| # | Polity | Coded Value | Tags | Year(s) | Edit | Desc |
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First finds of iron weapons in northern India earlier than 1000 BCE and from at least 1000 BCE in Karnataka in south India where iron arrowheads, spears and swords have been found.
[1]
[1]: (Tewari 2010) Tewari, Rakesh. 2010. Updates on the Antiquity of Iron in South Asia. in Man and Environment. XXXV(2): 81-97. Indian Society for Prehistoric and Quaternary Studies. |
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First finds of iron weapons in northern India earlier than 1000 BCE and from at least 1000 BCE in Karnataka in south India where iron arrowheads, spears and swords have been found.
[1]
[1]: (Tewari 2010) Tewari, Rakesh. 2010. Updates on the Antiquity of Iron in South Asia. in Man and Environment. XXXV(2): 81-97. Indian Society for Prehistoric and Quaternary Studies. |
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First finds of iron weapons in northern India earlier than 1000 BCE and from at least 1000 BCE in Karnataka in south India where iron arrowheads, spears and swords have been found.
[1]
[1]: (Tewari 2010) Tewari, Rakesh. 2010. Updates on the Antiquity of Iron in South Asia. in Man and Environment. XXXV(2): 81-97. Indian Society for Prehistoric and Quaternary Studies. |
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"...iron metallurgy developed in Mongolia only from the middle of the first millennium B.C."
[1]
Iron began to be used in Central Asia around the early first millennium b.c.
[2]
In use in Heilongjiang since around 800 BC
[3]
[1]: Nicola Di Cosmo. 2002. Ancient China and Its Enemies: The Rise of Nomadic Power in East Asian History. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge, p. 70 [2]: Nicola Di Cosmo. 2002. Ancient China and Its Enemies: The Rise of Nomadic Power in East Asian History. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge, p. 39 [3]: Nicola Di Cosmo. 2002. Ancient China and Its Enemies: The Rise of Nomadic Power in East Asian History. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge, p. 65 |
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First finds of iron weapons in northern India earlier than 1000 BCE and from at least 1000 BCE in Karnataka in south India where iron arrowheads, spears and swords have been found.
[1]
[1]: (Tewari 2010) Tewari, Rakesh. 2010. Updates on the Antiquity of Iron in South Asia. in Man and Environment. XXXV(2): 81-97. Indian Society for Prehistoric and Quaternary Studies. |
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"...iron metallurgy developed in Mongolia only from the middle of the first millennium B.C."
[1]
Iron began to be used in Central Asia around the early first millennium b.c.
[2]
In use in Heilongjiang since around 800 BC
[3]
[1]: Nicola Di Cosmo. 2002. Ancient China and Its Enemies: The Rise of Nomadic Power in East Asian History. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge, p. 70 [2]: Nicola Di Cosmo. 2002. Ancient China and Its Enemies: The Rise of Nomadic Power in East Asian History. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge, p. 39 [3]: Nicola Di Cosmo. 2002. Ancient China and Its Enemies: The Rise of Nomadic Power in East Asian History. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge, p. 65 |
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Island South East Asia: ’Bronze and iron metallurgy appear to have arrived together, perhaps after 300 BC’.
[1]
[1]: (Bellwood 2004, 36) Bellwood, Peter. The origins and dispersals of agricultural communities in Southeast Asia. Glover, Ian. Bellwood, Peter. eds. 2004. Southeast Asia: From Prehistory to History. RoutledgeCurzon. London. |
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Island South East Asia: ’Bronze and iron metallurgy appear to have arrived together, perhaps after 300 BC’.
[1]
[1]: (Bellwood 2004, 36) Bellwood, Peter. The origins and dispersals of agricultural communities in Southeast Asia. Glover, Ian. Bellwood, Peter. eds. 2004. Southeast Asia: From Prehistory to History. RoutledgeCurzon. London. |
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Metals acquired through trade gradually displaced wooden and stone tools: "The tomahawk succeeded the war-club, as the rifle did the bow. With the invention of this terrible implement of warfare the red man had nothing to do, except in having it so fashioned as to be adapted to his taste and usage. The tomahawk is known as widely as the Indian, and the two names have become apparently inseparable. They are made of steel, brass, or iron."
[1]
There were considerable time-lags when it comes to the adoption of metal weapons among different indigenous groups of the North-East: "The Northeast was crisscrossed by an extensive series of trade routes that consisted of rivers and short portages. The Huron used these routes to travel to the Cree and Innu peoples, while the Iroquois used them to travel to the Iroquoians on the Atlantic coast. The French claimed the more northerly area and built a series of trade entrepôts at and near Huron communities, whose residents recognized the material advantages of French goods as well as the fortifications’ defensive capabilities. The Huron alliance quickly became the gatekeeper of trade with the Subarctic, profiting handsomely in this role. Its people rapidly adopted new kinds of material culture, particularly iron axes, as these were immensely more effective in shattering indigenous wooden armour than were traditional stone tomahawks."
[2]
"For a period of time the new weapons enabled the Huron confederacy to gain the upper hand against the Iroquois, who did not gain access to European goods as quickly as their foes. By about 1615 the long traditions of interethnic conflict between the two alliances had become inflamed, and each bloc formally joined with a member of another traditional rivalry-the French or the English. Initially the Huron-French alliance held the upper hand, in no small part because the French trading system was in place several years before those of the Dutch and English. The indigenous coalitions became more evenly matched after 1620, however, as the Dutch and English trading system expanded. These Europeans began to make guns available for trade, something the French had preferred not to do. The Huron found that the technological advantage provided by iron axes was emphatically surpassed by that of the new firearms."
[2]
We have adopted 1620 as a provisional date of transition.
[1]: Morgan & Lloyd 1901, 15 [2]: http://www.britannica.com/topic/Native-American/Native-American-history#ref968222 |
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Metals acquired through trade gradually displaced wooden and stone tools: "The tomahawk succeeded the war-club, as the rifle did the bow. With the invention of this terrible implement of warfare the red man had nothing to do, except in having it so fashioned as to be adapted to his taste and usage. The tomahawk is known as widely as the Indian, and the two names have become apparently inseparable. They are made of steel, brass, or iron."
[1]
There were considerable time-lags when it comes to the adoption of metal weapons among different indigenous groups of the North-East: "The Northeast was crisscrossed by an extensive series of trade routes that consisted of rivers and short portages. The Huron used these routes to travel to the Cree and Innu peoples, while the Iroquois used them to travel to the Iroquoians on the Atlantic coast. The French claimed the more northerly area and built a series of trade entrepôts at and near Huron communities, whose residents recognized the material advantages of French goods as well as the fortifications’ defensive capabilities. The Huron alliance quickly became the gatekeeper of trade with the Subarctic, profiting handsomely in this role. Its people rapidly adopted new kinds of material culture, particularly iron axes, as these were immensely more effective in shattering indigenous wooden armour than were traditional stone tomahawks."
[2]
"For a period of time the new weapons enabled the Huron confederacy to gain the upper hand against the Iroquois, who did not gain access to European goods as quickly as their foes. By about 1615 the long traditions of interethnic conflict between the two alliances had become inflamed, and each bloc formally joined with a member of another traditional rivalry-the French or the English. Initially the Huron-French alliance held the upper hand, in no small part because the French trading system was in place several years before those of the Dutch and English. The indigenous coalitions became more evenly matched after 1620, however, as the Dutch and English trading system expanded. These Europeans began to make guns available for trade, something the French had preferred not to do. The Huron found that the technological advantage provided by iron axes was emphatically surpassed by that of the new firearms."
[2]
We have adopted 1620 as a provisional date of transition.
[1]: Morgan & Lloyd 1901, 15 [2]: http://www.britannica.com/topic/Native-American/Native-American-history#ref968222 |
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Confirmed for the Parthians.
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Iron not discovered at this time.
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Iron not discovered at this time.
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Not discovered at this time.
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Iron not discovered at this time.
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As far as I know, there was no iron in indigenous South America (bronze was used, and most weapons were of stone)
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not used during this time period
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not in use during this time period
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not in use during this time
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not used in this time period
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Meteoritic Iron, present, not used in military capacity.
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not in use at this time period
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Chronologically before the Iron Age
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[1]
Island South East Asia: ’Bronze and iron metallurgy appear to have arrived together, perhaps after 300 BC’.
[2]
[1]: (Charney 2004, 16) [2]: (Bellwood 2004, 36) Bellwood, Peter. The origins and dispersals of agricultural communities in Southeast Asia. Glover, Ian. Bellwood, Peter. eds. 2004. Southeast Asia: From Prehistory to History. RoutledgeCurzon. London. |
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Coded as present in preceding polities
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Sources only mention copper.
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Sources only mention copper.
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Indian iron smiths invented the ’wootz’ method of steel creation between 550-450 BCE. The Greek physician Ctesias of Cnidus commented on an Indian steel sword in the possession of Artaxerxes II of Persia (c400 BCE).
[1]
[1]: (Singh 1997, 102) Sarva Daman Singh. 1997. Ancient Indian Warfare: With Special Reference to the Vedic Period. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. Delhi. |
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Present in previous and subsequent polities.
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Iron was not used during this period, especially for production of armor.
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Technology not found in archaeological evidence until much later
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Technology not found in archaeological evidence until much later
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Technology not found in archaeological evidence until much later
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Technology not found in archaeological evidence until much later
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Technology not found in archaeological evidence until much later
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Technology not found in archaeological evidence until much later
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Technology not found in archaeological evidence until much later
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Technology not found in archaeological evidence until much later
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Technology not found in archaeological evidence until much later
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Required for steel and must have been in use previously for weapons
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Iron Age from 600 BCE in West Africa (e.g. Benue valley in Nigeria and upper Niger River) "the development and spread of the basic technologies of metal production and the forging and smithing of metal tools, notably in iron."
[1]
"Iron-headed hoes, probably invented some time after iron-pointed spears."
[2]
"Iron also brought, from about 600 BC onwards, a new source of military power."
[3]
[1]: (Davidson 1998, 8) Davidson, Basil. 1998. West Africa Before the Colonial Era. Routledge. London. [2]: (Davidson 1998, 12) Davidson, Basil. 1998. West Africa Before the Colonial Era. Routledge. London. [3]: (Davidson 1998, 13) Davidson, Basil. 1998. West Africa Before the Colonial Era. Routledge. London. |
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Metalworking was not widely used in Mesoamerica, with metal products consisting mainly of small beads and ornaments.
[1]
[2]
[1]: Coe, M. D., Koontz, R. (2013) Mexico: From the Olmecs to the Aztecs (7th ed.) Thames and Hudson, London, p157 [2]: Kowalewski, S. A., Feinman, G. M., Finten, L., Blanton, R. E., Nicholas, L. M. (1989) Monte Albán’s Hinterland, Part II: Prehispanic settlement patterns in Tlacolula, Etla, and Ocotlan, The Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico, Volume II. Memoirs of the Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Number 23. Ann Arbor. |
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"Metals were another story. Throughout all these times [before 500 BCE], and even much later, they were essentially unused in Mesoamerica. Teotihuacan’s predecessors [...] and Teotihuacan itself used only stone tools".
[1]
[1]: (Cowgill 2015: 40) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/JRFZPUXU. |
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Tula has yielded no metal of any kind, neither copper nor gold.
[1]
[1]: (Coe 1994: 142) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/5DJ2S5IF. |
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There was no steel/iron before the arrival of the Spanish.
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There was no steel/iron before the arrival of the Spanish.
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There was no steel/iron before the arrival of the Spanish.
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there was no steel/iron before the arrival of the Spanish.
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There was no steel/iron before the arrival of the Spanish.
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Technology not found in archaeological evidence until much later
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Not yet the Iron Age
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Technology not found in archaeological evidence until much later
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"Ghur had long been renowned for its metal deposits and its manufacture of weapons and coats of mail".
[1]
"According to Togan, the entire mountain region from Ghur and Kabul to the land of the Karluk was metal-working. It exported armour, weapons and war equipment to neighbouring areas."
[2]
[1]: (Jackson 2003, 15-16) Peter Jackson. 2003. The Delhi Sultanate: A Political and Military History. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. [2]: (Nizami 1999, 178) K A Nizami. The Ghurids. M S Asimov. C E Bosworth. eds. 1999. History of Civilizations of Central Asia. Volume IV. Part One. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Private Limited. Delhi. |
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Several millions of these other peoples still live in the southern provinces of China. They are the Tai, the Lo-lo, and the Hmong. Like the Chinese peasants of southern China, all of these people are Iron-Age agriculturalists, growing rice and other grains, keeping a few pigs and cattle, living in villages of a few hundred persons, and trading their surplus agricultural products and handicraft products in the market towns for cutting tools and other manufactured objects.
[1]
[And also see presence of handheld firearms and swords below, presumably made of iron.]
[1]: Mickey, Margaret Portia 1947. “Cowrie Shell Miao Of Kweichow”, viia |
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Mickey states that the Hmong used iron tools: ’Several millions of these other peoples still live in the southern provinces of China. They are the Tai, the Lo-lo, and the Miao. Like the Chinese peasants of southern China, all of these people are Iron-Age agriculturalists, growing rice and other grains, keeping a few pigs and cattle, living in villages of a few hundred persons, and trading their surplus agricultural products and handicraft products in the market towns for cutting tools and other manufactured objects.’
