I believe the idea events of this nature have single origin are flawed. Yes, there are examples. No, I don't think achieving the higher temperatures to smelt iron ore was a single origin event. Use of fire prior to the iron age was too widespread as was lower temperature metalworking, and some cultures had access to meteoric iron and bog iron.
But that said, pushing back the date is awesome. And of course if pre iron age trade links with Indus Valley culture exist there's a distribution story. But, iron would be so significantly valuable either just in its own right as trade goods, or as IPR for trade, we would surely have the dispersal evidence.
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I believe the idea events of this nature have single origin are flawed. Yes, there are examples. No, I don't think achieving the higher temperatures to smelt iron ore was a single origin event. Use of fire prior to the iron age was too widespread as was lower temperature metalworking, and some cultures had access to meteoric iron and bog iron.
But that said, pushing back the date is awesome. And of course if pre iron age trade links with Indus Valley culture exist there's a distribution story. But, iron would be so significantly valuable either just in its own right as trade goods, or as IPR for trade, we would surely have the dispersal evidence.
I would tend to agree with you. However the fact that none of the amazing cultures in the Americas discovered iron smelting might suggest otherwise.
It has always puzzled me as to why.