Archaeologists claim that the iron about 3,000 to 3,400 years old they discovered for the first time in Gachong Village, Doilungdeqen County, southwestern Tibet Autonomous Region, is a symbol of the transition from the Bronze Age into the Iron Age of the ancient Tibetan people.

Located at the Gachong Village in Lhasa City, capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region, the site, which is 3,632 meters above sealevel, covers an area of nearly 10,000 square meters. Used as an earth field for quite a long time, nearly half of the site was severely damaged.

Archaeologists discovered at the site not only pottery used to smelt iron, iron remnants, animal bones, charcoal, ashes and houserelics, but also pottery fragments and chipped stone implements, said Gengdui, head of the archaeological team.

"It's the first time to discover a cultural relics site of the age both using iron and stone implements in the Tibet region," said Gengdui.

According to Gengdui, design and making techniques of the chipped stone implements and the pottery fragments are quite similar to the discoveries in the 3,700-years-old Qugong site, where a large number of bronze wares were excavated.

"Bronze wares unearthed in the Qugong site prove that about 4,000 years ago, ancient people living in today's Tibet region entered the Bronze Age. The iron discovered in Gachong, although still coarse and not mature, can be considered important evidence of the transition from the Bronze Age into the Iron Age of the local people," said Gengdui.

"So it will be of great significance for research on the beginning time of the Iron Age in the Tibet region," said Gengdui.