Iron Age
Iron Making Technology
A thousand years before the age of empires in Rome and Greece, the Iron Age was ushered into the world with the clank and clatter of the blacksmith's anvil. The transition from the Bronze Age occurred at different times in different spots on the globe, but when and where it did, the distinctive dark metal brought with it significant changes to daily life in ancient society, from the way people grew crops to the way they fought wars.
Iron has remained an essential element for more than 3,000 years, through the Industrial Revolution helping Britain become the foremost industrial power – and into today in its more sophisticated form, steel.
People in parts of western Africa and southwestern Asia were the first to realize that the dark-silvery rocks poking out of the earth could be worked into tools and weapons, sometime around 1500 B.C., evidence shows. The metal was probably discovered there by accident when some ore was dropped into a fire and cooled into wrought iron, historians think. The eureka moment didn't reach Europe for another 500 years, traveling slowly north and west through Greece, Italy, central Europe and finally to the British Isles with the spread of the famous Celtic tribes. The Celts diffused iron technology over much of the continent through warfare, where their victory was assured due to the strength of iron weapons.
Perhaps not the most peaceful of cultural exchanges, but where the technology did travel, it caught on fast. Iron made life a lot easier in those days, when just living to the age of 45 was a feat. By that time, much of Europe had settled into small village life, toiling the soil with bronze and stone tools. Iron farming tools, such as sickles and plough tips, made the process more efficient and allowed farmers to exploit tougher soils, try new crops and have more time for other activities.
Some families spent their new free time making salt, sewing clothes and crafting luxuries such as
A thousand years before the age of empires in Rome and Greece, the Iron Age was ushered into the world with the clank and clatter of the blacksmith's anvil. The transition from the Bronze Age occurred at different times in different spots on the globe, but when and where it did, the distinctive dark metal brought with it significant changes to daily life in ancient society, from the way people grew crops to the way they fought wars.
Iron has remained an essential element for more than 3,000 years, through the Industrial Revolution helping Britain become the foremost industrial power – and into today in its more sophisticated form, steel.
People in parts of western Africa and southwestern Asia were the first to realize that the dark-silvery rocks poking out of the earth could be worked into tools and weapons, sometime around 1500 B.C., evidence shows. The metal was probably discovered there by accident when some ore was dropped into a fire and cooled into wrought iron, historians think. The eureka moment didn't reach Europe for another 500 years, traveling slowly north and west through Greece, Italy, central Europe and finally to the British Isles with the spread of the famous Celtic tribes. The Celts diffused iron technology over much of the continent through warfare, where their victory was assured due to the strength of iron weapons.
Perhaps not the most peaceful of cultural exchanges, but where the technology did travel, it caught on fast. Iron made life a lot easier in those days, when just living to the age of 45 was a feat. By that time, much of Europe had settled into small village life, toiling the soil with bronze and stone tools. Iron farming tools, such as sickles and plough tips, made the process more efficient and allowed farmers to exploit tougher soils, try new crops and have more time for other activities.
Some families spent their new free time making salt, sewing clothes and crafting luxuries such as