[1]
See below for material on swords and firearms. We need to ascertain when the Hmong started to acquire firearms.
[1]: Mickey, Margaret Portia 1947. “Cowrie Shell Miao Of Kweichow”, viia |
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Technology not found in archaeological evidence until much later
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Technology not found in archaeological evidence until much later
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Technology not found in archaeological evidence until much later
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Bone and stone tools; ceramics.
[1]
[1]: (Liu and Chen 2012: 142: 146: 148) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/DE5TU7HY. |
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Iron introduced from Central Asia in roughly 500 bce. Mainly used in agricultural tools, but adapted to swords and other military pieces in Chu and then the other kingdoms by the later 4th c bce; unclear if was present in the period being coded here, or only became prevalent in the proceeding period (imperial Qin)
[1]
[2]
Helmets "sometimes made of iron".
[3]
[1]: (Tin-bor Hui 2005, 96) [2]: (Lewis 1999b, 624) [3]: (Ebrey and Walthall 2013, 23) Ebrey, Patricia. Walthall, Anne. 2013. Pre-Modern East Asia: A Cultural, Social, and Political History, Volume I: To 1800. Cengage Learning. |
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No iron in indigenous South America (bronze was used, and most weapons were of stone).
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Some ethnographers and travelers report the use of iron and steel tools for the Ecuadorian period: ’Spears with iron points were generally in use when I visited the Indians. The point (see Figure 7) has a socket at the bottom. The shaft is fastened into the socket with the help of resin. The spear or lance has a length of 2 1/2 - 3 1/2 meters. They are said to obtain the iron points by way of barter from the Indians along the upper Senepa. The points are said to come from Ecuador. The spear with the iron point is called nánki by the Indians. Formerly spears were used shaped out of the wood of the chonta palm, and they still occur in isolated instances. The shape of their point is the same as the iron one, but its cross-section shows a somewhat concave outline. Shaft and point are made out of one piece. These chonta lances are called angös.’
[1]
“Their arms are the spear of chouta, sometimes furnished with an iron head, and ‘bodoquera,’ or blow-gun, for smaller game and birds. Some use shields.”
[2]
It remains to be confirmed when the Shuar started to acquire iron and steel tools. We have provisionally assumed this to coincide with the onset of the Ecuadorian period. This remains in need of confirmation.
[1]: Brüning, Hans H. 1928. “Travelling In The Aguaruna Region”, 71 [2]: Simson, Alfred. 1880. “Notes On The Jivaros And Canelos Indians.”, 387 |
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Spears with iron points were generally in use when I visited the Indians. The point (see Figure 7) has a socket at the bottom. The shaft is fastened into the socket with the help of resin. The spear or lance has a length of 2 1/2 - 3 1/2 meters. They are said to obtain the iron points by way of barter from the Indians along the upper Senepa. The points are said to come from Ecuador. The spear with the iron point is called nánki by the Indians. Formerly spears were used shaped out of the wood of the chonta palm, and they still occur in isolated instances. The shape of their point is the same as the iron one, but its cross-section shows a somewhat concave outline. Shaft and point are made out of one piece. These chonta lances are called angös.
[1]
“Their arms are the spear of chouta, sometimes furnished with an iron head, and ‘bodoquera,’ or blow-gun, for smaller game and birds. Some use shields.”
[2]
[1]: Brüning, Hans H. 1928. “Travelling In The Aguaruna Region”, 71 [2]: Simson, Alfred. 1880. “Notes On The Jivaros And Canelos Indians.”, 387 |
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not in use during this time period
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Meteoritic Iron, present, not used in military capacity.
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Meteoritic Iron, present, not used in military capacity.
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"iron armor and weapons of a non-Egyptian type found in Egypt attest the work of Greek blacksmiths specialized in making and fixing weapons in the military settlements of Daphnae and Migdol.
[1]
Even by the time the Achaemenid Empire conquered Egypt in 525 BCE, Egyptian relied on copper-alloy weapons.
[2]
However, the first iron weapons may well have been used much earlier and by foreign mercenaries during the Saite Period.
[1]: (Fischer-Bovet 2014, 20-21) [2]: (Ogden 2000, 168) Jack Ogden. Metals. Paul T Nicholson. Ian Shaw. eds. 2000. Ancient Egyptian Materials and Technology. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. |
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Examples: iron gunpowder flask
[1]
, iron kettle hats
[2]
[1]: (López 2012, 90) López, Ignacio J.N. 2012. The Spanish Tercios 1536-1704. Osprey Publishing. https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/4EWFWHCQ [2]: (López 2012, 106) López, Ignacio J.N. 2012. The Spanish Tercios 1536-1704. Osprey Publishing. https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/4EWFWHCQ |
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Indian iron smiths invented the ’wootz’ method of steel creation between 550-450 BCE. The Greek physician Ctesias of Cnidus commented on an Indian steel sword in the possession of Artaxerxes II of Persia (c400 BCE).
[1]
[1]: (Singh 1997, 102) Sarva Daman Singh. 1997. Ancient Indian Warfare: With Special Reference to the Vedic Period. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. Delhi. |
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In the 1st century CE Zoskales was importing iron and steel from northwest India.
[1]
Use of iron tools "became far more widespread than in the first millennium before our era".
[2]
Spears of imported iron.
[3]
[1]: (Hatke 2013) George Hatke. 2013. Aksum and Nubia: Warfare, Commerce, and Political Fictions in Ancient Northeast Africa (Institute for the Study of the Ancient World). New York University Press. [2]: (Kobishanov 1981, 383) Y M. Kobishanov. Aksum: political system, economics and culture, first to fourth century. Muḥammad Jamal al-Din Mokhtar. ed. 1981. UNESCO General History of Africa. Volume II. Heinemann. UNESCO. California. [3]: (Kobishanov 1981, 389) Y M. Kobishanov. Aksum: political system, economics and culture, first to fourth century. Muḥammad Jamal al-Din Mokhtar. ed. 1981. UNESCO General History of Africa. Volume II. Heinemann. UNESCO. California. |
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LeBar claims early evidence for the use of iron and steel tools acquired through trade with other islands: ’It appears that during this early period, and for some time thereafter, the Trukese were in contact with Guam and other islands in the Marianas due to the fact that atoll islanders to the west of Truk regularly voyaged to Guam and back, taking with them items for trade in return for which they brought back iron and steel implements. The Trukese were thus in possession of iron tools at a very early date.’
[1]
However, it isn’t clear if this metal was used in warfare.
[1]: LeBar, Frank M. {nd}-/. “Material Culture Of Truk", 19 |
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LeBar claims early evidence for the use of iron and steel tools acquired through trade with other islands: ’It appears that during this early period, and for some time thereafter, the Trukese were in contact with Guam and other islands in the Marianas due to the fact that atoll islanders to the west of Truk regularly voyaged to Guam and back, taking with them items for trade in return for which they brought back iron and steel implements. The Trukese were thus in possession of iron tools at a very early date.’
[1]
However, it isn’t clear if this metal was used in warfare.
[1]: LeBar, Frank M. {nd}-/. “Material Culture Of Truk", 19 |
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c1250-1330 CE: "development of weapons capable of piercing mail: the gradual introduction of pieces of plate (at first of whalebone, horn, and boiled leather, as well as of the iron and steel that ultimately prevailed) to cover an ever larger part of the mail). By 1330, every part of the body of a knight was normally protected by one or several plates... By 1410, the various pieces of plate, including a breastplate and backplate instead of the earlier coat of plates, were all connected by straps and rivets in an articulated suit, or ’harness,’ of polished steel."
[1]
[1]: (Boulton 1995 67-68) Jonathan D Boulton. Armor And Weapons. William W Kibler. Grover A Zinn. Lawrence Earp. John Bell Henneman Jr. 1995. Routledge Revivals: Medieval France (1995): An Encyclopedia. Routledge. Abingdon. |
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c1250-1330 CE: "development of weapons capable of piercing mail: the gradual introduction of pieces of plate (at first of whalebone, horn, and boiled leather, as well as of the iron and steel that ultimately prevailed) to cover an ever larger part of the mail). By 1330, every part of the body of a knight was normally protected by one or several plates... By 1410, the various pieces of plate, including a breastplate and backplate instead of the earlier coat of plates, were all connected by straps and rivets in an articulated suit, or ’harness,’ of polished steel."
[1]
[1]: (Boulton 1995 67-68) Jonathan D Boulton. Armor And Weapons. William W Kibler. Grover A Zinn. Lawrence Earp. John Bell Henneman Jr. 1995. Routledge Revivals: Medieval France (1995): An Encyclopedia. Routledge. Abingdon. |
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Diodorus Siculus mentions iron breastplates.
[1]
"In the Halstatt and early La Tene periods, helmets were made of bronze. Iron helmets first appeared in the 4th century BC and gradually replaced the softer alloy, possibly in response to the development of the long slashing sword."
[2]
[1]: (Allen 2007, 115) [2]: (Allen 2007, 119) |
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Diodorus Siculus mentions iron breastplates.
[1]
"In the Halstatt and early La Tene periods, helmets were made of bronze. Iron helmets first appeared in the 4th century BC and gradually replaced the softer alloy, possibly in response to the development of the long slashing sword."
[2]
[1]: (Allen 2007, 115) [2]: (Allen 2007, 119) |
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Europeans traded brass and iron for gold and ivory: "Undaunted by the prohibition of the King of England, these gallant adventurers embarked, and pressing forward, reached Cape Verde on the 5th March, 1482. Bearing up to Rio de Festos on the 8th April, the French ships, at sight of them, fled. At the river St. Andras two big Portuguese warships fired at them, but by superior and skilful seamanship they cleverly slipped between them and Cape Three Points (Atinkin). They eventually defeated the Portuguese near Cape Coast Castle (Ogua), “to the no small joy of the negroes, as well as the security of themselves.” They were then invited to Mowre, the best trading town. Here for their pewter, brass, and iron they carried away two hundred and sixty-seven elephants’ teeth, weighing two thousand seven hundred and fifty-eight pounds, and a very large quantity of gold dust and nuggets; and so profitable was the venture, that, after paying half their profits to the duke their patron, they were able within three years to buy their traffic with Portugal and their peace with England, besides putting up an hundred thousand pounds apiece in their purses.W
[1]
Akan fighters also used weaponry made from iron: ’“We having stayed there a good space, and seeing that they would not come to us, thrust our boats head ashore, being both well appointed; and then the captain of the town came down, being a grave man. And he came with his dart in his hand, and six call-men after him, every one with his dart and his target; and their darts were all of iron, fair and sharp. And there came another after them which carried the captain’s stool: we saluted him, and put off our caps, and bowed ourselves, and he, like one that thought well of himself, did not move his cap, nor scant bow his body, and sat him down very solemnly on his stool; but all his men put off their caps to us, and bowed down themselves.’
[2]
[1]: Sarbah, John Mensah 1968. “Fanti National Constitution: A Short Treatise On The Constitution And Government Of The Fanti, Asanti, And Other Akan Tribes Of West Africa Together With A Brief Account Of The Discovery Of The Gold Coast By Portuguese Navigators, A Short Narration Of Early English Voyages, And A Study Of The Rise Of British Gold Coast Jurisdiction, Etc., Etc.”, 63 [2]: Sarbah, John Mensah 1968. “Fanti National Constitution: A Short Treatise On The Constitution And Government Of The Fanti, Asanti, And Other Akan Tribes Of West Africa Together With A Brief Account Of The Discovery Of The Gold Coast By Portuguese Navigators, A Short Narration Of Early English Voyages, And A Study Of The Rise Of British Gold Coast Jurisdiction, Etc., Etc.”, 66 |
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’But the basis of Asante expansion seems to have lain in cultivation, and from about the sixteenth century it is probable that cultivation became more productive than before. Several factors were responsible: iron now became available in quantity by sea from Europe. (Possibly local production had been increasing steadily.) [...] Thirdly, imported firearms may have made hunting more productive, at least for an initial period, and perhaps also helped keep down animals which preyed on new crops.’
[1]
’Shields clearly became used less often in battle as spears and bows and arrows were increasingly replaced by imported firearms.’
[2]
[1]: McLeod, M. D. (Malcolm D.) 1981. “Asante”, 15 [2]: McLeod, M. D. (Malcolm D.) 1981. “Asante”, 103p |
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|
In the colonial period, the Iban manufactured their own iron weaponry: "The Uma Bawangs are famous for their parangs , which they make out of their own iron ore."
[1]
"Iron being necessary in the formation of their weapons of war, they have studied, and brought to greater perfection its workmanship than others of the mechanical arts... The ‘parangs,’ or chopping-knives, and ‘pedangs,’ or swords, of which there are several denominations, spear-heads and fish spears, are the principal articles of their manufacture."
[2]
We have assumed that this was true prior to colonial rule as well.
[1]: Low & Ling Roth 1893, 53 [2]: Low 1848, 209 |
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|
The Uma Bawangs are famous for their parangs , which they make out of their own iron ore.
[1]
Iron being necessary in the formation of their weapons of war, they have studied, and brought to greater perfection its workmanship than others of the mechanical arts... The ‘parangs,’ or chopping-knives, and ‘pedangs,’ or swords, of which there are several denominations, spear-heads and fish spears, are the principal articles of their manufacture.
