This volume contains papers from The World of Iron Conference which took place at The Natural History Museum, London in 2009. Through a combination of thematic and regional sessions, the scope of the conference allowed for case studies from around the world to be presented side-by-side with theoretical and scientific papers. The papers not only illustrate the wealth of the global archaeometallurgical record, but also highlight the variety of approaches available to archaeologists and archaeometallurgists, and the innovative means by which these approaches are being applied to the diverse archaeometallurgical records around the world. It is intended that the papers in this book volume provide an overview of the state of research in their particular geographic and academic fields, and provide a useful platform for considering how research should and could move forward from this point.