When the bronze supply chains collapsed, the alternative was iron.

Iron ore was widely available — far more so than tin — and while early iron working produced a metal that was in some ways inferior to bronze, improvements in technique over the following centuries eventually produced iron that was harder and more durable than bronze.

The Iron Age that emerged from the collapse was, in many technological respects, an advancement over the Bronze Age it replaced.

The Sea Peoples appear to have been connected to the spread of iron-working technology in ways that are still being worked out by archaeologists.