[2]
[1]: Low & Ling Roth 1893, 53 [2]: Low 1848, 209 |
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|
“Iron tools, best evidenced in Southern Vietnam, West Malaysia, and Java, were attached to handles (presumably wooden) via tangs, sockets, or shaft holes."
[1]
Island South East Asia: ’Bronze and iron metallurgy appear to have arrived together, perhaps after 300 BC’.
[2]
[1]: (Bulbeck in Peregrine and Ember 2000, 86) [2]: (Bellwood 2004, 36) Bellwood, Peter. The origins and dispersals of agricultural communities in Southeast Asia. Glover, Ian. Bellwood, Peter. eds. 2004. Southeast Asia: From Prehistory to History. RoutledgeCurzon. London. |
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|
“Iron tools, best evidenced in Southern Vietnam, West Malaysia, and Java, were attached to handles (presum- ably wooden) via tangs, sockets, or shaft holes."
[1]
Island South East Asia: ’Bronze and iron metallurgy appear to have arrived together, perhaps after 300 BC’.
[2]
[1]: (Bulbeck in Peregrine and Ember 2000, 86) [2]: (Bellwood 2004, 36) Bellwood, Peter. The origins and dispersals of agricultural communities in Southeast Asia. Glover, Ian. Bellwood, Peter. eds. 2004. Southeast Asia: From Prehistory to History. RoutledgeCurzon. London. |
||||||
|
Island South East Asia: ’Bronze and iron metallurgy appear to have arrived together, perhaps after 300 BC’.
[1]
[1]: (Bellwood 2004, 36) Bellwood, Peter. The origins and dispersals of agricultural communities in Southeast Asia. Glover, Ian. Bellwood, Peter. eds. 2004. Southeast Asia: From Prehistory to History. RoutledgeCurzon. London. |
||||||
|
“Iron tools, best evidenced in Southern Vietnam, West Malaysia, and Java, were attached to handles (presum- ably wooden) via tangs, sockets, or shaft holes."
[1]
Island South East Asia: ’Bronze and iron metallurgy appear to have arrived together, perhaps after 300 BC’.
[2]
[1]: (Bulbeck in Peregrine and Ember 2000, 86) [2]: (Bellwood 2004, 36) Bellwood, Peter. The origins and dispersals of agricultural communities in Southeast Asia. Glover, Ian. Bellwood, Peter. eds. 2004. Southeast Asia: From Prehistory to History. RoutledgeCurzon. London. |
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|
In the Levant, in Israel iron replaced bronze for utilitarian objects by 900 BCE
[1]
and data from this time shows both bronze and iron weapons were being used.
[2]
[1]: (McNutt 1999, 163) Paula M McNutt. 1999. Reconstructing the Society of Ancient Israel. Westminister John Knox Press. Louisville. [2]: (Gabriel 2003, 117) Gabriel, Richard. 2003. The Military History of Ancient Israel. Westport: Praeger Publishers |
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Indian iron smiths invented the ’wootz’ method of steel creation between 550-450 BCE. The Greek physician Ctesias of Cnidus commented on an Indian steel sword in the possession of Artaxerxes II of Persia (c400 BCE).
[1]
[1]: (Singh 1997: 102) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/ZU99575D. |
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|
Metal armour was used for both warriors and horses
[1]
. Type of metal not specified. Indian iron smiths invented the ’wootz’ method of steel creation between 550-450 BCE. The Greek physician Ctesias of Cnidus commented on an Indian steel sword in the possession of Artaxerxes II of Persia (c400 BCE).
[2]
[1]: D.P. Dikshit, Political History of the Chalukyas (1980), p. 266 [2]: (Singh 1997, 102) Sarva Daman Singh. 1997. Ancient Indian Warfare: With Special Reference to the Vedic Period. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. Delhi. |
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|
Ancient Indians used iron for armour cuirasses and breastplates but copper was also used.
[1]
Indian iron smiths invented the ’wootz’ method of steel creation between 550-450 BCE. The Greek physician Ctesias of Cnidus commented on an Indian steel sword in the possession of Artaxerxes II of Persia (c400 BCE).
[2]
First finds of iron weapons in northern India earlier than 1000 BCE and from at least 1000 BCE in Karnataka in south India where iron arrowheads, spears and swords have been found.
[3]
[1]: (Singh 1997) Sarva Daman Singh. 1997. Ancient Indian Warfare: With Special Reference to the Vedic Period. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. Delhi. [2]: (Singh 1997, 102) Sarva Daman Singh. 1997. Ancient Indian Warfare: With Special Reference to the Vedic Period. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. Delhi. [3]: (Tewari 2010) Tewari, Rakesh. 2010. Updates on the Antiquity of Iron in South Asia. in Man and Environment. XXXV(2): 81-97. Indian Society for Prehistoric and Quaternary Studies. |
||||||
|
First finds of iron weapons in northern India earlier than 1000 BCE and from at least 1000 BCE in Karnataka in south India where iron arrowheads, spears and swords have been found.
[1]
Ancient Indians used iron for armour cuirasses and breastplates but copper was also used.
[2]
Likely referring to time following the Macedonian invasion but it can be implied from Gabriel (2002) that metal armour was present, at low level (elite) useage for sometime before then: A military historian states that metal armour was not widely used before the Macedonian invasion of Alexander the Great in the late fourth century BCE
[3]
- do ancient Indian specialists agree? The Guptas were known for their exceptional skill in iron metallurgy, such as demonstrated by the monumental Iron Pillar of Delhi and they may have been the first to use iron helmets for their cavalry.
[1]: (Tewari 2010) Tewari, Rakesh. 2010. Updates on the Antiquity of Iron in South Asia. in Man and Environment. XXXV(2): 81-97. Indian Society for Prehistoric and Quaternary Studies. [2]: (Singh 1997) Sarva Daman Singh. 1997. Ancient Indian Warfare: With Special Reference to the Vedic Period. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. Delhi. [3]: (Gabriel 2002, 219) Gabriel, Richard A. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Greenwood Publishing Group. |
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|
Guns were absent prior to colonization, but axes, spears and swords are reported: ‘Implements which are mainly used by the Garos are very few in number. Mongreng is a variety of axe, and banuk or oaiseng is another variety. Besides these, they have spears with very big iron heads. They also have mellam, i.e., a short sword, about three feet long. It is made of iron and is straight in shape with sharpened end on both sides. It has a horizontal narrow crossbar from two ends of which they usually tie the taft tail hair of bulls or of yak if they can manage to purchase it from upper districts of Assam. Yaks’ tail is very much in demand by the Garos, and they consider it as a precious possession. The lowermost portion of the sword serves as the grip which is pointed at the end. This, they say, helps them to stick the sword on the ground when necessary.’
[1]
‘The only property which has acquired prestige value after the contact of the Garo with the outside world is the gun (Garos did not have firearms before British occupation). It is not only a useful device to protect the household from enemies, for hunting (in fact, it is the only weapon of hunting of the present day Garos or for killing and warding off wild animals. Besides, a household possessing a gun enjoys a special prestige.’
[2]
[1]: Sinha, Tarunchandra 1966. “Psyche Of The Garo”, 11 [2]: Majumdar, Dhirendra Narayan 1978. “Culture Change In Two Garo Villages”, 125 |
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|
‘Implements which are mainly used by the Garos are very few in number. Mongreng is a variety of axe, and banuk or oaiseng is another variety. Besides these, they have spears with very big iron heads. They also have mellam, i.e., a short sword, about three feet long. It is made of iron and is straight in shape with sharpened end on both sides. It has a horizontal narrow crossbar from two ends of which they usually tie the taft tail hair of bulls or of yak if they can manage to purchase it from upper districts of Assam. Yaks’ tail is very much in demand by the Garos, and they consider it as a precious possession. The lowermost portion of the sword serves as the grip which is pointed at the end. This, they say, helps them to stick the sword on the ground when necessary.’
[1]
‘The only property which has acquired prestige value after the contact of the Garo with the outside world is the gun (Garos did not have firearms before British occupation). It is not only a useful device to protect the household from enemies, for hunting (in fact, it is the only weapon of hunting of the present day Garos or for killing and warding off wild animals. Besides, a household possessing a gun enjoys a special prestige.’
[2]
[1]: Sinha, Tarunchandra 1966. “Psyche Of The Garo”, 11 [2]: Majumdar, Dhirendra Narayan 1978. “Culture Change In Two Garo Villages”, 125 |
||||||
|
Indian iron smiths invented the ’wootz’ method of steel creation between 550-450 BCE. The Greek physician Ctesias of Cnidus commented on an Indian steel sword in the possession of Artaxerxes II of Persia (c400 BCE).
[1]
[1]: (Singh 1997, 102) Sarva Daman Singh. 1997. Ancient Indian Warfare: With Special Reference to the Vedic Period. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. Delhi. |
||||||
|
It is not known what material armor was made from.
[1]
Ancient Indians used iron for armour cuirasses and breastplates but copper was also used.
[2]
First finds of iron weapons in northern India earlier than 1000 BCE and from at least 1000 BCE in Karnataka in south India where iron arrowheads, spears and swords have been found.
[3]
[1]: Upinder Singh, A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century (New Delhi: Pearson Education, 2008), p.188. [2]: (Singh 1997) Sarva Daman Singh. 1997. Ancient Indian Warfare: With Special Reference to the Vedic Period. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. Delhi. [3]: (Tewari 2010) Tewari, Rakesh. 2010. Updates on the Antiquity of Iron in South Asia. in Man and Environment. XXXV(2): 81-97. Indian Society for Prehistoric and Quaternary Studies. |
||||||
|
Indian iron smiths invented the ’wootz’ method of steel creation between 550-450 BCE. The Greek physician Ctesias of Cnidus commented on an Indian steel sword in the possession of Artaxerxes II of Persia (c400 BCE).
[1]
[1]: (Singh 1997, 102) Sarva Daman Singh. 1997. Ancient Indian Warfare: With Special Reference to the Vedic Period. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. Delhi. |
||||||
|
First finds of iron weapons in northern India earlier than 1000 BCE and from at least 1000 BCE in Karnataka in south India where iron arrowheads, spears and swords have been found.
[1]
Ancient Indians used iron for armour cuirasses and breastplates but copper was also used.
[2]
The Guptas were known for their exceptional skill in iron metallurgy, as demonstrated by the monumental Iron Pillar of Delhi and they may have been the first to use iron helmets for their cavalry.
[1]: (Tewari 2010) Tewari, Rakesh. 2010. Updates on the Antiquity of Iron in South Asia. in Man and Environment. XXXV(2): 81-97. Indian Society for Prehistoric and Quaternary Studies. [2]: (Singh 1997) Sarva Daman Singh. 1997. Ancient Indian Warfare: With Special Reference to the Vedic Period. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. Delhi. |
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|
"It was not until iron came into widespread use in the early first millennium that swords in particular and iron weapons in general began to replace the more expensive bronze spears, arrowheads, axes, and daggers of earlier times."
[1]
[1]: (McIntosh 2005: 190) McIntosh, J. 2005. Ancient Mesopotamia: New Perspective. Santa Barbara: ABC Clio. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/KK2E3KMD. |
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|
"It was not until iron came into widespread use in the early first millennium that swords in particular and iron weapons in general began to replace the more expensive bronze spears, arrowheads, axes, and daggers of earlier times."
[1]
[1]: (McIntosh 2005: 190) McIntosh, J. 2005. Ancient Mesopotamia: New Perspective. Santa Barbara: ABC Clio. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/KK2E3KMD. |
||||||
|
"It was not until iron came into widespread use in the early first millennium that swords in particular and iron weapons in general began to replace the more expensive bronze spears, arrowheads, axes, and daggers of earlier times."
[1]
[1]: (McIntosh 2005: 190) McIntosh, J. 2005. Ancient Mesopotamia: New Perspective. Santa Barbara: ABC Clio. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/KK2E3KMD. |
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|
"It was not until iron came into widespread use in the early first millennium that swords in particular and iron weapons in general began to replace the more expensive bronze spears, arrowheads, axes, and daggers of earlier times."
[1]
[1]: (McIntosh 2005: 190) McIntosh, J. 2005. Ancient Mesopotamia: New Perspective. Santa Barbara: ABC Clio. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/KK2E3KMD. |
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|
Late 3rd - early 2md millennium BCE text: "He shall take my axe whose metal is tin, he shall wield my dagger which is of iron."
[1]
Presumably refers to the use of meteoric iron?
[1]: Lugalbanda in the mountain cave: c.1.8.2.1. The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature (ETCSL). etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk. |
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|
Breastplates of iron.
[1]
"Of the Medes and Persians as a whole, only a few wore armour. Some had body armour of iron scales ... and only some of the cavalry wore helmets of bronze or iron."
