in_africa/v032/32.1alpern.pdf ''Iron in Sub-Saharan Africa''], Stanley B. Alpern (2005)</ref>.
<!-- The Iron Age is divided into two subsections, Iron I and Iron II. Iron I (1200-1000) illustrates both continuity and discontinuity with the previous Late Bronze Age. There is no definitive cultural break between the thirteenth and twelfth century 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 second millennium.
Iron II (1000-550) witnessed the rise of the states of Judah and Israel in the tenth-ninth century. These small principalities exercise considerable control over their particular regions due in part to the decline of the great powers, Assyria and Egypt, from about 1200 to 900. Beginning in the eighth century and certainly in the seventh century, Assyria reestablishes its authority over the eastern Mediterranean area and exercises almost complete control. The northern state of Israel is obliterated in 722/721 by King Sargon and its inhabitants taken into exile. Judah, left alone, gradually accommodates to Assyrian control, but towards the end of the seventh century it does revolt as the Assyrian empire disintegrated. Judah's freedom was short-lived, however, and eventually snuffed out by the Chaldean kings who conquered Jerusalem and took some of the ruling class into exile to Babylon. During the period of exile in Babylon, the area, particularly from Jerusalem south, shows a mark decline. Other areas just north of Jerusalem are almost unaffected by the catastrophe that befell Judah. [http://www.bu.edu/anep/Ir.html]
The Iron Age is usually said to end in the [[Mediterranean]] with the onset of historical tradition during [[Hellenistic period|Hellenism]] and the [[Roman Empire]], in India with the onset of [[Buddhism]] and [[Jainism]], in [[China]] with the onset of [[Confucianism]], and in Northern Europe with the [[early Middle Ages]].
The arrival of iron use in various areas is discussed in more detail below, broadly in chronological order.
==Iron use in the Bronze Age==
By the [[Middle Bronze Age]], increasing numbers of smelted iron objects (distinguishable from meteoric iron by the lack of nickel in the product) appeared throughout [[Anatolia]], [[Mesopotamia]], the [[Indian subcontinent]], the Levant, the Mediterranean, and [[Egypt]]. In some places, their use appears to have been ceremonial, and during the Bronze Age iron was an expensive metal, more expensive than [[gold]].{{Fact|date=July 2007}} Some sources suggest that iron was being created in some places then as a by-product of [[copper]] refining, as [[sponge iron]], and was not reproducible by the metallurgy of the time.
The earliest systematic production and use of iron implements originates in Anatolia. West African production of iron began at around the same time, and seems to have been clearly an independent invention (see Stanley J. Alpern's work in ''History in Africa'', volume 2). Recent archaeological research at [[Ganges]] Valley, India showed early iron working by 1800 BC.<ref name=Tewari/> By 1200 BC, iron was widely used in the [[Middle East]] but did not supplant the dominant use of [[bronze]] for some time.
==Transition from bronze to iron==
Bronze was previously used to make tools because its melting point is lower than that of iron. The iron age began with the development of higher temperature smelting techniques. {{Fact|date=May 2008}}.
During the Iron Age, the best tools and weapons were made from [[steel]], an alloy consisting of iron with a [[carbon]] content between 0.02% and 1.7% by weight. Steel weapons and tools were nearly the same weight as those of bronze, but stronger. However, steel was difficult to produce with the methods available. Therefore, many Iron Age tools were fashioned of [[wrought iron]].<ref>[http://www.anselm.edu/homepage/dbanach/h-carnegie-steel.htm A Brief History of Iron and Steel Production] by Professor Joseph S. Spoerl (Saint Anselm College)</ref> Wrought iron is weaker than bronze, but because it was less expensive, and more easily sharpened, people used it anyway. Iron is by itself an adequately strong metal without additional alloys. Bronze, on the other hand, requires copper and [[tin]] which are less common than iron. Additionally, iron can be sharpened by grinding whereas bronze must be reforged.
