Maker of Bronze and Iron Tools

Genesis 4:22 "Zillah bore Tubal-cain, who made all kinds of bronze and iron tools."

Was Tubal-cain the originator of the forging of bronze and iron? He seems to have lived in the middle of the Bronze Age and long before the Iron Age.

Unlike Jubal and the lyre (v. 20), Tubal-cain is not called the ancestor of all who forge bronze and iron tools. There might very well have been those who made tools and utensils out of these metals prior to Tubal-cain. However, the biblical figure is identified as someone who greatly improved the process (Radak).

While the Iron Age did not start until approximately 1,500 years after Tubal-cain's life, there is evidence of meteoric iron being used at that time and even earlier which can explain Tubal-cain's expertise in its forging (Hamilton).