"The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity."
Study of the tools and weapons used during the Iron Age, including Iron making and innovations in warfare like the use of chariots.
Weapons and Armor: This topic covers the various types of weapons and armor used during the Iron Age, including swords, spears, shields, helmets, and body armor.
Siege Warfare: This topic covers the tactics used in the art of siege warfare, including the construction of siege engines, tactics used by besiegers and defenders, and examples of famous sieges.
Military Strategy: This topic covers the methods used by ancient civilizations to conduct warfare, including formation tactics, ambushes, feints, and setting traps.
Military Technology: This topic covers the technological advancements of the Iron Age, including the development of iron weapons and armor, the use of horses in warfare, and advancements in engineering and construction techniques.
Military Organization: This topic covers the way ancient civilizations organized and structure their military forces, including the roles of different types of soldiers and commanders.
Naval Warfare: This topic covers the strategies and tactics used in naval warfare during the Iron Age, including the use of ships, rowing galleys, and naval engagements.
Logistics: This topic covers the logistics of conducting warfare during the Iron Age, including the importance of supply lines, logistics during sieges, and the use of logistics to enable successful campaigns.
Military Intelligence: This topic covers the use of intelligence gathering and espionage during times of war, including the use of spies and scouts to gather information about enemy movements.
Diplomacy and War: This topic covers the role of diplomacy in warfare, including the use of alliances and negotiation, and how political factors impacted military campaigns.
Ethical and Moral issues: This topic covers the ethical and moral issues surrounding war during the Iron Age, including the treatment of prisoners, the use of torture and execution, and the morality of warfare in general.
Weapons: Different types of weapons such as swords, spears, axes were invented in iron age warfare for battle purposes.
Armor: Armor was used to protect against weapons. Bronze and Iron age used different types of armor made from metal, leather, and other substances.
Transportation: Horses, chariots and camels were used to transport war materials, soldiers and goods for trading purposes.
Warfare machines: Different types of machines like catapults, battering rams, and siege towers were used for offense, defense, and in battles with enemies.
Fortifications: Different kinds of forts, walls, and other structures were constructed to protect against enemies.
Communication: Different signals or messages were used to communicate important information, mostly signaling through fire or sound.
Navigation: Different navigational tools like compasses, maps, and other devices were used to navigate on land, water, and air.
Metalworking: Iron Age brought mastery over metals and different accessories like armor, weapons which were fabricated for military purposes.
Military art: Military art including various tactics, strategies, and methods were devised to gain an upper hand in battle.
Agriculture: Agriculture played a vital role with different crops, breeding animals, and other products. The farmers used plows to produce crops to support the military.
"It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age."
"The concept has been mostly applied to Iron Age Europe and the Ancient Near East."
"The 'Iron Age' begins locally when the production of iron or steel has advanced to the point where iron tools and weapons replace their bronze equivalents in common use."
"The discovery of iron smelting and smithing techniques was invented in Anatolia, the Caucasus or Southeast Europe in the late 2nd millennium BC (c. 1300 BC)."
"This transition took place in the wake of the Bronze Age collapse, in the 12th century BC."
"The technology soon spread throughout the Mediterranean Basin region and to South Asia (Iron Age in India) between the 12th and 11th century BC."
"Its further spread to Central Asia, Eastern Europe, and Central Europe is somewhat delayed."
"Northern Europe was not reached until around the start of the 5th century BC."
"The Iron Age is taken to end, also by convention, with the beginning of the historiographical record."
"For the Ancient Near East, the establishment of the Achaemenid Empire c. 550 BC is traditionally and still usually taken as a cut-off date."
"In Central and Western Europe, the Roman conquests of the 1st century BC serve as marking for the end of the Iron Age."
"The Germanic Iron Age of Scandinavia is taken to end c. AD 800, with the beginning of the Viking Age."
"The Iron Age is taken to begin with the ironworking Painted Grey Ware culture."
"Recent estimates suggest that it ranges from the 15th century BC, through to the reign of Ashoka in the 3rd century BC."
"The use of the term 'Iron Age' in the archaeology of South, East, and Southeast Asia is more recent and less common than for Western Eurasia."
"In China, written history started before iron-working arrived, so the term is infrequently used."