[2]
[1]: (Farrokh 2007, 76) Farrokh, K. 2007. Shadows in the Desert: Ancient Persia at War. Osprey Publishing. [2]: (Robinson 1967) Robinson, H. Russell. 1967. Oriental Armour. Walker and Co. New York. |
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|
-
|
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|
‘Major categories are pear-shaped stone maceheads, copper/bronze spiked and star maces, shortswords, knives/daggers with upturned ends, iron socketed spears, and arrowheads’
[1]
Hasanlu, a major city in western Iran destroyed by invaders in the 9th century BCE, was ’a centre for metal-working and a pioneer in making iron’ and excavations there have uncovered an iron making furnace, and their technological advances included a steel knife
[2]
For the ancient state of Elam and the Zagros Mountains region there is not much data, although archaeologists have dated Iron Age Period III to 800-500 BCE.
[3]
Luristan borders Susiana region to the NW. Here Vanden Berghe divided the Iron Age into three periods 1000-800/750 BCE in which bronze and iron used together and 800/750-600 BCE when weapons were made from iron and ritual articles from bronze.
[4]
[1]: Michael D. Danti, ‘The Late Bronze and Early Iron Age in Northwestern Iran’, In Daniel T. Potts (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Iran, 2013, p. 359 [2]: (Coulson 2012) Michael Coulson. 2012. The History of Mining. The Events, Technology and People Involved in the Industry That Forged The Modern World. Harriman House Ltd. Petersfield. [3]: (Potts 2016, 251) D T Potts. 2016. The Archaeology of Elam: Formation and Transformation of an Ancient Iranian State. Second Edition. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. [4]: (Kuz’mina 2007, 368) Elena E Kuz’mina. J P Mallory ed. 2007. The Origin of the Indo-Iranians. BRILL. Leiden. |
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|
Technology not found in archaeological evidence until much later
|
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|
Technology not found in archaeological evidence until much later
|
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|
[1]
From Early Yayoi.
[2]
[1]: Deal, William E. 2005. Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan. Oxford University Press.p.169. [2]: (Okazaki 1993, 279) Okazaki Takashi. Japan and the continent in the Jomon and Yayoi periods. Janet Goodwin trans. Delmer M Brown. ed. 1993. The Cambridge History of Japan. Volume 1. Ancient Japan. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. |
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|
‘Sialk Cemetery A (Period V), Ghirshman excavated fifteen tombs containing a monochrome gray-to-black burnished ware, and in Tomb 4 he found two iron objects—a dagger and “punch”’
[1]
although it is unclear the extent of the military use of iron in Susiana due to being widespread in the whole region only from the 9th century onward. What kind of iron is this? Meteoric or native iron does not count. Luristan borders Susiana region to the NW. Here Vanden Berghe divided the Iron Age into three periods 1000-800/750 BCE in which bronze and iron used together and 800/750-600 BCE when weapons were made from iron and ritual articles from bronze. At this early time we can only code present for bronze (and its constituent copper) with iron and steel both absent.
[2]
[1]: Michael D. Danti, ‘The Late Bronze and Early Iron Age in Northwestern Iran’, In Daniel T. Potts (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Iran, 2013, pp. 329-330 [2]: (Kuz’mina 2007, 368) Elena E Kuz’mina. J P Mallory ed. 2007. The Origin of the Indo-Iranians. BRILL. Leiden. |
||||||
|
‘Sialk Cemetery A (Period V), Ghirshman excavated fifteen tombs containing a monochrome gray-to-black burnished ware, and in Tomb 4 he found two iron objects—a dagger and “punch”’
[1]
although it is unclear the extent of the military use of iron in Susiana due to being widespread in the whole region only from the 9th century onward. What kind of iron is this? Meteoric or native iron does not count. Luristan borders Susiana region to the NW. Here Vanden Berghe divided the Iron Age into three periods 1000-800/750 BCE in which bronze and iron used together and 800/750-600 BCE when weapons were made from iron and ritual articles from bronze. At this early time we can only code present for bronze (and its constituent copper) with iron and steel both absent.
[2]
[1]: Michael D. Danti, ‘The Late Bronze and Early Iron Age in Northwestern Iran’, In Daniel T. Potts (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Iran, 2013, pp. 329-330 [2]: (Kuz’mina 2007, 368) Elena E Kuz’mina. J P Mallory ed. 2007. The Origin of the Indo-Iranians. BRILL. Leiden. |
||||||
|
Iron Age Period III to 800-500 BCE.
[1]
Need more data. What archaeologists call the Iron Age does not necessarily date the first use of iron weapons. Luristan borders Susiana region to the NW. Here Vanden Berghe divided the Iron Age into three periods 1000-800/750 BCE in which bronze and iron used together and 800/750-600 BCE when weapons were made from iron and ritual articles from bronze.
[2]
[1]: (Potts 2016, 251) D T Potts. 2016. The Archaeology of Elam: Formation and Transformation of an Ancient Iranian State. Second Edition. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. [2]: (Kuz’mina 2007, 368) Elena E Kuz’mina. J P Mallory ed. 2007. The Origin of the Indo-Iranians. BRILL. Leiden. |
||||||
|
Iron Age Period III to 800-500 BCE.
[1]
Need more data. What archaeologists call the Iron Age does not necessarily date the first use of iron weapons. Luristan borders Susiana region to the NW. Here Vanden Berghe divided the Iron Age into three periods 1000-800/750 BCE in which bronze and iron used together and 800/750-600 BCE when weapons were made from iron and ritual articles from bronze.
[2]
[1]: (Potts 2016, 251) D T Potts. 2016. The Archaeology of Elam: Formation and Transformation of an Ancient Iranian State. Second Edition. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. [2]: (Kuz’mina 2007, 368) Elena E Kuz’mina. J P Mallory ed. 2007. The Origin of the Indo-Iranians. BRILL. Leiden. |
||||||
|
Iron’s use had become widespread throughout the region by now
[1]
Archaeologists have dated Iron Age Period III to 800-500 BCE.
[2]
Luristan borders Susiana region to the NW. Here Vanden Berghe divided the Iron Age into three periods 1000-800/750 BCE in which bronze and iron used together and 800/750-600 BCE when weapons were made from iron and ritual articles from bronze.
[3]
[1]: Michael D. Danti, ‘The Late Bronze and Early Iron Age in Northwestern Iran’, In Daniel T. Potts (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Iran, 2013, p. 331 [2]: (Potts 2016, 251) D T Potts. 2016. The Archaeology of Elam: Formation and Transformation of an Ancient Iranian State. Second Edition. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. [3]: (Kuz’mina 2007, 368) Elena E Kuz’mina. J P Mallory ed. 2007. The Origin of the Indo-Iranians. BRILL. Leiden. |
||||||
|
Iron’s use had become widespread throughout the region by now
[1]
. Copper and Iron weaponry found in Neo-Elamite territory dating to the early 7th century
[2]
Archaeologists have dated Iron Age Period III to 800-500 BCE.
[3]
Luristan borders Susiana region to the NW. Here Vanden Berghe divided the Iron Age into three periods 1000-800/750 BCE in which bronze and iron used together and 800/750-600 BCE when weapons were made from iron and ritual articles from bronze.
[4]
[1]: Michael D. Danti, ‘The Late Bronze and Early Iron Age in Northwestern Iran’, In Daniel T. Potts (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Iran, 2013, p. 331 [2]: Javier Alvarez-Mon, ‘Elam in the Iron Age’, In Daniel T. Potts (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Iran, 2013, p. 461-2 [3]: (Potts 2016, 251) D T Potts. 2016. The Archaeology of Elam: Formation and Transformation of an Ancient Iranian State. Second Edition. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. [4]: (Kuz’mina 2007, 368) Elena E Kuz’mina. J P Mallory ed. 2007. The Origin of the Indo-Iranians. BRILL. Leiden. |
||||||
|
Luristan borders Susiana region to the NW. Here Vanden Berghe divided the Iron Age into three periods 1000-800/750 BCE in which bronze and iron used together and 800/750-600 BCE when weapons were made from iron and ritual articles from bronze. At this early time we can only code present for bronze (and its constituent copper) with iron and steel both absent.
[1]
[1]: (Kuz’mina 2007, 368) Elena E Kuz’mina. J P Mallory ed. 2007. The Origin of the Indo-Iranians. BRILL. Leiden. |
||||||
|
Luristan borders Susiana region to the NW. Here Vanden Berghe divided the Iron Age into three periods 1000-800/750 BCE in which bronze and iron used together and 800/750-600 BCE when weapons were made from iron and ritual articles from bronze. At this early time we can only code present for bronze (and its constituent copper) with iron and steel both absent.
[1]
[1]: (Kuz’mina 2007, 368) Elena E Kuz’mina. J P Mallory ed. 2007. The Origin of the Indo-Iranians. BRILL. Leiden. |
||||||
|
‘Sialk Cemetery A (Period V), Ghirshman excavated fifteen tombs containing a monochrome gray-to-black burnished ware, and in Tomb 4 he found two iron objects—a dagger and “punch”’
[1]
although it is unclear the extent of the military use of iron in Susiana due to being widespread in the whole region only from the 9th century onward. What kind of iron is this? Meteoric or native iron does not count. Luristan borders Susiana region to the NW. Here Vanden Berghe divided the Iron Age into three periods 1000-800/750 BCE in which bronze and iron used together and 800/750-600 BCE when weapons were made from iron and ritual articles from bronze. At this early time we can only code present for bronze (and its constituent copper) with iron and steel both absent.
[2]
[1]: Michael D. Danti, ‘The Late Bronze and Early Iron Age in Northwestern Iran’, In Daniel T. Potts (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Iran, 2013, pp. 329-330 [2]: (Kuz’mina 2007, 368) Elena E Kuz’mina. J P Mallory ed. 2007. The Origin of the Indo-Iranians. BRILL. Leiden. |
||||||
|
Iron likely present in Latium from Roman Kingdom 700 BCE (note their Etruscan-origin kings). “Most metallurgical activity in both Italy and Spain, however, dates to a time after the sixth century BC, when iron weapons and implements appear more frequently, with some exceptional finds such as the group of 150 almost identical axes from an archaic Greek shipwreck off the north coast of Mallorca’.”
[1]
Iron spearheads in south Italy appeared eighth century BCE. Bronze spearheads continued to be manufactured during the Early Iron Age. End of eighth century BC, iron completely replaced bronze for spearheads. (Inala 2014). Lost full reference, expert needed to locate full name and work.
[1]: (Kostoglou 2010, 174) Kostoglou, Maria. Iron, Connectivity and Local Identities in the Iron Age to Classical Mediterranean. in Van Dommelen, Peter. Knapp, Bernard A. eds. 2010. Material Connections in the Ancient Mediterranean. Mobility, Materiality and Identity. Routledge. Abingdon. |
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|
Iron likely present in Latium from Roman Kingdom 700 BCE (note their Etruscan-origin kings). “Most metallurgical activity in both Italy and Spain, however, dates to a time after the sixth century BC, when iron weapons and implements appear more frequently, with some exceptional finds such as the group of 150 almost identical axes from an archaic Greek shipwreck off the north coast of Mallorca’.”
[1]
Iron spearheads in south Italy appeared eighth century BCE. Bronze spearheads continued to be manufactured during the Early Iron Age. End of eighth century BC, iron completely replaced bronze for spearheads. (Inala 2014). Lost full reference, expert needed to locate full name and work.
[1]: (Kostoglou 2010, 174) Kostoglou, Maria. Iron, Connectivity and Local Identities in the Iron Age to Classical Mediterranean. in Van Dommelen, Peter. Knapp, Bernard A. eds. 2010. Material Connections in the Ancient Mediterranean. Mobility, Materiality and Identity. Routledge. Abingdon. |
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|
A short iron sword found in Quattro Fontanili cemetery in Veii near Rome.
[1]
However, sword blades were typically made of bronze, the use of iron being "comparatively rare."
[2]
Used in spearheads.
[2]
Iron likely present in Latium from Roman Kingdom 700 BCE (note their Etruscan-origin kings). “Most metallurgical activity in both Italy and Spain, however, dates to a time after the sixth century BC, when iron weapons and implements appear more frequently, with some exceptional finds such as the group of 150 almost identical axes from an archaic Greek shipwreck off the north coast of Mallorca’.”
[3]
Iron spearheads in south Italy appeared eighth century BCE. Bronze spearheads continued to be manufactured during the Early Iron Age. End of eighth century BC, iron completely replaced bronze for spearheads. (Inala 2014). Lost full reference, expert needed to locate full name and work.
[1]: Osgood, Monks, Toms, Bronze Age Warfare (2000), p.105 [2]: (Fields 2011) [3]: (Kostoglou 2010, 174) Kostoglou, Maria. Iron, Connectivity and Local Identities in the Iron Age to Classical Mediterranean. in Van Dommelen, Peter. Knapp, Bernard A. eds. 2010. Material Connections in the Ancient Mediterranean. Mobility, Materiality and Identity. Routledge. Abingdon. |
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Guns cast in bronze, then by mid-fifteenth century cannons made of cast iron, with other cast iron objects becoming common. Move from the bloomery process to forging; “Italy and France were also in the forefront of improvements in iron manufacture.” (164-65)
[1]
[1]: Hodgett, J. and Augustus, G. 2005. A Social and Economic History of Medieval Europe. Taylor & Francis. |
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Guns cast in bronze, then by mid-fifteenth century cannons made of cast iron, with other cast iron objects becoming common. Move from the bloomery process to forging; “Italy and France were also in the forefront of improvements in iron manufacture.” (164-65)
[1]
Hodgett, J. and Augustus, G. 2005. A Social and Economic History of Medieval Europe. Taylor & Francis. [1]: Hodgett, J. and Augustus, G. 2005. A Social and Economic History of Medieval Europe. Taylor & Francis. |
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Guns cast in bronze, then by mid-fifteenth century cannons made of cast iron, with other cast iron objects becoming common. Move from the bloomery process to forging; “Italy and France were also in the forefront of improvements in iron manufacture.” Increased demand for iron and steel from rising nation states in late 15th century. (164-65)
[1]
[1]: Hodgett, J. and Augustus, G. 2005. A Social and Economic History of Medieval Europe. Taylor & Francis. |
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-
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General reference for medieval warfare: Mail armor "was formed from rings of iron (or, more rarely, steel)".
