Iron Age America

In Europe and the near east, they entered the Iron age approximately the same time period.
I was wondering a couple of things.
1. Why didn't some type of Iron Age occur in the Americas with the Mayans, Aztecs, Incans, or any of the other empires from the region?
2. What would it take(besides western intervention) to start an Iron Age in the Americas before the Europeans arrived?
3. If they could achieve an Iron age before the Europeans arrived, how differently would this have changed exploration, conquering, and colonization of the region?
 
the late start, for one thing... humans were tinkering with things in the old world long before they ever got to the new world.
Second, they lacked the old world's agricultural package... Corn being the only cereal, and a difficult one to develop at that. No pigs, no cattle, no sheep. No horses for riding and power.
Basically, the New World had a late start, and were at a big disadvantage food-wise...
 
I was wondering a couple of things.
1. Why didn't some type of Iron Age occur in the Americas with the Mayans, Aztecs, Incans, or any of the other empires from the region?

Read: Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared Diamond. It explains in detail why American civilizations hadn't developed so fast as the Old World civilizations.

2. What would it take(besides western intervention) to start an Iron Age in the Americas before the Europeans arrived?

A copper age and bronze age :p You see, New World civilizations hadn't even mastered that by the time Europeans came. The idea that they could master iron metallurgy without any knowledge of the necessary evolutionary steps (copper metallurgy, bronze) is extremelly implausible.

3. If they could achieve an Iron age before the Europeans arrived, how differently would this have changed exploration, conquering, and colonization of the region?

It would have slowed it down since the natives would have had more effective weapons, possibly even body armor. On the other hand, Europeans had thousands of years of experience, much more effective military doctrine, gunpowder and variety of deadly bacteria/viruses to spread among the natives.

Once again I say - the Native Americans were doomed from the day Columbus saw their land.
 
A copper age and bronze age :p You see, New World civilizations hadn't even mastered that by the time Europeans came. The idea that they could master iron metallurgy without any knowledge of the necessary evolutionary steps (copper metallurgy, bronze) is extremelly implausible.

Actually, the Inca were well into their Bronze Age when the Spanish arrived, bronze having been discovered in the Andes c. 1250 AD. Some of the cultures of Mesoamerica (the Tarascans, for example) were just entering their Bronze Age when the Spanish arrived.
 
Originally Posted by Winner
A copper age and bronze age :p You see, New World civilizations hadn't even mastered that by the time Europeans came. The idea that they could master iron metallurgy without any knowledge of the necessary evolutionary steps (copper metallurgy, bronze) is extremelly implausible.

Actually, the Inca were well into their Bronze Age when the Spanish arrived, bronze having been discovered in the Andes c. 1250 AD. Some of the cultures of Mesoamerica (the Tarascans, for example) were just entering their Bronze Age when the Spanish arrived.

And the Mississippian tribes were well into their copper age. In the far north of Canada, the city of Yellowknife is named after the native tribe, Yellowknives, who used copper to make their knives.

Those are all the examples I know of. With more time, native technology would definately progress (if the Old World doesn't come along) but there is always the serious problem of a poor domestication package.

Also, it's not impossible to go from a Neolithic age to the Iron Age (sub-Sarahan Africa), but it's seems really unlikely.
 
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Much of the iron ore in America is in the northern midwest and great lakes areas: quite a distance from the most developed societies of Mexico.

Now, there were ample deposits of galena ore in what is now southern Missouri. The natives might have established a "lead age." Streams, limestone caves and spring water are also abundant in that region. The water would be sufficiently alkali nature so as not to leech much lead into pipes and cisterns, so lead components might be less toxic than they were in classical Rome.
 
And the Mississippian tribes were well into their copper age. In the far north of Canada, the city of Yellowknife is named after the native tribe, Yellowknives, who used copper to make their knives.

Well, that's not quite true. The Mississippian tribes were harvesting native copper and hammering it. Unlike the Inca and the Tarascans, there is no real evidence that they ever learned to smelt it. The Missississippians were Stone Age people who happened to use some copper, not truly Copper Age people.
 
Well, that's not quite true. The Mississippian tribes were harvesting native copper and hammering it. Unlike the Inca and the Tarascans, there is no real evidence that they ever learned to smelt it. The Missississippians were Stone Age people who happened to use some copper, not truly Copper Age people.

K, thanks for the correction. I read that on Wikipedia a while ago, and when I checked the same page today, it had been updated and corrected.
 
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