The Bronze Age, with monuments testifying to a glorious rich elite, declined quite rapidly once iron was around, stronger and more practical. Yet iron would only become common, more then bronze ever was, a few centuries later, perhaps due to climate stress. Whereas painstakingly produced bronze was a reference in its own right, beyond practical and cult use, to express wealth as well as obtain it, the easier, hence 'cheap' iron technology would 'only' enable a revolution in real agricultural productivity, allowing major population growth and spatial division, for the first time carving out single family-homes and plots as in historical times.
—KGF Vissers