Colloque UISPP Paris, session XXXIV-3, Contribution: le fer en Grèce, 1200-500 (original) (raw)

Iron was not used for utilitarian purposes before the Iron I (late 12th century BCE) and that iron only became dominant concurrently with the beginning of its systematic production during the Iron IIA (10th-9th centuries BCE). A strong correlation between iron and bronze production suggests that during the Iron I local independent bronzesmiths adopted the new iron technology. Under local administrations that developed during the Iron IIA, workshops that previously produced bronze turned to iron production, although they continued to manufacture bronze items as a secondary venture. Significantly, at some of the major urban centers iron production was an independent industry that included the entire operational sequence, including the onsite smelting of the ore. This development appears to have been a major contributor to the transition to systematic production of iron.