[1]
[1]: (Smith 2010, 67) Robert Douglas Smith. Armor, Body. Clifford J. Rogers. ed. 2010. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Medieval Warfare and Military Technology, Volume 1. Oxford University Press. Oxford. |
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General reference for medieval warfare: Mail armor "was formed from rings of iron (or, more rarely, steel)".
[1]
[1]: (Smith 2010, 67) Robert Douglas Smith. Armor, Body. Clifford J. Rogers. ed. 2010. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Medieval Warfare and Military Technology, Volume 1. Oxford University Press. Oxford. |
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From Early Yayoi.
[1]
’By the Yayoi Period (50-250 CE) iron tools became more plentiful, as is evidenced by advances in woodworking technologies. By the last century of the Yayoi, iron-working technologies spread quickly across the central region of Japan from west to east. Over the course of the next several hundred years, iron completely replaced stone as the mineral of choice. Iron swords, armor, and arrowheads came to occupy prominent places in the tombs of the Kofun period. From that time onward, iron and its alloy with carbon, steel, were Japan’s pre-eminent proto-industrial metals.’
[2]
[1]: (Okazaki 1993, 279) Okazaki Takashi. Japan and the continent in the Jomon and Yayoi periods. Janet Goodwin trans. Delmer M Brown. ed. 1993. The Cambridge History of Japan. Volume 1. Ancient Japan. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. [2]: David G Wittner. 2008. Technology and the Culture of Progress in Meiji Japan. Routledge. Abingdon. p.24 |
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’By the Yayoi Period (50-250 CE) iron tools became more plentiful, as is evidenced by advances in woodworking technologies. By the last century of the Yayoi, iron-working technologies spread quickly across the central region of Japan from west to east. Over the course of the next several hundred years, iron completely replaced stone as the mineral of choice. Iron swords, armor, and arrowheads came to occupy prominent places in the tombs of the Kofun period. From that time onward, iron and its alloy with carbon, steel, were Japan’s pre-eminent proto-industrial metals.’
[1]
[1]: David G Wittner. 2008. Technology and the Culture of Progress in Meiji Japan. Routledge. Abingdon. p.24 |
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According to a military historian, Japanese ’kuni’ warriors mentioned by early Han annals "fought with iron and bronze weapons against other kuni and other less advanced peoples, the emishi or ’toad barbarians.’ on their frontiers"
[1]
- are these early Han annals considered a reliable source by polity/region specialists? "The scarcity of iron tools in Yayoi sites (except in northern Kyushu) may be explained by the continual recycling of broken iron tools as well as by their rare placement and consequent rare discovery in graves or ceremonial underground deposits, and there is no possible explanation for the disappearance of stone tools in the Late Yayoi phase other than the prevalence of Iron. If we exclude bronze weapon-like ceremonial goods from the list of edged tools, the sequence of cutting-tools in Japan is as follows: stone --> stone and iron --> the complete replacement of stone by iron."
[2]
"The earliest arrowheads made by iron appeared during Middle Yayoi, and almost all of them are from northern Kyushu. The arrowheads in Kyushu were 3 -4 cm long and shaped like a narrow triangle with a vault-shaped base. This shape is the traditional shape of stone arrowheads."
[3]
’By the Yayoi Period (50-250 CE) iron tools became more plentiful, as is evidenced by advances in woodworking technologies. By the last century of the Yayoi, iron-working technologies spread quickly across the central region of Japan from west to east. Over the course of the next several hundred years, iron completely replaced stone as the mineral of choice. Iron swords, armor, and arrowheads came to occupy prominent places in the tombs of the Kofun period. From that time onward, iron and its alloy with carbon, steel, were Japan’s pre-eminent proto-industrial metals.’
[4]
[1]: (Gabriel 2002, 316) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. [2]: Keiji Imamura. 1996. Prehistoric Japan: New Perspectives On Insular East Asia. Routledge. UCL Press. [3]: Lars Vargo. 1982. Social and economic conditions for the formation of the early Japanese state. Stockholm University. [4]: David G Wittner. 2008. Technology and the Culture of Progress in Meiji Japan. Routledge. Abingdon. p.24 |
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’For personal defence, there were two kinds of shields: round ones ornamented with vegetal or flower motifs, and long ones ornamented on the top border. The latter could be grouped together to form a kind of rampart. Both were probably of wood and hide, with metal plaques. Although most warriors wore only a kind of short-sleeved jacket (sometimes resembling the quilted ’armour’ in use in Mesoamerica), many were protected by a cylindrical cuirass, often with one or two knives lashed over it for close combat.’
[1]
’From all this, we can bear in mind that Khmer breastplates, as we have described them, possibly used the materials cited by Bezacier: buffalo skins, tree bark, and bronze, even if this metal was replaced with iron at the period we are discussing.’
[2]
[1]: (Coe 2003, pp. 185-186) [2]: (Jacq-Hergoualc’h and Smithies 2007, p. 20) |
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’For personal defence, there were two kinds of shields: round ones ornamented with vegetal or flower motifs, and long ones ornamented on the top border. The latter could be grouped together to form a kind of rampart. Both were probably of wood and hide, with metal plaques. Although most warriors wore only a kind of short-sleeved jacket (sometimes resembling the quilted ’armour’ in use in Mesoamerica), many were protected by a cylindrical cuirass, often with one or two knives lashed over it for close combat.’
[1]
’From all this, we can bear in mind that Khmer breastplates, as we have described them, possibly used the materials cited by Bezacier: buffalo skins, tree bark, and bronze, even if this metal was replaced with iron at the period we are discussing.’
[2]
[1]: (Coe 2003, pp. 185-186) [2]: (Jacq-Hergoualc’h and Smithies 2007, p. 20) |
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|
’For personal defence, there were two kinds of shields: round ones ornamented with vegetal or flower motifs, and long ones ornamented on the top border. The latter could be grouped together to form a kind of rampart. Both were probably of wood and hide, with metal plaques. Although most warriors wore only a kind of short-sleeved jacket (sometimes resembling the quilted ’armour’ in use in Mesoamerica), many were protected by a cylindrical cuirass, often with one or two knives lashed over it for close combat.’
[1]
’From all this, we can bear in mind that Khmer breastplates, as we have described them, possibly used the materials cited by Bezacier: buffalo skins, tree bark, and bronze, even if this metal was replaced with iron at the period we are discussing.’
[2]
[1]: (Coe 2003, pp. 185-186) [2]: (Jacq-Hergoualc’h and Smithies 2007, p. 20) |
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|
’For personal defence, there were two kinds of shields: round ones ornamented with vegetal or flower motifs, and long ones ornamented on the top border. The latter could be grouped together to form a kind of rampart. Both were probably of wood and hide, with metal plaques. Although most warriors wore only a kind of short-sleeved jacket (sometimes resembling the quilted ’armour’ in use in Mesoamerica), many were protected by a cylindrical cuirass, often with one or two knives lashed over it for close combat.’
[1]
’From all this, we can bear in mind that Khmer breastplates, as we have described them, possibly used the materials cited by Bezacier: buffalo skins, tree bark, and bronze, even if this metal was replaced with iron at the period we are discussing.’
[2]
[1]: (Coe 2003, pp. 185-186) [2]: (Jacq-Hergoualc’h and Smithies 2007, p. 20) |
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Evidence of bronze, gold, silver and iron.
[1]
[1]: (Miksic and Goh 2016: 106) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/2EZ3CBBS. |
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Iron Age from 600 BCE in West Africa (e.g. Benue valley in Nigeria and upper Niger River) "the development and spread of the basic technologies of metal production and the forging and smithing of metal tools, notably in iron."
[1]
"Iron-headed hoes, probably invented some time after iron-pointed spears."
[2]
"Iron also brought, from about 600 BC onwards, a new source of military power."
[3]
[1]: (Davidson 1998, 8) Davidson, Basil. 1998. West Africa Before the Colonial Era. Routledge. London. [2]: (Davidson 1998, 12) Davidson, Basil. 1998. West Africa Before the Colonial Era. Routledge. London. [3]: (Davidson 1998, 13) Davidson, Basil. 1998. West Africa Before the Colonial Era. Routledge. London. |
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Iron Age from 600 BCE in West Africa (e.g. Benue valley in Nigeria and upper Niger River) "the development and spread of the basic technologies of metal production and the forging and smithing of metal tools, notably in iron."
[1]
"Iron-headed hoes, probably invented some time after iron-pointed spears."
[2]
"Iron also brought, from about 600 BC onwards, a new source of military power."
[3]
[1]: (Davidson 1998, 8) Davidson, Basil. 1998. West Africa Before the Colonial Era. Routledge. London. [2]: (Davidson 1998, 12) Davidson, Basil. 1998. West Africa Before the Colonial Era. Routledge. London. [3]: (Davidson 1998, 13) Davidson, Basil. 1998. West Africa Before the Colonial Era. Routledge. London. |
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|
Iron Age from 600 BCE in West Africa (e.g. Benue valley in Nigeria and upper Niger River) "the development and spread of the basic technologies of metal production and the forging and smithing of metal tools, notably in iron."
[1]
"Iron-headed hoes, probably invented some time after iron-pointed spears."
[2]
"Iron also brought, from about 600 BC onwards, a new source of military power."
[3]
[1]: (Davidson 1998, 8) Davidson, Basil. 1998. West Africa Before the Colonial Era. Routledge. London. [2]: (Davidson 1998, 12) Davidson, Basil. 1998. West Africa Before the Colonial Era. Routledge. London. [3]: (Davidson 1998, 13) Davidson, Basil. 1998. West Africa Before the Colonial Era. Routledge. London. |
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|
Iron Age from 600 BCE in West Africa (e.g. Benue valley in Nigeria and upper Niger River) "the development and spread of the basic technologies of metal production and the forging and smithing of metal tools, notably in iron."
[1]
"Iron-headed hoes, probably invented some time after iron-pointed spears."
[2]
"Iron also brought, from about 600 BC onwards, a new source of military power."
[3]
[1]: (Davidson 1998, 8) Davidson, Basil. 1998. West Africa Before the Colonial Era. Routledge. London. [2]: (Davidson 1998, 12) Davidson, Basil. 1998. West Africa Before the Colonial Era. Routledge. London. [3]: (Davidson 1998, 13) Davidson, Basil. 1998. West Africa Before the Colonial Era. Routledge. London. |
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|
Iron Age from 600 BCE in West Africa (e.g. Benue valley in Nigeria and upper Niger River) "the development and spread of the basic technologies of metal production and the forging and smithing of metal tools, notably in iron."
[1]
"Iron-headed hoes, probably invented some time after iron-pointed spears."
[2]
"Iron also brought, from about 600 BC onwards, a new source of military power."
[3]
[1]: (Davidson 1998, 8) Davidson, Basil. 1998. West Africa Before the Colonial Era. Routledge. London. [2]: (Davidson 1998, 12) Davidson, Basil. 1998. West Africa Before the Colonial Era. Routledge. London. [3]: (Davidson 1998, 13) Davidson, Basil. 1998. West Africa Before the Colonial Era. Routledge. London. |
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|
Iron Age from 600 BCE in West Africa (e.g. Benue valley in Nigeria and upper Niger River) "the development and spread of the basic technologies of metal production and the forging and smithing of metal tools, notably in iron."
[1]
"Iron-headed hoes, probably invented some time after iron-pointed spears."
[2]
"Iron also brought, from about 600 BC onwards, a new source of military power."
[3]
[1]: (Davidson 1998, 8) Davidson, Basil. 1998. West Africa Before the Colonial Era. Routledge. London. [2]: (Davidson 1998, 12) Davidson, Basil. 1998. West Africa Before the Colonial Era. Routledge. London. [3]: (Davidson 1998, 13) Davidson, Basil. 1998. West Africa Before the Colonial Era. Routledge. London. |
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|
"Metals were another story. Throughout all these times [before 500 BCE], and even much later, they were essentially unused in Mesoamerica. Teotihuacan’s predecessors [...] and Teotihuacan itself used only stone tools".
[1]
[1]: (Cowgill 2015: 40) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/JRFZPUXU. |
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|
Iron Age from 600 BCE in West Africa (e.g. Benue valley in Nigeria and upper Niger River) "the development and spread of the basic technologies of metal production and the forging and smithing of metal tools, notably in iron."
[1]
"Iron-headed hoes, probably invented some time after iron-pointed spears."
[2]
"Iron also brought, from about 600 BC onwards, a new source of military power."