Around 1800 BC, for reasons yet unknown to archaeologists, tin became scarce in the Levant, causing a decline in bronze production. Copper, also, came to be in short supply. As a result, pirate groups around the Mediterranean, from around 1800-1700 BC onward, began to attack fortified cities in search of bronze, to remelt into weaponry.
Bronze was much more abundant in the period before the 12th to 10th century and Snodgrass<ref>A.M.Snodgrass (1967), "Arms and Armour of the Greeks". (Thames & Hudson, London)</ref><ref>A. M. Snodgrass (1971), "The Dark Age of Greece" (Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh). </ref> suggests that a shortage of tin, as a result of the [[Bronze Age collapse|trade disruptions]] in the Mediterranean at this time, forced peoples to seek an alternative to bronze. That many bronze items were recycled and made from implements into weapons during this time, is evidence of this.
==Ancient Near East==
===Transition===
{{see|Bronze Age collapse}}
The Iron Age in the [[Ancient Near East]] is believed to have begun with the discovery of iron smelting and smithing techniques in [[Anatolia]] or the [[Caucasus (geographic region)|Caucasus]] in the late [[2nd millennium BC]] (circa [[1300 BC]]).<ref>Jane. C. Waldbaum (1978), "From Bronze to Iron. Vol. Studies in Mediterranean Archaeology" (LIV. Paul Astroms Forlag, Goteburg.)</ref>
The use of iron weapons instead of [[bronze weapons]] spread rapidly throughout the Near East by the beginning of the [[1st millennium BC]]. Anatolians had begun forging weapons out of iron, which was a superior metal to bronze by at 1500 BC at the latest.
The use of iron weapons by the [[Hittites]] was believed to have been a major factor in the rapid rise of the Hittite Empire.{{Fact|date=February 2007}} Because the area in which iron technology first developed was near the [[Aegean Sea|Aegean]], the technology expanded into into both Asia and Europe simultaneously,<ref>John Collis (1989), "The European Iron Age". (Reprint ed. B. T. Batsford, London.)</ref> aided by Hittite expansion. The [[Sea Peoples]] and the related [[Philistines]] are often associated with the introduction of iron technology into Asia, as are the [[Dorians]] with respect to [[Ancient Greece|Greece]].<ref>Leonard R. Palmer (1980), "Mycenaeans and Minoans: Aegean Prehistory in the Light of the Linear B Tablets"</ref>
'''Finds of Iron'''
''Early examples and distribution of non precious metal finds''.<ref>[http://www.wolftree.freeserve.co.uk/Phoenician/Early_Metalworking.html Alex Webb, "Metalworking in Ancient Greece"]</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! width="200" | Date
! width="12" | Crete
! width="12" | Aegean
! width="12" | Greece
! width="12" | Cyprus
! width="12" | Total
! width="12" | Anatolia
! width="12" | Grand total
|-
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
| 1300-1200 BC
|5
|2
|9
|0
|16
|33
|65
|-
| 1200-1100 BC
|1
|2
|8
|26
|37
|N.A.
|74
|-
| 1100-1000 BC
|13
|3
|31
|33
|80
|N.A.
|160
|-
| 1000-900 BC
|37
|30
|115
|29
|1.40
|N.A.
|211
|-
| '''Total Bronze Age'''
|5
|2
|9
|0
|16
|33
|65
|-
| '''Total Iron Age'''
|51
|35
|163
|88
|337
|N.A.
