Iron is the last of three Metal Ages of history, after Copper (Chalcolithic) and Bronze Ages. The Iron Age arises c. 1200 BCE. Dates vary by region. Iron has a higher melt point than other metals, even the hard alloy bronze. Use of iron opens the doors of modern civilization.
Extracting metal from iron ores needs kilns or furnaces able to reach c. 1,500 °C (2,730 °F) or higher. During the Copper and Bronze Ages, humans learn a thing or two about metals. Adaptations to equipment or process help create furnaces 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.
The main form of natural iron on the Earth's surface comes from meteorites. About 99.9% of meteorites or meteorite fragments are magnetic. Iron-bearing rocks on Earth are magnetic, the most common being magnetite. Iron is the most abundant element in the Earth's crust.
Meteoric iron is well known to early people. First use of iron appear is in India and the near East, followed by Greece and quickly Egypt. Metal workers hammer and pound the metal to create tools and weapons. Even without heat, iron can deform under pressure.
The Iron Age is defined by iron ore smelting and iron alloys. On average it begins about 1200 BCE in the south and 550 BCE in the Scandinavian, North Sea and Baltic realms. The earliest signs of industrial scale iron work appear in Anatolia by c. 1800 BCE.
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.
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 absence of air.
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. Strong iron cultures develop in the ancient Near East, Asia, Europe and Africa.
In folklore, iron has magical qualities. It's said to keep evil elf magic away. An iron knife buried beneath the hearth stone 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 and determination.
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