[JacobAldridge]

"Precocious" means roughly "premature", or "appearing before its time". So the word is used correctly here to talk about Iron artifacts appearing before they 'should' in the Iron Age.

[davidhakendel]

Ah. I see how that was used. It was another nod to the disbelief of people's knowledge prior to the iron age. Thank you.

[bookofjoe]

You are indeed a close, careful reader. Kudos!