|511
|}
===Assyria===
{{main|Neo-Assyrian Empire}}
===Levant===
{{see|Neo-Hittite|Phoenicia|Kingdom of Israel}}
===Anatolia===
{{main|Iron Age Anatolia}}
{{see|Urartu|Phrygia|Lydia|Anatolian alphabets}}
===Aegean===
{{main|Late Helladic|Greek Dark Ages|Archaic period in Greece}}
===Egypt===
{{main|Third Intermediate Period}}
==Indian subcontinent==
Archaeological sites in India, such as [[Malhar]], Dadupur, Raja Nala Ka Tila and Lahuradewa in present day [[Uttar Pradesh]] show iron implements in the period between [[1800 BC]] - [[1200 BC]].<ref name=Tewari>[http://antiquity.ac.uk/projgall/tewari/tewari.pdf The origins of Iron Working in India: New evidence from the Central Ganga plain and the Eastern Vindhyas by Rakesh Tewari (Director, U.P. State Archaeological Department)]</ref> Some scholars believe that by the early [[13th century BC]], iron smelting was practiced on a bigger scale in India, suggesting that the date the technology's inception may be placed earlier.<ref name=Tewari/>
The beginning of the [[1st millennium BC]] saw extensive developments in iron metallurgy in [[India]]. Technological advancement and mastery of iron metallurgy was achieved during this period of peaceful settlements. An iron working centre in [[east India]] has been dated to the first millennium BC.<ref name=UCP>Early Antiquity By I. M. Drakonoff. Published 1991. [[University of Chicago Press]]. ISBN 0-226-14465-8. pg 372</ref>
In [[Southern India]] (present day [[Mysore]]) iron appeared as early as [[11th century BC|11th]] to [[12th century BC|12th centuries BC]]; these developments were too early for any significant close contact with the northwest of the country.<ref name=UCP/>
The Indian [[Upnishad]]s have mentions of weaving, pottery, and metallurgy.<ref>Upanisads By Patrick Olivelle. Published 1998. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-283576-9. pg xxix</ref>
The [[Mauryan]] period in India saw advancements in technology; this technological change involved metallurgy.<ref>The New Cambridge History of India By J. F. Richards, Gordon Johnson, Christopher Alan Bayly. Published 2005. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-36424-8. pg 64</ref>
Perhaps as early as [[300 BC]], although certainly by [[200|AD 200]], high quality steel was being produced in southern India also by what Europeans would later call the [[crucible steel|crucible technique]]. In this system, high-purity wrought iron, charcoal, and glass were mixed in crucible and heated until the iron melted and absorbed the carbon.<ref>Juleff, 1996</ref>
==East Asia==
===China===
{{main|Iron Age China}}
[[Image:Korea-Silla-Iron.armor-01.jpg|thumb|right|[[Silla]] chest and neck [[armour]] from [[National Museum of Korea]].]]
In 1972, near the city of [[Gaocheng]] (藁城) in [[Shijiazhuang]] (now [[Hebei]] province), an iron-bladed [[bronze]] [[Tomahawk (axe)|tomahawk]] (铁刃青铜钺) dating back to the [[14th century BC]] was excavated. After a scientific examination, the iron was shown to be made from [[aerosiderite]]. The Iron Age in East Asia began in earnest, however, when cast-iron objects appeared in [[Yangzi River|Yangzi Valley]] toward the end of the [[6th century BC]]<ref name="Higham">Higham, Charles. 1996. ''The Bronze Age of Southeast Asia''</ref>. The few objects were found at Changsha and Nanjing. According to the mortuary evidence suggests that the initial use of iron in Lingnan belongs to the mid to late [[Warring States]] period (from about 350 BC).
The techniques used in Lingnan is 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 tentatively been associated with the [[Zhang Zhung culture]] described in early Tibetan writings.
===Japan===
{{main|Yayoi period|Kofun period}}
The {{nihongo|'''Yayoi period'''|弥生時代|''Yayoi-jidai''}} is an era in the [[history of Japan]] from about [[500 BC]] to [[300|300 AD]].<ref name="keally">[http://www.t-net.ne.jp/~keally/preh.html Prehistoric Archaeological Periods in Japan], Charles T. Keally</ref> Distinguishing characteristics of the Yayoi period include the appearance of new pottery styles and the start of an intensive rice agriculture in paddy fields. The Yayoi followed the [[Jōmon]] period (14,000 BC to [[500 BC]]) and Yayoi culture flourished in a geographic area from southern [[Kyūshū]] to northern [[Honshū]].
