One of those similarly minded folks is Nitin Deshpande, the founder of Wrought Iron World. He’s now known as the Wrought Iron Man, a metalworking artisan with more than 25 years of experience.

To be sure, the Tamil Nadu excavations are not the first in India to uncover iron. At least 27 sites across eight states have revealed evidence of early iron use, some dating back 4,200 years.