Sharpen Your Tools for This Quiz on the Iron Age

The Hallstatt culture thrived in Central Europe during the late Bronze and early Iron Age. The earliest archaeological evidence of the first Celts dates to around 700 BCE, and is found near Salzburg, Austria. The Celts used the region’s rivers to build lucrative trade routes, expanding Celtic culture and helping to introduce the use of iron to western Europe.

The Chinese began producing cast iron in the eighth century BCE, nearly 2,000 years before it became common in Europe. It was initially used to produce weapons, which helped warring dynasties gain military supremacy. By the third century BCE, the use of cast iron had spread to farming implements, which played a significant role in China’s agricultural development.

Archaeologists have found evidence of prehistoric currencies, but the first true coinage systems date to the sixth or fifth century BCE and were developed by civilizations along the Aegean Sea. The first coins were made of gold and silver. Most were minted by the governments of Iron Age rulers and considered legal tender currency, primarily used to buy and sell goods.

Founded in modern-day Iran in the sixth century BCE, the Persian Empire (also known as the Achaemenid Empire) was one of the most influential Iron Age civilizations and was a hub of art and learning. Stretching from the Balkans to India, it was one of history’s largest empires, but internal divisions led to its decline and eventual collapse in 334 BCE following the invasion of Alexander the Great.

The crossbow was developed in China or Central Asia around 400 BCE and spread to Europe centuries later, revolutionizing warfare and military tactics. Stone Age civilizations in Mesopotamia gave birth to the first irrigation systems (6000 BCE), the pottery wheel (3500 BCE) and written language (3200 BCE).

New forms of living appeared during the Iron Age, including the development of hill forts. The advent of new, stronger weapons led to an increase in warfare during this era, and hill forts provided protection. They were surrounded by soil or wooden walls and ditches to keep out invaders, and often contained small wooden or mud houses with thatched roofs.

Hundreds of naturally preserved “bog bodies” — so called because they have been naturally preserved in peat bogs — have been found in Scandinavia, the United Kingdom, and elsewhere in northern Europe. These remains have given scientists and archaeologists a unique insight into Iron Age society and culture, including dietary habits, clothing, military traditions, and even religion (some were likely the victims of ritual sacrifices to the gods).

Archaeologists date the first Iron Age civilizations to the Mediterranean and the modern-day Middle East. As new civilizations grew, powerful Bronze Age empires in Greece and Turkey declined due to famine, invasions, and lack of trading, leading to an era known as the Greek Dark Ages. By the eighth century BCE the Iron Age had spread east to Asia and west to Europe, reaching northern Europe by the sixth century BCE.

Prehistoric peoples had been using primitive querns to grind grain for thousands of years, but the development of a new type of rotating quernstone in Britain around 400 BCE radically changed daily life. The device used two rotating stones to finely ground grain that was poured into a hole at the top of the first stone. It allowed Iron Age civilizations to produce grain much faster than before.

The Iron Age is the last of the three prehistoric ages of human history, following the Stone and Bronze Ages. The Iron Age began between 1200 and 600 BCE and saw a shift from the use of earlier metals such as bronze, tin, and copper to the use of iron for production of weapons and tools. The development of smelting iron to produce durable steel marked a massive technological step forward for human civilization.