The Iron Age (8th-6th century BC) is the era during which man began to use iron ore in the production of various tools and utensils. Societies were becoming increasingly complex and contact with foreign peoples accelerated this process. In Catalonia, both contact with people from the other side of the Pyrenees and, later, with those of the Mediterranean, such as the Phoenicians, ushered in great changes.
Farming was diversified and agriculture was developed to the extent that it was now possible to produce a tradable surplus. Meanwhile, small settlements started to adopt a more organised and urban shape as a result of the new way of life that was just beginning.
Contact with peoples from Central Europe also led to a change in burial practices by introducing a new ritual: cremation. The dead were burned, often with their clothing, and their remains placed in an urn that was buried in a mass grave along with grave goods before being covered with a mound of stones.