In a finding that may alter the understanding of the antiquity of iron in the Indian subcontinent, a report released by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Thursday said introduction of iron in modern-day Tamil Nadu went back to the first quarter of the 4th millennium BCE.

The Tamil Nadu government announced groundbreaking archaeological research that revealed iron production origins in the state. According to Chief Minister MK Stalin, the latest research challenged existing historical understanding of the Indian subcontinent.

The use of iron in Tamil Nadu can be dated back to the first quarter of the 4th millennium BCE, according to fresh findings published by the State’s Archaeology Department, Chief Minister M.K. Stalin said during an event at the Anna Centenary Library in Chennai on Thursday (January 23,

New DNA analysis reveals women's central role in Iron Age Britain, uncovering a matrilineal society that shaped social and political power.

Geneticist Lara Cassidy wasn’t surprised to find several generations of the same family buried in an Iron Age cemetery near Dorset, England. But she was quite surprised to find most of them were related along a single matrilineal line.

Stalin also posted documents outlining the results of scientific dating studies on five samples of clay urns excavated from an iron-age burial site near Sivagalai village in Tuticorin district that suggest they are between 3,

Iron Age in Tamil Nadu may have begun around 3,345 BCE, a thousand years earlier than previously believed, new carbon dating from burial urns in Sivag

The Iron Age, when the discovery of iron smelting technology helped revolutionise agriculture, war and construction, is considered to have begun around 1,400 BCE - 1,500 BCE in India

Roman writers found the relative empowerment of Celtic women in British society remarkable, according to surviving written records. New DNA research from the University of Bournemouth shows one of the ways this empowerment manifested—inheritance through the female line.

A groundbreaking study reveals evidence that, in Iron Age Britain, land inheritance followed the female line, with husbands relocating to live within their wives' communities. This marks the first documented instance of such a system in European prehistory.

Fragments of copper alloy unearthed at one of Britain's most important archaeology sites have been revealed to be parts of an incredibly rare Iron Age helmet. The discovery was made by the British Museum during a 15-year project analysing 14 hoards of gold,

"Based on results from world-renowned institutions, the use of iron in Tamil Nadu dates back to the beginning of 4th millennium B.C.E., establishing that iron usage was prominent in South India over 5,300 years ago," the Chief Minister said.