Iron and the Iron Age presents a comprehensive account of the adoption of ironworking in Europe and Western Asia. The study is mainly based on archaeological evidence, but the early introduction of iron in the Near East also takes account of the written sources. After the fundamental innovation of iron production by smelting iron ores, iron use spread at an ever-increasing rate between the 12th and 9th centuries BC – eventually reaching a vast area between the Atlantic coast in the west and the North China Plain in the east.
The book mainly concentrates on the adoption of iron in the Near East and southern Europe, but also includes discussions of early ironworking in Central Europe, the North Pontic steppe and the regions north and south of the Caucasus. The changing conceptualization of bronze and iron is another theme which receives detailed attention.
In the final part of the book, the study turns to the concept of an 'Iron Age', and the fundamental culture-historical disjunctions and transformations which can be observed in many regions at the time of the introduction of iron.