[3]
[1]: (Davidson 1998, 8) Davidson, Basil. 1998. West Africa Before the Colonial Era. Routledge. London. [2]: (Davidson 1998, 12) Davidson, Basil. 1998. West Africa Before the Colonial Era. Routledge. London. [3]: (Davidson 1998, 13) Davidson, Basil. 1998. West Africa Before the Colonial Era. Routledge. London. |
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|
Iron Age from 600 BCE in West Africa (e.g. Benue valley in Nigeria and upper Niger River) "the development and spread of the basic technologies of metal production and the forging and smithing of metal tools, notably in iron."
[1]
"Iron-headed hoes, probably invented some time after iron-pointed spears."
[2]
"Iron also brought, from about 600 BC onwards, a new source of military power."
[3]
[1]: (Davidson 1998, 8) Davidson, Basil. 1998. West Africa Before the Colonial Era. Routledge. London. [2]: (Davidson 1998, 12) Davidson, Basil. 1998. West Africa Before the Colonial Era. Routledge. London. [3]: (Davidson 1998, 13) Davidson, Basil. 1998. West Africa Before the Colonial Era. Routledge. London. |
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|
Iron Age from 600 BCE in West Africa (e.g. Benue valley in Nigeria and upper Niger River) "the development and spread of the basic technologies of metal production and the forging and smithing of metal tools, notably in iron."
[1]
"Iron-headed hoes, probably invented some time after iron-pointed spears."
[2]
"Iron also brought, from about 600 BC onwards, a new source of military power."
[3]
[1]: (Davidson 1998, 8) Davidson, Basil. 1998. West Africa Before the Colonial Era. Routledge. London. [2]: (Davidson 1998, 12) Davidson, Basil. 1998. West Africa Before the Colonial Era. Routledge. London. [3]: (Davidson 1998, 13) Davidson, Basil. 1998. West Africa Before the Colonial Era. Routledge. London. |
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Majemir culture from 900 BCE is an example of one of the first iron-using cultures in the Altai region.
[1]
and by 300 BCE in the Ordos region of Mongolia iron was becoming much more frequently used for weapons and horse fittings.
[2]
[1]: (Baumer 2012) Baumer, Christoph. 2012. The History of Central Asia: The Age of the Steppe Warriors. I.B.Tauris. London. [2]: (Di Cosmo 2002, 84) Nicola Di Cosmo. 2002. Ancient China and Its Enemies: The Rise of Nomadic Power in East Asian History. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. |
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|
Majemir culture from 900 BCE is an example of one of the first iron-using cultures in the Altai region.
[1]
and by 300 BCE in the Ordos region of Mongolia iron was becoming much more frequently used for weapons and horse fittings.
[2]
"Khitan tombs also commonly contain iron weaponry".
[3]
[1]: (Baumer 2012) Baumer, Christoph. 2012. The History of Central Asia: The Age of the Steppe Warriors. I.B.Tauris. London. [2]: (Di Cosmo 2002, 84) Nicola Di Cosmo. 2002. Ancient China and Its Enemies: The Rise of Nomadic Power in East Asian History. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. [3]: (Tackett 2017, 216) Nicolas Tackett. 2017. The Origins of the Chinese Nation: Song China and the Forging of an East Asian World Order. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. |
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|
Majemir culture from 900 BCE is an example of one of the first iron-using cultures in the Altai region.
[1]
and by 300 BCE in the Ordos region of Mongolia iron was becoming much more frequently used for weapons and horse fittings.
[2]
[1]: (Baumer 2012) Baumer, Christoph. 2012. The History of Central Asia: The Age of the Steppe Warriors. I.B.Tauris. London. [2]: (Di Cosmo 2002, 84) Nicola Di Cosmo. 2002. Ancient China and Its Enemies: The Rise of Nomadic Power in East Asian History. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. |
||||||
|
Majemir culture from 900 BCE is an example of one of the first iron-using cultures in the Altai region.
[1]
and by 300 BCE in the Ordos region of Mongolia iron was becoming much more frequently used for weapons and horse fittings.
[2]
[1]: (Baumer 2012) Baumer, Christoph. 2012. The History of Central Asia: The Age of the Steppe Warriors. I.B.Tauris. London. [2]: (Di Cosmo 2002, 84) Nicola Di Cosmo. 2002. Ancient China and Its Enemies: The Rise of Nomadic Power in East Asian History. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. |
||||||
|
Majemir culture from 900 BCE is an example of one of the first iron-using cultures in the Altai region.
[1]
and by 300 BCE in the Ordos region of Mongolia iron was becoming much more frequently used for weapons and horse fittings.
[2]
[1]: (Baumer 2012) Baumer, Christoph. 2012. The History of Central Asia: The Age of the Steppe Warriors. I.B.Tauris. London. [2]: (Di Cosmo 2002, 84) Nicola Di Cosmo. 2002. Ancient China and Its Enemies: The Rise of Nomadic Power in East Asian History. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. |
||||||
|
Majemir culture from 900 BCE is an example of one of the first iron-using cultures in the Altai region.
[1]
and by 300 BCE in the Ordos region of Mongolia iron was becoming much more frequently used for weapons and horse fittings.
[2]
[1]: (Baumer 2012) Baumer, Christoph. 2012. The History of Central Asia: The Age of the Steppe Warriors. I.B.Tauris. London. [2]: (Di Cosmo 2002, 84) Nicola Di Cosmo. 2002. Ancient China and Its Enemies: The Rise of Nomadic Power in East Asian History. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. |
||||||
|
Majemir culture from 900 BCE is an example of one of the first iron-using cultures in the Altai region.
[1]
and by 300 BCE in the Ordos region of Mongolia iron was becoming much more frequently used for weapons and horse fittings.
[2]
[1]: (Baumer 2012) Baumer, Christoph. 2012. The History of Central Asia: The Age of the Steppe Warriors. I.B.Tauris. London. [2]: (Di Cosmo 2002, 84) Nicola Di Cosmo. 2002. Ancient China and Its Enemies: The Rise of Nomadic Power in East Asian History. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. |
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|
As mentioned by Chinese chronicles: "Since the Xiongnu have fled away, the Xianbi have become powerful and prosperous, and have occupied their former territory. They can claim a hundred thousand soldiers, skilled and strong, and their ideas and their understanding are steadily increasing. Add to this the facts that our guardpasses and barriers are lacking in strength, that our prohibitions [against trade] are full of holes, and fine gold and good iron are in the hands of the enemy, while they also have renegades from Han to serve them as masters of strategy; then in the sharpness of weapons and the clash of horse they are more dangerous than were the Xiongnu."
[1]
Replaced the original translation of the Chinese source with a better translation, which translates the Xiongnu as such rather than as "huns" for example.
[1]: Emperor Huan and Emperor Ling, Xiping6: 177 AD E from Zizhi tongjian by Sima Guang, translated by Rafe De Crespigny, Internet edition 2003 |
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Iron Age from 600 BCE in West Africa (e.g. Benue valley in Nigeria and upper Niger River) "the development and spread of the basic technologies of metal production and the forging and smithing of metal tools, notably in iron."
[1]
"Iron-headed hoes, probably invented some time after iron-pointed spears."
[2]
"Iron also brought, from about 600 BC onwards, a new source of military power."
[3]
The Soninke possessed "superior iron weapons"
[4]
[1]: (Davidson 1998, 8) Davidson, Basil. 1998. West Africa Before the Colonial Era. Routledge. London. [2]: (Davidson 1998, 12) Davidson, Basil. 1998. West Africa Before the Colonial Era. Routledge. London. [3]: (Davidson 1998, 13) Davidson, Basil. 1998. West Africa Before the Colonial Era. Routledge. London. [4]: (Conrad 2010, 23) |
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|
Iron Age from 600 BCE in West Africa (e.g. Benue valley in Nigeria and upper Niger River) "the development and spread of the basic technologies of metal production and the forging and smithing of metal tools, notably in iron."
[1]
"Iron-headed hoes, probably invented some time after iron-pointed spears."
[2]
"Iron also brought, from about 600 BC onwards, a new source of military power."
[3]
The Soninke possessed "superior iron weapons"
[4]
[1]: (Davidson 1998, 8) Davidson, Basil. 1998. West Africa Before the Colonial Era. Routledge. London. [2]: (Davidson 1998, 12) Davidson, Basil. 1998. West Africa Before the Colonial Era. Routledge. London. [3]: (Davidson 1998, 13) Davidson, Basil. 1998. West Africa Before the Colonial Era. Routledge. London. [4]: (Conrad 2010, 23) |
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Metalworking was not widely used in Mesoamerica, with metal products consisting mainly of small beads and ornaments.
[1]
[2]
[1]: Coe, M. D., Koontz, R. (2013) Mexico: From the Olmecs to the Aztecs (7th ed.) Thames and Hudson, London, p157 [2]: Kowalewski, S. A., Feinman, G. M., Finten, L., Blanton, R. E., Nicholas, L. M. (1989) Monte Albán’s Hinterland, Part II: Prehispanic settlement patterns in Tlacolula, Etla, and Ocotlan, The Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico, Volume II. Memoirs of the Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Number 23. Ann Arbor. |
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|
Metalworking was not widely used in Mesoamerica, with metal products consisting mainly of small beads and ornaments.
[1]
[2]
[1]: Coe, M. D., Koontz, R. (2013) Mexico: From the Olmecs to the Aztecs (7th ed.) Thames and Hudson, London, p157 [2]: Kowalewski, S. A., Feinman, G. M., Finten, L., Blanton, R. E., Nicholas, L. M. (1989) Monte Albán’s Hinterland, Part II: Prehispanic settlement patterns in Tlacolula, Etla, and Ocotlan, The Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico, Volume II. Memoirs of the Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Number 23. Ann Arbor. |
||||||
|
Metalworking was not widely used in Mesoamerica, with metal products consisting mainly of small beads and ornaments.
[1]
[2]
[1]: Coe, M. D., Koontz, R. (2013) Mexico: From the Olmecs to the Aztecs (7th ed.) Thames and Hudson, London, p157 [2]: Kowalewski, S. A., Feinman, G. M., Finten, L., Blanton, R. E., Nicholas, L. M. (1989) Monte Albán’s Hinterland, Part II: Prehispanic settlement patterns in Tlacolula, Etla, and Ocotlan, The Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico, Volume II. Memoirs of the Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Number 23. Ann Arbor. |
||||||
|
Metalworking was not widely used in Mesoamerica, with metal products consisting mainly of small beads and ornaments.
[1]
[2]
[1]: Coe, M. D., Koontz, R. (2013) Mexico: From the Olmecs to the Aztecs (7th ed.) Thames and Hudson, London, p157 [2]: Kowalewski, S. A., Feinman, G. M., Finten, L., Blanton, R. E., Nicholas, L. M. (1989) Monte Albán’s Hinterland, Part II: Prehispanic settlement patterns in Tlacolula, Etla, and Ocotlan, The Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico, Volume II. Memoirs of the Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Number 23. Ann Arbor. |
||||||
|
Metalworking was not widely used in Mesoamerica, with metal products consisting mainly of small beads and ornaments.
[1]
[2]
[1]: Coe, M. D., Koontz, R. (2013) Mexico: From the Olmecs to the Aztecs (7th ed.) Thames and Hudson, London, p157 [2]: Kowalewski, S. A., Feinman, G. M., Finten, L., Blanton, R. E., Nicholas, L. M. (1989) Monte Albán’s Hinterland, Part II: Prehispanic settlement patterns in Tlacolula, Etla, and Ocotlan, The Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico, Volume II. Memoirs of the Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Number 23. Ann Arbor. |
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|
"Metals were another story. Throughout all these times [before 500 BCE], and even much later, they were essentially unused in Mesoamerica. Teotihuacan’s predecessors [...] and Teotihuacan itself used only stone tools".
[1]
[1]: (Cowgill 2015: 40) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/JRFZPUXU. |
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|
"Metals were another story. Throughout all these times [before 500 BCE], and even much later, they were essentially unused in Mesoamerica. Teotihuacan’s predecessors [...] and Teotihuacan itself used only stone tools".
[1]
[1]: (Cowgill 2015: 40) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/JRFZPUXU. |
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|
"Metals were another story. Throughout all these times [before 500 BCE], and even much later, they were essentially unused in Mesoamerica. Teotihuacan’s predecessors [...] and Teotihuacan itself used only stone tools".
[1]
[1]: (Cowgill 2015: 40) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/JRFZPUXU. |
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|
The first evidence for the introduction of indigenously produced (copper-based) metallurgy in Mesoamerica is c.600 CE for ornamental valuables,
[1]
and the system closest to coinage ever practiced in Mesoamerica was the widespread use of cacao beans and copper axes as media of exchange during the Postclassic.
[2]
[1]: Shugar, Aaron N. and Scott E. Simmons. (2013) Archaeometallurgy in Mesoamerica: Current Approaches and New Perspectives. Boulder: University Press of Colorado, pg. 1-4. [2]: Berdan, Frances F., Marilyn A. Masson, Janine Gasco, and Michael E. Smith. (2003) "An International Economy." In Michael E. Smith and Frances F. Berdan (eds.) The Postclassic Mesoamerican World. Salt Lake City: The University of Utah Press, pg. 102. |
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"Metals were another story. Throughout all these times [before 500 BCE], and even much later, they were essentially unused in Mesoamerica. Teotihuacan’s predecessors [...] and Teotihuacan itself used only stone tools".
