If a civilization was discovered with Iron Age technology before what is the currently accepted beginning of the Iron Age, wouldn't that just mean the Iron Age started earlier than previously thought?
I would argue that it needs to be more or less continuous, if we lost the technology it's a different age imo. Or at least, you can't go back globally multiple ages :) if multiple civilizations discover iron working from an otherwise similar stage of technology but aren't entirely continuous then I think it's reasonable to combine them, but if they all go back to the stone age and start from scratch I'd argue it doesn't make sense to combine them.
> I would argue that it needs to be more or less continuous, if we lost the technology it's a different age imo.
You're looking at history through modern eyes. Back in the past there was no collective `we`, we were much more separated as a species than we are now.
The idea that there is a global 'us' is a very, very new idea.
Also whole Iron Age as term is rather weird and location specific. In Europes there are places where it is considered to ended in 1200-1300.. Yes, during Middle Ages...
It would also mean that technology - and human condition - remained stagnant for half million years. If true it has [no good] implications for [the answer to] the so called Fermi Paradox.
