Iron Age, period in the development of industry that begins with the general use of iron and

continues into modern times. In Asia, Egypt, and Europe it was preceded by the Bronze Age. It did not
begin in the Americas until the coming of the Europeans. Iron beads were worn in Egypt as early as 4000
BC, but these were of meteoric iron, evidently shaped by the rubbing process used in shaping
implements of stone. The oldest known article of iron shaped by hammering is a dagger found in Egypt
that was made before 1350 BC. This dagger is believed not to have been made in Egypt but to be of
Hittite workmanship. The use of smelted iron ornaments and ceremonial weapons became common
during the period extending from 1900 to 1400 BC About this time, the invention of tempering (see
forging) was made by the Chalybes of the Hittite empire. It is possible that the Hittite kings kept
ironworking techniques secret and restricted export of iron weapons. After the downfall of the Hittite
empire in 1200 BC, the great waves of migrants spreading through S Europe and the Middle East insured
the rapid transmission of iron technology. In Europe knowledge of iron smelting was acquired in Greece
and the Balkans, and somewhat later in N Italy (see Etruscan civilization; Villanovan culture) and central
Europe. The Early Iron Age in central Europe, dating from c.800 BC to c.500 BC, is known as the Hallstatt
period. Celtic migrations, beginning in the 5th cent. BC, spread the use of iron into W Europe and to the
British Isles. The Late Iron Age in Europe, which is dated from this period, is called La Tène. The casting
of iron did not become technically useful until the Industrial Revolution. The people of the Iron Age
developed the basic economic innovations of the Bronze Age and laid the foundations for feudal
organization. They utilized the crops and domesticated animals introduced earlier from the Middle East.
Ox-drawn plows and wheeled vehicles acquired a new importance and changed the agricultural
patterns. For the first time humans were able to exploit efficiently the temperate forests. Villages were
fortified, warfare was conducted on horseback and in horse-drawn chariots, and alphabetic writing
based on the Phoenician script became widespread. Distinctive art styles in metal, pottery, and stone
characterized many Iron Age cultures.

Early Metal Age in the Philippines (c. 500 BC – c. 1 AD)

Although there is some evidence early Austronesian migrants having bronze or brass tools, the
earliest metal tools in the Philippines are generally said to have first been used somewhere
around 500 BC, and this new technology coincided with considerable changes in the lifestyle of
early Filipinos. The new tools brought about a more stable way of life, and created more
opportunities for communities to grow, both in terms of size and cultural development.

Where communities once consisted of small bands of kinsmen living in campsites, larger villages
came about- usually based near water, which made traveling and trading easier. The resulting
ease of contact between communities meant that they began to share similar cultural traits,
something which had not previously been possible when the communities consisted only of
small kinship groups.

Jocano refers to the period between 500 BC and 1 AD as the incipient phase, which for the first
time in the artifact record, sees the presence of artifacts that are similar in design from site to site
throughout the archipelago. Along with the use of metal tools, this era also saw significant
improvement in pottery technology

100 BC onwards
Iron age finds in Philippines also point to the existence of trade between Tamil Nadu and the
Philippine Islands during the ninth and tenth centuries B.C.[39] The Philippines is believed by
some historians to be the island of Chryse, the "Golden One," which is the name given by
ancient Greek writers in reference to an island rich in gold east of India. Pomponius Mela,
Marinos of Tyre and the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea mentioned this island in 100 BC, and it is
basically the equivalent to the Indian Suvarnadvipa, the "Island of Gold." Josephus calls it in
Latin Aurea, and equates the island with biblical Ophir, from where the ships of Tyre and
Solomon brought back gold and other trade items. The Visayan Islands, particularly Cebu had
earlier encounter with the Greek traders in 21 AD.[40]

Ptolemy locates the islands of Chryse east of the Khruses Kersonenson, the "Golden Peninsula,"
i.e. the Malaya Peninsula. North of Chryse in the Periplus was Thin, which some consider the
first European reference to China. In about the 200 BC, there arose a practice of using gold eye
covers, and then, gold facial orifice covers to adorn the dead resulting in an increase of ancient
gold finds. During the Qin dynasty and the Tang dynasty, China was well aware of the golden
lands far to the south. The Buddhist pilgrim I-Tsing mentions Chin-Chou, "Isle of Gold" in the
archipelago south of China on his way back from India. Medieval Muslims refer to the islands as
the Kingdoms of Zabag and Wāḳwāḳ, rich in gold, referring, perhaps, to the eastern islands of
the Malay archipelago, the location of present-day Philippines and Eastern Indonesia.

Introduction of metal
The introduction of metal into the Philippines and the resulting changes did not follow the
typical pattern. Robert Fox notes, "There is, for example, no real evidence of a "Bronze Age" or
"Copper-Bronze Age" in the archipelago, a development which occurred in many areas of the
world. The transition, as shown by recent excavation, was from stone tools to iron tools."[46]

The earliest use of metal in the Philippines was the use of copper for ornamentation, not tools.
Even when copper and bronze tools became common, they were often used side by side with
stone tools. Metal only became the dominant material for tools late in this era, leading to a new
phase in cultural development.

Bronze tools from the Philippines' early metal age have been encountered in various sites, but
they were not widespread. This has been attributed to the lack of a local source of tin, which
when combined with copper produces bronze. This lack has led most anthropologists to conclude
that bronze items were imported and that those bronze smelting sites which have been found in
the Philippines, in Palawan, were for re-smelting and remolding.

Introduction of iron
Iron age finds in Philippines also point to the existence of trade between Tamil Nadu and the
Philippine Islands during the ninth and tenth centuries B.C.[39] When iron was introduced to the
Philippines, it became the preferred material for tools and largely ended the use of stone tools.
Whether the iron was imported or mined locally is still debated by scholars. Beyer thought that it
was mined locally, but others point to the lack of iron smelting artifacts and conclude that the
iron tools were probably imported.[47]

Metalsmiths from this era had already developed a crude version of modern metallurgical
processes, notably the hardening of soft iron through carburization.