Iron is the last of the three Metal Ages of history, following the Copper and Bronze Ages. The Iron age begins c. 1200 BCE although dates vary by region. Use of iron and iron alloys open the doors of modern civilization. Iron is harder than other metals, even the alloy bronze, and needs higher temperatures to melt.
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Extracting metal from iron ores needs kilns or furnaces able to reach 1,500 °C (2,730 °F) or higher. Throughout the centuries of the Copper and Bronze Ages, humans have learned a thing or two about metals. Adaptations to equipment or process helped create ovens capable of higher temperatures.
Iron is one of the most common elements on planet Earth. It's the reason humans have red blood. The body of an adult human contains about 4 grams (0.005% body weight) of iron, mostly in hemoglobin and myoglobin.
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The main form of natural iron on the Earth's surface comes from metallic meteorites. About 99.9% of meteorites or meteorite fragments are magnetic. Iron-bearing rocks on Earth are also magnetic, the most common being magnetite. Iron is the most abundant element in the Earth's crust.
Meteoric iron was known to early people. Archeologists believe iron was discovered by the Hittites of ancient Egypt between 5000 - 3000 BCE. They hammered or pounded the metal to create tools and weapons. Iron deforms under pressure even without heat.
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Although iron is used for thousands of years previously, the Iron Age is defined by ore smelting and iron alloys. It begins about 1200 BCE in the south and 550 BCE in the Scandinavian, North Sea and Baltic realms. In 1200 BCE the world's a bit of a mess due to the Bronze Age collapse, but eventually gets over it.
The Iron Age offers opportunities like never before. Blacksmiths live a higher standard of life, as those of the previous Bronze Age sometimes used arsenic in copper alloys, which forms a harder type of bronze, but with predictable, sometimes fatal health effects to the metal worker.
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Even before the beginning of the Iron Age, some industrious metallurgists were already playing with steel. The first steelworks opened in Anatolia (Turkey) in 1800 BCE. To make steel, iron has to be separated from oxygen, then infused with a small amount of carbon.
This is accomplished by melting iron ore at extremely high temperatures (1,700° C or over 3,000° F) with coke, a type of coal commonly used for blacksmithing. It's made by heating coal or oil in the absence of air. A lot of elements including inquisitive minds had to come together to improve and perfect the process marking the beginnings of the Iron Age.
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Iron and smelted steel alloys made the first mass production of tools and weapons possible and desirable. With the production of carbon steel, advances in ferrous metallurgy result in tools or weapons harder and lighter than bronze.
Iron Ages developed differently across the world, but this period is a time of idea exchange, experimentation, heightened production and specialized work. It's the beginning of mass manufacturing centuries before the Industrial Revolutions. Strong iron cultures develop in the ancient Near East, Asia, Europe and Africa.
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In folklore, iron has magical qualities. It's said to keep evil Faerie magic away or diminish its power. An iron knife buried beneath the hearth protects the home from malevolent entities such as witches and demons. An iron knife can also stop harvest weather spirits in the form of whirlwinds such as the German Windsbraut.
Iron horseshoes hung over the door protect and bring luck to the home. An element of Fire and Earth, iron is equated with qualities of strength, determination, continuance, honor, courage, steely sharpness, shaping, building, progress and confidence in power.
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