1000-300 BC Iron Age

During this period iron widely replaced bronze for making weapons and tools. Prior to this iron had been only rarely used in small amounts for highly prestigious items. With the development of iron-working technology and the discovery of easily-accessible iron sources it became possible to work much larger quantities. The hardness and durability of iron brought changes in agriculture, warfare and craftsmanship.

Initially people lived in scattered farmsteads but during the 10th and 9th centuries BC hut villages were built in easily defended places. These villages marked the move towards town living and the development of city-states. From the 8th century BC the Etruscan culture was the most sophisticated and technologically advanced in Italy. Their wealth was based on trading copper and iron with the Greeks, Egyptians and Phoenicians. As well as ancient Etruria (roughly modern Tuscany and part of Lazio), they inhabited large areas to the north, along the Po Valley, and Campania in the south. They also established settlements in Corsica and on the southern coasts of Spain and France.

Their predominance fell dramatically in the 5th and 4th centuries BC after a series of battles with the Greeks and hostilities with the Latins, Samnites and Gauls. The Etruscans influenced the technology, art, religion and laws of their successors, the Romans, who subsequently conquered the whole Italian peninsula.