More time also meant that people could make extra supplies to sell or exchange. New varieties of crops and livestock were introduced at different times over the span of the Iron Age. Farmers could plow tougher soil, making it possible to harvest new crops and freeing time for more leisure. The production of iron tools helped make the farming process easier and more efficient. All essentials were made or grown locally.
Societies consisted of villages where communities of families worked the land and made necessities for living by hand. Most people were farmers, and their lives revolved around the farming seasons. Steel weapons and tools were nearly the same weight as those of bronze, but much stronger.īefore the Industrial Revolution, which would take place centuries later, the majority of people lived an agrarian lifestyle. By the time tin became available again, iron was cheaper, stronger and lighter, and forged iron replaced bronze tools permanently.ĭuring the Iron Age, the best tools and weapons were made from steel, particularly carbon alloys. The widespread use of the more readily available iron ore led to improved efficiency of steel-making technology. Many bronze objects were recycled into weapons during this time. It is believed that a shortage of tin forced metalworkers to seek an alternative to bronze. These iron fragments are the earliest known evidence of steel manufacturing. Iron fragments found in present day Turkey (c. These metals and their alloys can be cold-worked, but smelted iron requires hot-working and can be melted only in specially designed furnaces. Iron smelting is much more difficult than tin and copper smelting. Because iron is softer than bronze, it could be forged, making design move from rectilinear patterns to curvilinear, flowing designs. The differences from the preceding age of bronze were due to more advanced ways of processing iron. It is characterized by the use of iron in tools, weapons, personal ornaments, pottery and design. The beginning of the Iron Age differs from region to region. This is due to the introduction of alphabetic characters, which allowed literature to flourish and for societies to record historic texts. In historical archaeology, the earliest preserved manuscripts are from the Iron Age.
The adoption of iron and steel directly impacted changes in society, affecting agricultural procedures and artistic expression, and also coincided with the spread of written language. Iron production is known to have taken place as early as 1200 BC, though new archaeological evidence suggests even earlier dates. The Iron Age generally follows the Bronze Age, although some societies went from the Stone Age straight into the Iron Age. The first period of the ancient period is the Stone Age, followed by the Bronze Age. The ancient periods of world history are characterized by available materials used in tools for hunting, agriculture and weaponry. The Iron Age is the third principal period for classifying ancient societies and prehistoric stages of progress. Eras of human civilization and world history are split into three periods: ancient, post-classical (also known as medieval or the middle ages) and modern.
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