It is true, as we have seen, that steppe-lands may be deserted in times of excessive drought, and there is some reason for believing that such a dry period occurred somewhere about this time, for it was in 1350 or 1300 /B.C./ that we must place the Aramean invasion from the Arabian steppe, which was such a serious menace to Shalmaneser I.[384] But this drought, even could we be sure that it affected a small upland steppe like that of Hungary, occurred somewhat too early for our purpose. There is also the alternative theory that too heavy a rainfall in the mountain regions might have made life unpleasant.[385] But this would have left a more marked effect upon the mountain zone than on the plain. There may, indeed, have been an exodus, in fact, we shall find reason for believing that this was so, but it is unlikely that the rich Hungarian plain was left long uninhabited. There remains the alternative explanation, the discovery of a new weapon, and I hope to give reasons for believing that this is the true solution, and that the new weapon was the iron sword. Some years ago M. Chantre investigated a large series of tombs in the basin of the Koban, just north of the Caucasus mountains. Here he found a culture, closely resembling in many details the remains found in the cemetery at Hallstatt. The earlier weapons were of bronze, but in most cases the swords, while retaining hilts of that metal, had blades of iron or steel.[386] It has been much disputed which of these two cemeteries, Hallstatt and the Koban, is the earlier, but I hope to show that the Koban graves must antedate those in Austria. M. Chantre extended his investigations to the other side of the mountains, and on the southern slope of the Caucasus found evidence of the culture of a humble, mountain folk, with rude pots, but, what is important for our purpose, he found in these graves spear-heads and small objects of iron.[387] Now Professor Gowland has told us that “In Western Asia there are two important districts where iron ores are of very extensive occurrence, and in which remains of early iron manufacture are found.” He adds, “from a metallurgical point of view, deduced from the extent and character of the ancient remains, there are strong reasons for believing that the first-mentioned region was the first in which the metal was regularly produced.” This first-mentioned region he describes as “on the south-east of the Euxine (ancient Paphlagonia and Pontus) extending from the modern Yeshil Irmak to Batum, and comprising a series of mountain ranges, not far from the coast, along the lower slopes and foot hills of which the iron deposits are scattered.”[388] The graves with the iron spear-heads described by Chantre are just at the north-eastern end of this region, while in the south-western lived later the Chalybes, who were renowned workers in iron in the sixth century.[389]