The succeeding {{nihongo|'''Kofun period'''|古墳時代|''Kofun-jidai''}} lasts from around 250 to 538. The word ''kofun'' is Japanese for the type of [[tumulus|burial mound]]s dating from this era. The Kofun and the subsequent [[Asuka period]]s are sometimes referred to collectively as the [[Yamato period]].
===Korea===
{{main|Proto-Three Kingdoms of Korea}}
Iron objects were introduced to the [[Korean peninsula]] through trade with chiefdoms and state-level societies in the [[Yellow Sea]] area in the fourth century BC, just at the end of the Warring States Period but before the Western [[Han Dynasty]] began.<ref name="kim">Kim, Do-heon. 2002. Samhan Sigi Jujocheolbu-eui Yutong Yangsang-e Daehan Geomto [A Study of the Distribution Patterns of Cast Iron Axes in the Samhan Period]. ''Yongnam Kogohak'' [Yongnam Archaeological Review] 31:1-29.</ref><ref name="taylor">Taylor, Sarah. 1989. The Introduction and Development of Iron Production in Korea. ''World Archaeology'' 20(3):422-431.</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>Yoon, Dong-suk. 1989. Early Iron Metallurgy in Korea. ''Archaeological Review from Cambridge'' 8(1):92-99.</ref> Iron production quickly followed in the 2nd century BC, and iron implements came to be used by farmers by the 1st century AD in southern Korea.<ref name="kim" /> The earliest known cast-iron axes in southern Korea are found in the [[Geum River]] [[river basin|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]] <ref>Barnes, Gina L. 2001. ''State Formation in Korea: Historical and Archaeological Perspectives''. Curzon, London.</ref><ref name="taylor" /> Iron ingots were an important mortuary item and indicated the wealth or prestige of the deceased in this period.<ref>Lee, Sung-joo. 1998. ''Silla - Gaya Sahoe-eui Giwon-gwa Seongjang'' [The Rise and Growth of Silla and Gaya Society]. Hakyeon Munhwasa, Seoul.</ref>
==Europe==
Iron working was introduced to [[Europe]] around [[1000 BC]], probably from [[Asia Minor]] and slowly spread northwards and westwards over the succeeding 500 years.
===Eastern Europe===
The early 1st millennium BC marks the Iron Age in Eastern Europe. In the [[Pontic steppe]] and the [[Caucasus (geographic region)|Caucasus region]], the Iron Age begins with the [[Koban culture|Koban]] and the [[Novocherkassk culture|Chernogorovka and Novocherkassk]] cultures from ca. 900 BC. By 800 BC, it was spreading to [[Hallstatt culture|Hallstatt C]] via the alleged "[[Thraco-Cimmerian]]" migrations.
Along with Chernogorovka and Novocherkassk cultures, on the territory of ancient [[Russia]] and [[Ukraine]] the Iron Age is to a significant extent associated with [[Scythians]], who developed iron culture since the 7th century BC. The majority of remains of their iron producing and blacksmith's industries from 5th to 3rd century BC was found near [[Nikopol]] in [[Kamenskoe Gorodishche]], which is believed to be the specialized [[metallurgy|metallurgic]] region of the ancient [[Scythia]]. <ref>[[Great Soviet Encyclopedia]], 3rd edition, entry on "Железный век", available online [http://slovari.yandex.ru/art.xml?art=bse/00026/12300.htm here]</ref><ref>Christian, D. A History of Russia, Central Asia and Mongolia, [[Blackwell Publishing]], 1998, p. 141, available [http://books.google.com/books?id=YLQW5lUajgkC&vid=ISBN0631208143&dq=kamenskoe+scythian&q=kamenskoe online]</ref>
From the Hallstatt culture, the Iron Age spreads west with the [[Celt]]ic expansion from the 6th century BC. In Poland, the Iron Age reaches the late [[Lusatian culture]] in about the 6th century, followed in some areas by the [[Pomerania]]n culture.