[1]
[1]: (Cowgill 2015: 40) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/JRFZPUXU. |
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The first evidence for the introduction of indigenously produced (copper-based) metallurgy in Mesoamerica is c.600 CE for ornamental valuables,
[1]
and the system closest to coinage ever practiced in Mesoamerica was the widespread use of cacao beans and copper axes as media of exchange during the Postclassic.
[2]
[1]: Shugar, Aaron N. and Scott E. Simmons. (2013) Archaeometallurgy in Mesoamerica: Current Approaches and New Perspectives. Boulder: University Press of Colorado, pg. 1-4. [2]: Berdan, Frances F., Marilyn A. Masson, Janine Gasco, and Michael E. Smith. (2003) "An International Economy." In Michael E. Smith and Frances F. Berdan (eds.) The Postclassic Mesoamerican World. Salt Lake City: The University of Utah Press, pg. 102. |
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"Metals were another story. Throughout all these times [before 500 BCE], and even much later, they were essentially unused in Mesoamerica. Teotihuacan’s predecessors [...] and Teotihuacan itself used only stone tools".
[1]
[1]: (Cowgill 2015: 40) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/JRFZPUXU. |
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"Metals were another story. Throughout all these times [before 500 BCE], and even much later, they were essentially unused in Mesoamerica. Teotihuacan’s predecessors [...] and Teotihuacan itself used only stone tools".
[1]
[1]: (Cowgill 2015: 40) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/JRFZPUXU. |
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Metalworking was not widely used in Mesoamerica, with metal products consisting mainly of small beads and ornaments.
[1]
[2]
[1]: Coe, M. D., Koontz, R. (2013) Mexico: From the Olmecs to the Aztecs (7th ed.) Thames and Hudson, London, p157 [2]: Kowalewski, S. A., Feinman, G. M., Finten, L., Blanton, R. E., Nicholas, L. M. (1989) Monte Albán’s Hinterland, Part II: Prehispanic settlement patterns in Tlacolula, Etla, and Ocotlan, The Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico, Volume II. Memoirs of the Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Number 23. Ann Arbor. |
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Metalworking was not widely used in Mesoamerica, with metal products consisting mainly of small beads and ornaments.
[1]
[2]
[1]: Coe, M. D., Koontz, R. (2013) Mexico: From the Olmecs to the Aztecs (7th ed.) Thames and Hudson, London, p157 [2]: Kowalewski, S. A., Feinman, G. M., Finten, L., Blanton, R. E., Nicholas, L. M. (1989) Monte Albán’s Hinterland, Part II: Prehispanic settlement patterns in Tlacolula, Etla, and Ocotlan, The Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico, Volume II. Memoirs of the Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Number 23. Ann Arbor. |
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Metalworking was not widely used in Mesoamerica, with metal products consisting mainly of small beads and ornaments.
[1]
[2]
[1]: Coe, M. D., Koontz, R. (2013) Mexico: From the Olmecs to the Aztecs (7th ed.) Thames and Hudson, London, p157 [2]: Kowalewski, S. A., Feinman, G. M., Finten, L., Blanton, R. E., Nicholas, L. M. (1989) Monte Albán’s Hinterland, Part II: Prehispanic settlement patterns in Tlacolula, Etla, and Ocotlan, The Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico, Volume II. Memoirs of the Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Number 23. Ann Arbor. |
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There was no steel/iron before the arrival of the Spanish.
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There was no steel/iron before the arrival of the Spanish.
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Newton’s and Williams’ comments suggest that iron tools were introduced in the colonial period: ’Shotguns, iron-ended spears, goggles, lanterns and nylon fishing nets made hunting and fishing easier and have, according to the villagers, contributed to decimation of game and fish as well as to a decreased need for co-operation in the tasks.’
[1]
’Fishing-spears. Any spear will serve on emergency for a fishing-spear, but nowadays it is frequently furnished with a point of iron wire. The fishing-spear proper, however (bosau or saita), which I have seen among the Bush People, has two prongs of palm wood bound on to a long light shaft. In some of the coastal villages is found a long leister or spear (sagi) furnished with perhaps ten prongs of hard-wood bound on to a light shaft about seven feet long.’
[2]
Wooden and stone tools were in use prior to colonization (see below). This remains in need of confirmation.
[1]: Newton, Janice. 1985. “Orokaiva Production And Change.”, 229 [2]: Williams, F. E. (Francis Edgar), and Hubert Murray. 1930. “Orokaiva Society.”, 57 |
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(NB: Mentioned only in a fishing, rather than military context.) Shotguns, iron-ended spears, goggles, lanterns and nylon fishing nets made hunting and fishing easier and have, according to the villagers, contributed to decimation of game and fish as well as to a decreased need for co-operation in the tasks.
[1]
Fishing-spears. Any spear will serve on emergency for a fishing-spear, but nowadays it is frequently furnished with a point of iron wire.
[2]
[1]: Newton, Janice. 1985. “Orokaiva Production And Change.”, 229 [2]: Williams, F. E. (Francis Edgar), and Hubert Murray. 1930. “Orokaiva Society.”, 57 |
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No evidence for weapons or armor, apart from arrowheads, spearheads, daggers and axes, have been found at Pirak. This may in part be due to preservation conditions at the site.
[1]
Frequent production and usage of iron in Baluchistan and Pakistan coincided with the Yaz I culture around 1500 BCE “as the smelting of iron daggers and arrowheads spread from the steppes”.
[2]
However, whilst agreeing iron was present at this time, Singh calls this popular view of an imported technology "a widely prevalent but misplaced belief that iron technology was introduced into the subcontinent by the Indo-Aryans.”
[3]
Kte’pi says the Iron Age arrived at the end of the Late Harappan culture, but iron smelting may have been present since 1600 BCE,
[4]
that is, before the Yaz I culture.
[1]: Jarrige, J-F. (1979) Fouilles de Pirak. Paris : Diffusion de Boccard. [2]: (Kelekna 2009, 14) Kelekna, Pita "The Politico-Economic Impact of the Horse on Old World Cultures: An Overview" in Mair, Victor H. ed. June 2009. Sino-Platonic Papers. Number 190. University of Pennsylvannia. [3]: (Singh 2008, 241) Singh, Upinder. 2008. A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century. Pearson Longman. Delhi. [4]: (Kte’pi 2012, 5) Kte’pi, Bill. in Stanton, Andrea L. ed. 2012. Cultural Sociology of the Middle East, Asia & Africa. An Encyclopedia. Sage. Los Angeles. |
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From beginning of Pirak III, iron weapons but not agricultural implements. First century BCE historian Diodorus Siculus narrates a 9th CE battle between a queen of Assyria (considered Shammuramat?) and an Indian polity in which the Indians used chariots.
[1]
[1]: Diodorus Siculus. Delphi Complete Works of Diodorus Siculus. Delphi Classics. |
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No evidence for iron has been found from the Mature Harappan period iron was introduced later during the Pirak and Vedic periods.
[1]
[2]
[1]: Cork, E. (2005) Peaceful Harappans? Reviewing the evidence for the absence of warfare in the Indus Civilisation of north-west India and Pakistan (c. 2500-1900 BC). Antiquity (79): 411-423. [2]: Jarrige, J-F. (1979) Fouilles de Pirak. Paris : Diffusion de Boccard. p379 |
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No evidence for iron has been found from the Mature Harappan period - iron was introduced later during the Pirak and Vedic periods.
[1]
[2]
[1]: Cork, E. (2005) Peaceful Harappans? Reviewing the evidence for the absence of warfare in the Indus Civilisation of north-west India and Pakistan (c. 2500-1900 BC). Antiquity (79): 411-423. [2]: Jarrige, J-F. (1979) Fouilles de Pirak. Paris : Diffusion de Boccard. p379 |
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The Sakha had a long tradition of iron weaponry: "Were the Yakut acquainted with all these metals before the coming of the Russians? One can give some kind of an answer only as concerns iron, copper, and silver. The antiquity of their acquaintance with these metals is not open to doubt. Legends which I wrote down on every conceivable subject constantly point to this. The heroes of their folk-lore constantly use iron weapons in fighting."
[1]
"The bifurcated iron arrow point ( c[unknown]yra ) and the bifurcated bone arrow point ( muos c[unknown]yra ) are characteristic of the Yakut. The following are the iron weapons formerly used in war and hunting though at present they are restricted to hunting..."
[2]
[1]: Sieroszewski, Wacław. 1993. “Yakut: An Experiment In Ethnographic Research.”, 635 [2]: Jochelson, Waldemar. 1933. “Yakut.” Anthropological Papers, 167 |
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Iron weaponry has a long tradition among the Sakha: "Were the Yakut acquainted with all these metals before the coming of the Russians? One can give some kind of an answer only as concerns iron, copper, and silver. The antiquity of their acquaintance with these metals is not open to doubt. Legends which I wrote down on every conceivable subject constantly point to this. The heroes of their folk-lore constantly use iron weapons in fighting."
[1]
"The bifurcated iron arrow point ( c[unknown]yra ) and the bifurcated bone arrow point ( muos c[unknown]yra ) are characteristic of the Yakut. The following are the iron weapons formerly used in war and hunting though at present they are restricted to hunting..."
[2]
[1]: Sieroszewski, Wacław. 1993. “Yakut: An Experiment In Ethnographic Research.”, 635 [2]: Jochelson, Waldemar. 1933. “Yakut.” Anthropological Papers, 167 |
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Little evidence of iron working during this period.
[1]
In Egypt! presumably. This is a Sudanese based polity: "It is thought that the seventh century Kushite king Taharqa ’deliberately initiated a large iron industry at Meroe after learning that the Assyrians had begun using iron weapons." Excavations suggest 10 tons of metal were produced per annum at Meroe."
[2]
The Butana Plain was deforested to produce the charcoal needed for the iron smelters at Meroe.
[3]
[1]: (Mokhtar ed. 1981, 312) [2]: J P Martin. 2016. African Empires: Volume 1: Your Guide to the Historical Record of Africa. Volume 1. Trafford Publishing. [3]: (Collins and Burns 2014, 61) Robert O Collins. James M Burns. 2014. A History of Sub-Saharan Africa. Second Edition. Cambridge University Press. New York. |
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At the earliest times bronze was preferred and iron had mainly ornamental uses.
[1]
In Eastern Anatolia "the shift from bronze to iron was more gradual than abrupt" and in some areas bronze was used into the 750-400 BCE period.
[2]
Iron was used for weapons and tools, and by non-elites, from the Urartian period after about 850 BCE.
[3]
In nearby Georgia, a regional center for iron smelting, massive finds of iron tools and weapons appear from about 700 BCE.
[4]
[1]: Angela Ryczkowski. April 25 2017. Weapons Used by Hittites. Sciencing. [2]: Lori Khatchadourian. The Iron Age in Eastern Anatolia. Sharon R Steadman. Gregory McMahon. eds. 2011. The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Anatolia: (10,000-323 BCE). Oxford University Press. Oxford. [3]: (Cifci 2017, 139) Ali Cifci. 2017. The Socio-Economic Organisation of the Urartian Kingdom. BRILL. Leiden. [4]: (Gamkrelidze 2013) Gamkrelidze, Gela. Researches in Iberia-Colchology (History and archaeology of ancient Georgia). Braund, David. ed. 2012. Georgia National Museum. |
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Preiser-Kapeller says present for armor.
[1]
Iron helmets on cavalry.
[2]
[1]: (Johannes Preiser-Kapeller 2015) Institute for Medieval Research, Division of Byzantine Research, Austrian Academy of Sciences) [2]: (O’Rourke 2010, 11) O’Rourke, M. 2010. The Land Forces of the Roman (Byzantine) Empire in the 10th Century. Canberra. |
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Technology not found in archaeological evidence until much later
|
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"Iron was first utilized as a technology of war around 1300 BCE by the Hittites."
[1]
At the earliest times bronze was preferred and iron had mainly ornamental uses.
[2]
In Eastern Anatolia "the shift from bronze to iron was more gradual than abrupt" and in some areas bronze was used into the 750-400 BCE period.
[3]
Iron was used for weapons and tools, and by non-elites, from the Urartian period after about 850 BCE.
[4]
In nearby Georgia, a regional center for iron smelting, massive finds of iron tools and weapons appear from about 700 BCE.
[5]
[1]: (Carey, Allfree and Cairns 2006, 25) [2]: Angela Ryczkowski. April 25 2017. Weapons Used by Hittites. Sciencing. [3]: Lori Khatchadourian. The Iron Age in Eastern Anatolia. Sharon R Steadman. Gregory McMahon. eds. 2011. The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Anatolia: (10,000-323 BCE). Oxford University Press. Oxford. [4]: (Cifci 2017, 139) Ali Cifci. 2017. The Socio-Economic Organisation of the Urartian Kingdom. BRILL. Leiden. [5]: (Gamkrelidze 2013) Gamkrelidze, Gela. Researches in Iberia-Colchology (History and archaeology of ancient Georgia). Braund, David. ed. 2012. Georgia National Museum. |
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At the earliest times bronze was preferred and iron had mainly ornamental uses.
