Iron metallurgy

Timeline of adoption

Likely independent adoption    Adopted after contact with an earlier adopter

Full list, earliest first

1. Elamite Civilization Southwestern Iran 2,700 BCE – 539 BCE Independent
2. Hittite Empire Anatolia 1,600 BCE – 1,178 BCE Independent
3. Vedic Civilization Northern Indian subcontinent 1,500 BCE – 500 BCE Independent
4. Phoenician City-States Levantine coast 1,200 BCE – 539 BCE Independent
5. Kingdom of Kush Nubia, Northeast Africa 1,070 BCE – 350 CE Post-contact
6. Neo-Assyrian Empire Mesopotamia and the Near East 911 BCE – 609 BCE Post-contact
7. Etruscan Civilization Central Italy 900 BCE – 27 BCE Independent
8. Carthaginian Empire North African coast and western Mediterranean 814 BCE – 146 BCE Post-contact
9. Achaemenid Persian Empire Iranian Plateau to the Indus 550 BCE – 330 BCE Post-contact
10. Roman Republic Italian Peninsula, expanding to Mediterranean 509 BCE – 27 BCE Post-contact
11. Classical Athens Attica, Greece 508 BCE – 322 BCE Post-contact
12. Maurya Empire Indian subcontinent 322 BCE – 185 BCE Post-contact
13. Parthian Empire Iranian Plateau to Mesopotamia 247 BCE – 224 CE Independent
14. Qin Dynasty Yellow River to Yangtze, East Asia 221 BCE – 206 BCE Independent
15. Han Dynasty East Asia 206 BCE – 220 CE Post-contact
16. Roman Empire Mediterranean basin and Western Europe 27 BCE – 476 CE Post-contact
17. Kingdom of Aksum Horn of Africa 100 CE – 940 CE Post-contact
18. Sassanid Empire Iranian Plateau and Mesopotamia 224 CE – 651 CE Post-contact
19. Gupta Empire Northern Indian subcontinent 320 CE – 550 CE Independent
20. Byzantine Empire Eastern Mediterranean and Anatolia 330 CE – 1453 CE Post-contact
21. Khmer Empire Southeast Asia 802 CE – 1431 CE Independent
22. Kingdom of Zimbabwe Southern Africa 1220 CE – 1450 CE Independent