The ethnic ascriptions of many Iron Age cultures has been bitterly contested, as the roots of [[Germanic peoples|Germanic]], [[Balts|Baltic]] and [[Slavs|Slavic]] peoples were sought in this area.
===Central Europe===
In Central Europe, the Iron Age is generally divided in the early Iron Age [[Hallstatt culture]] (HaC and D, [[800 BC|800]]-[[450 BC|450]]) and the late Iron Age [[La Tène culture]] (beginning in [[450 BC]]). The Iron Age ends with the Roman Conquest.
===Italy===
In Italy, the Iron Age was probably introduced by the [[Villanovan culture]] but this culture is otherwise considered a Bronze Age culture, while the following [[Etruscan civilization]] is regarded as part of Iron Age proper. The Etruscan Iron Age was then ended with the rise and conquest of the [[Roman Republic]], which conquered the last Etruscan city of [[Velzna]] in [[265 BC]].
===British Isles===
{{main|British Iron Age}}
In the [[British Isles]], the Iron Age lasted from about the [[5th century BC]] until the Roman conquest and until the [[5th century|5th century AD]] in non-Romanised parts. Defensive structures dating from this time are often impressive, for example the [[broch]]s of northern [[Scotland]] and the [[hill fort]]s that dotted the rest of the [[island]]s.
===Northern Europe===
The Iron Age is divided into the [[Pre-Roman Iron Age]] and the [[Roman Iron Age]]. This is followed by the [[migration period]]. Northern Germany and Denmark was dominated by the [[Jastorf culture]], whereas the culture of the southern half of the Scandinavia was dominated by the very similar ''Gregan Iron Age''.
Early Scandinavian iron production typically involved the harvesting of [[bog iron]]. Scandinavian peninsula, [[Finland]] and [[Estonia]] show sophisticated iron production very early, but further dating is currently impossible. The range varies from 3000 BP - 2000 BP. This knowledge is associated with the non-Germanic part of Scandinavia. Metalworking and [[Asbestos-Ceramic]] pottery are somewhat synonymous in [[Scandinavia]] due to the latter's capacity to resist and retain heat. The [[iron ore]] used is believed to have been [[iron sand]] (such as [[red soil]]), because its high phosphorus content can be identified in [[slag]]. They are sometimes found together with [[asbestos ware]] axes belonging to the [[Ananjino Culture]]. The Asbestos-Ceramic ware remains a mystery, because there are other [[adiabatic]] vessels with unknown usage.
==Sub-Saharan Africa==
{{seealso|Nok}}
Inhabitants at Termit, in eastern [[Niger]] became the first iron [[smelting]] people in [[West Africa]] and among the first in the world around 1500 BC.<ref>[http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=3432&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html Iron in Africa: Revisiting the History] - Unesco (2002)</ref> Iron and copper working then continued to spread southward through the continent, reaching the [[Cape of Good Hope|Cape]] around AD 200.<ref name="millermintz" /> The widespread use of iron revolutionized the [[Bantu languages|Bantu]]-speaking farming communities who adopted it, driving out and absorbing the rock tool using hunter-gatherer societies they encountered as they expanded to farm wider areas of [[savanna]]h. The technologically superior Bantu-speakers spread across southern Africa and became wealthy and powerful, producing iron for tools and weapons in large, industrial quantities.<ref name="millermintz"/> -->
== Notennoù ==
{{reflist}}
== Levrlennadur ==
* John Collis , The European Iron Age, Routledge (1997), ISBN 978-0-415-15139-9.
== Liammoù diavaez ==
* [http://resourcesforhistory.com Ul lec'hienn gouestlet da Oadvezh an houarn e Breizh-Veur] war resourcesforhistory.com
== Notennoù ==
{{Daveoù}}
[[Rummad:Oadvezh an houarn|Oadvezh an houarn]]
| 