[1]
In Eastern Anatolia "the shift from bronze to iron was more gradual than abrupt" and in some areas bronze was used into the 750-400 BCE period.
[2]
Iron was used for weapons and tools, and by non-elites, from the Urartian period after about 850 BCE.
[3]
In nearby Georgia, a regional center for iron smelting, massive finds of iron tools and weapons appear from about 700 BCE.
[4]
[1]: Angela Ryczkowski. April 25 2017. Weapons Used by Hittites. Sciencing. [2]: Lori Khatchadourian. The Iron Age in Eastern Anatolia. Sharon R Steadman. Gregory McMahon. eds. 2011. The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Anatolia: (10,000-323 BCE). Oxford University Press. Oxford. [3]: (Cifci 2017, 139) Ali Cifci. 2017. The Socio-Economic Organisation of the Urartian Kingdom. BRILL. Leiden. [4]: (Gamkrelidze 2013) Gamkrelidze, Gela. Researches in Iberia-Colchology (History and archaeology of ancient Georgia). Braund, David. ed. 2012. Georgia National Museum. |
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[1]
“Odrysian Cavalry javelins were 1.5 to 1.8 metres in length, and tipped with iron or bronze heads. They could be thrown immediately before contact or used as a thrusting weapon.”
[2]
[1]: Webber, C. (2003) Odrysian Cavalry, Army, Equipment and Tactics. Bar International Series 1139, pp. 529-554. p537 [2]: Webber, C. (2003) Odrysian Cavalry, Army, Equipment and Tactics. Bar International Series 1139, pp. 529-554. p549 |
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"Iron was first utilized as a technology of war around 1300 BCE by the Hittites."
[1]
At the earliest times bronze was preferred and iron had mainly ornamental uses.
[2]
In Eastern Anatolia "the shift from bronze to iron was more gradual than abrupt" and in some areas bronze was used into the 750-400 BCE period.
[3]
Iron was used for weapons and tools, and by non-elites, from the Urartian period after about 850 BCE.
[4]
In nearby Georgia, a regional center for iron smelting, massive finds of iron tools and weapons appear from about 700 BCE.
[5]
[1]: (Carey, Allfree and Cairns 2006, 25) [2]: Angela Ryczkowski. April 25 2017. Weapons Used by Hittites. Sciencing. [3]: Lori Khatchadourian. The Iron Age in Eastern Anatolia. Sharon R Steadman. Gregory McMahon. eds. 2011. The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Anatolia: (10,000-323 BCE). Oxford University Press. Oxford. [4]: (Cifci 2017, 139) Ali Cifci. 2017. The Socio-Economic Organisation of the Urartian Kingdom. BRILL. Leiden. [5]: (Gamkrelidze 2013) Gamkrelidze, Gela. Researches in Iberia-Colchology (History and archaeology of ancient Georgia). Braund, David. ed. 2012. Georgia National Museum. |
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This code was previously omitted so I added it here and coded as present as bronze had been in use by the previous polity and iron swords have been uncovered in Anatolia during this time
[1]
[1]: Altan Çilingiroğlu, ‘Ayanis: An Iron age Site in the East’, The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Anatolia: (10,000-323 BCE), Edited by Gregory McMahon and Sharon Steadman, 2011, p. 1060 |
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"The Illinois made tools and utensils out of many different materials obtained from nature, including wood, bone, antler, shell, and stone."
[1]
[1]: Illinois State Museum, The Illinois, Technology: Tools and Utensils (2000), http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/post/htmls/te_tools.html |
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Al-Kindi commented on the the high quality steel of the ancient Yemeni sword."
[1]
Hoyland dates the iron age in South Arabia from 1300-330 BCE.
[2]
(but provides no evidence for iron at the earliest times). "From the Hellenistic period onwards iron arrowheads begin to turn up in large quantities, many of which are likely to have been manufactured locally".
[3]
Likely iron/steel was imported from Sri Lanka and/or India. There is no evidence for an iron-smelting site in Yemen
[4]
The area, like East Africa, could have received iron imports from Sri Lanka toward the end of the first century BCE and was, in any case, conquered by iron-using Axum
[5]
by 200 CE. Historical records show "good quality Indian steel" was reaching Ethiopia in 200 BCE.
[6]
[1]: (Syvanne 2015, 134) Ilkka Syvanne. 2015. Military History of Late Rome 284-361. Pen and Sword. Barnsley. [2]: (Hoyland 2001, 36) Robert G Hoyland. 2001. Arabia and the Arabs: From the Bronze Age to the Coming of Islam. Routledge. London. [3]: (Hoyland 2001, 188) Robert G Hoyland. 2001. Arabia and the Arabs: From the Bronze Age to the Coming of Islam. Routledge. London. [4]: (Killick 2015) Killick, David. Cairo to Cape: The Spread of Metallurgy through Eastern and Southern Africa. Roberts, Benjamin W. Thornton, Christopher P. 2015. eds. Archaeometallurgy in Global Perspective: Methods and Syntheses. Springer. New York. [5]: (Carlson 2012, 119) Jon D Carlson. 2012. Myths, State Expansion, and the Birth of Globalization: A Comparative Perspective. Palgrave Macmillan. Basingstoke. [6]: (Biggs et al. 2013 citing Tripathi and Upadhyay 2009, p. 123) Lynn Biggs. Berenice Bellina. Marcos Martinon-Torres. Thomas Oliver Pryce. January 2013. Prehistoric iron production technologies in the Upper Thai-Malay Peninsula: metallography and slag inclusion analyses of ironartefacts from Khao Sam Kaeo and Phu Khao Thong. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences. Springer. |
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"Through trade with the Colonists, brass, steel, and iron war clubs replaced the wooden ones."
[1]
"The tomahawk succeeded the war-club, as the rifle did the bow. With the invention of this terrible implement of warfare the red man had nothing to do, except in having it so fashioned as to be adapted to his taste and usage. The tomahawk is known as widely as the Indian, and the two names have become apparently inseparable. They are made of steel, brass, or iron."
[2]
[1]: Lyford 1945, 45 [2]: Morgan & Lloyd 1901, 15 |
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Ornaments were usually made from bones and shells, and stonework was present in this period. Weapons were made of stone, wood, and bone. Not till after contact with Europeans and trade with them did Iroquois begin to use metals heavily in their weapons and ornaments.
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]
[1]: (Hasenstab 2001: 453) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/EQZYAI2R. [2]: (Snow 1996: 36) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/TQ4KR3AE. [3]: (Beauchamp 1968: 16) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/KJQLGMR6 [4]: Personal Communication with Peter Peregrine 2019. |
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Not mentioned by sources; it seems most Oneota technology derived from wood and stone
[1]
.
[1]: Illinois State Museum, Late Prehistoric, Technology: Weapons (2000), http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/pre/htmls/lp_weapons.html |
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"Between 1510 and 1540, the Ottomans aided the Uzbeks in manufacturing hand-held firearms that shot copper and iron balls. The Ottomans’ strategy was to arm the Uzbeks as a counterweight to the Safavids."
[1]
[1]: (Roy 2014, 47) Kaushik Roy. 2014. Military Transition in Early Modern Asia, 1400-1750: Cavalry, Guns, Government and Ships. Bloomsbury Academic. London. |
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"At the very start of the Iron Age, what are known as bronze-and-iron tools and weapons, those with an iron blade and a bronze handle, became widespread in Middle Asia (Soviet Central Asia). Iron soon made its way into all fields of warfare and daily life."
[1]
[1]: (Askarov 1992, 441) A Askarov. The beginning of the Iron Age in Transoxania. Ahmad Hasan Dani, Vadim Mikhailovich Masson. ed. History of Civilizations of Central Asia, Volume 1. The dawn of civilization: earliest times to 700 B.C. UNESCO. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Private Limited. Delhi. |
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First buildings with early agricultural system in Zerafshan valley associated with handmade pottery that provides "a provisional dating to the transition of the Bronze to the Iron Age after the middle of the second millennium BC (Francfort 2001)"
[1]
[1]: (Rapin 2007, 32) Rapin, Claude. "Nomads and the Shaping of Central Asia: from the Early Iron Age to the Kushan Period." in Cribb, Joe. Herrmann, Georgina. 2007. After Alexander: Central Asia before Islam. British Academy. |
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Al-Kindi commented on the the high quality steel of the ancient Yemeni sword."
[1]
Hoyland dates the iron age in South Arabia from 1300-330 BCE.
[2]
(but provides no evidence for iron at the earliest times). "From the Hellenistic period onwards iron arrowheads begin to turn up in large quantities, many of which are likely to have been manufactured locally".
[3]
Likely iron/steel was imported from Sri Lanka and/or India. There is no evidence for an iron-smelting site in Yemen
[4]
The area, like East Africa, could have received iron imports from Sri Lanka toward the end of the first century BCE and was, in any case, conquered by iron-using Axum
[5]
by 200 CE. Historical records show "good quality Indian steel" was reaching Ethiopia in 200 BCE.
[6]
[1]: (Syvanne 2015, 134) Ilkka Syvanne. 2015. Military History of Late Rome 284-361. Pen and Sword. Barnsley. [2]: (Hoyland 2001, 36) Robert G Hoyland. 2001. Arabia and the Arabs: From the Bronze Age to the Coming of Islam. Routledge. London. [3]: (Hoyland 2001, 188) Robert G Hoyland. 2001. Arabia and the Arabs: From the Bronze Age to the Coming of Islam. Routledge. London. [4]: (Killick 2015) Killick, David. Cairo to Cape: The Spread of Metallurgy through Eastern and Southern Africa. Roberts, Benjamin W. Thornton, Christopher P. 2015. eds. Archaeometallurgy in Global Perspective: Methods and Syntheses. Springer. New York. [5]: (Carlson 2012, 119) Jon D Carlson. 2012. Myths, State Expansion, and the Birth of Globalization: A Comparative Perspective. Palgrave Macmillan. Basingstoke. [6]: (Biggs et al. 2013 citing Tripathi and Upadhyay 2009, p. 123) Lynn Biggs. Berenice Bellina. Marcos Martinon-Torres. Thomas Oliver Pryce. January 2013. Prehistoric iron production technologies in the Upper Thai-Malay Peninsula: metallography and slag inclusion analyses of ironartefacts from Khao Sam Kaeo and Phu Khao Thong. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences. Springer. |
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Rifles were present: ’But al-jirafi goes on, more importantly, to relate that al-Ahmar wrote al-Mansur al-Husayn a brusque letter demanding a meeting. The Imam feared an attempt at assassination; so he’assassinated alAhmar first, stuck his head on a lance, and galloped off with it through a hail of bullets from the shaykh’s enraged tribesmen (aljirafi 1951: 182). In fact, al-Ahrnar, accompanied by Bin juzaylan of DhU Muhammad and by Ahmad Muhammad Hubaysh of Sufyan, seems to have come to ’Asir, just outside San’a’, to seek a settlement (Zabarah 1941: 539 and 1958: 486). The details are probably lost forever, and we are told only that al-Ahmar ’had wished to make independent his own rule of part of the country’ (ibid.), which he very well may have done; but al-Mansur alHusayn’s view of the matter, as recorded in the histories, has all the vigorous clarity of the Zaydi tradition. The taunt to the tribesmen at the time was, typically, that they were no better than polytheists: he brandished al-Ahmar’s head on his spear and cried ’this is the head of your idol’.’
[1]
[1]: Dresch, Paul 1989. "Tribes, Government and History in Yemen", 203p |
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Likely iron/steel was imported from Sri Lanka and/or India. There is no evidence for an iron-smelting site in Yemen
[1]
The area, like East Africa, could have received iron imports from Sri Lanka toward the end of the first century BCE and was, in any case, conquered by iron-using Axum
[2]
by 200 CE. Historical records show "good quality Indian steel" was reaching Ethiopia in 200 BCE.
[3]
[1]: (Killick 2015) Killick, David. Cairo to Cape: The Spread of Metallurgy through Eastern and Southern Africa. Roberts, Benjamin W. Thornton, Christopher P. 2015. eds. Archaeometallurgy in Global Perspective: Methods and Syntheses. Springer. New York. [2]: (Carlson 2012, 119) Jon D Carlson. 2012. Myths, State Expansion, and the Birth of Globalization: A Comparative Perspective. Palgrave Macmillan. Basingstoke. [3]: (Biggs et al. 2013 citing Tripathi and Upadhyay 2009, p. 123) Lynn Biggs. Berenice Bellina. Marcos Martinon-Torres. Thomas Oliver Pryce. January 2013. Prehistoric iron production technologies in the Upper Thai-Malay Peninsula: metallography and slag inclusion analyses of ironartefacts from Khao Sam Kaeo and Phu Khao Thong. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences. Springer. |
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Code inferred from Abbasid Caliphate
[1]
which occupied Yemen between 751-868 CE.
[1]: Hugh N Kennedy. 2001. The Armies of the Caliphs: Military and Society in the Early Islamic State. Routledge. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/SGPPFNAZ/q/kennedy |
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Code inferred from Abbasid Caliphate
[1]
which occupied Yemen between 751-868 CE.
[1]: Hugh N Kennedy. 2001. The Armies of the Caliphs: Military and Society in the Early Islamic State. Routledge. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/SGPPFNAZ/q/kennedy |
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