Han dynasty (206 BC–AD 25): Throughout the early part of this dynasty, the Chinese made a rapid transition from the production of low-carbon iron to high-carbon cast iron, and there is evidence that they could produce heat-treated steel.
By the 4th century BC, southern India begin exporting Wootz steel, also known as Seric steel. Wootz steel is a crucible steel characterized by a pattern of bands and high carbon content. It was a pioneering steel alloy developed in India in the mid-1st millennium BC and exported globally.
476-1400 AD: At the start of the Middle Ages, notably in Western Europe, iron was still being made by a process of extracting a soft, spongy ball of iron—called a bloom—from the bottom of the furnace and then hammering the balls into bars of wrought iron. By the 1100s, water-powered hammers replaced hand hammers for forging out iron bars.
Tang Dynasty: The world’s first explosive, gunpowder, is inadvertently invented by several Chinese alchemists. Made of a mixture of sulphur, saltpeter and charcoal, the invention leads to the evolution of guns, cannons, artillery, and spurs ironmaking throughout Asia and Europe.
Although the Iron Age had ended around 550 BC, abundant supplies of iron ore were still available, and iron tools were still being made. The leading practitioners were the ancient Egyptians who may have used metal from meteorites to make iron objects.
Austria. Evidence that Central Europe made the transition from bronze to iron around this time is found in the historic cemetery of Hallstatt, now in Northern Austria. The kinds of implements and weapons used in the Bronze Age were now being made of iron.
Jordan. Earliest bloomery for smelting iron is established at Tell Hammeh, an archaeological Tell, or mound.
Song Dynasty: Earliest depiction of an iron cannon was created.
1000 – 900 BC: With the collapse of the Bronze Age and the end of the Mycenaean civilization in Greece as well as the Hittite Empire in Turkey, the Iron Age shifts in importance to Xinjiang region of China, where the “Silk Road,” an important trade route, became the crossroads of Central and East Asia.
The beginning of the Iron Age, an important era in human history lasting until at least 600 B.C., depending on the region. The Age is defined by people throughout much of Europe, Asia, and parts of Africa, who began making tools and weapons from iron and steel. It marked the end of the Bronze Age.
