From Bronze to Iron
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. In historical archaeology, the earliest preserved manuscripts are from the Iron Age. This is due to the introduction of alphabetic characters, which allowed literature to flourish and for societies to record historic texts.
The beginning of the Iron Age differs from region to region. It is characterized by the use of iron in tools, weapons, personal ornaments, pottery and design. The differences from the preceding age of bronze were due to more advanced ways of processing iron. Because iron is softer than bronze, it could be forged, making design move from rectilinear patterns to curvilinear, flowing designs.

Iron smelting is much more difficult than tin and copper smelting. 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 fragments found in present day Turkey (c. 1800 BC) show the use of carbon steel. These iron fragments are the earliest known evidence of steel manufacturing.
It is believed that a shortage of tin forced metalworkers to seek an alternative to bronze. Many bronze objects were recycled into weapons during this time. The widespread use of the more readily available iron ore led to improved efficiency of steel-making technology. By the time tin became available again, iron was cheaper, stronger and lighter, and forged iron replaced bronze tools permanently.
During the Iron Age, the best tools and weapons were made from steel, particularly carbon alloys. Steel weapons and tools were nearly the same weight as those of bronze, but much stronger.

Iron Age: Daily Life
Before the Industrial Revolution, which would take place centuries later, the majority of people lived an agrarian lifestyle. Most people were farmers, and their lives revolved around the farming seasons. Societies consisted of villages where communities of families worked the land and made necessities for living by hand. All essentials were made or grown locally.
The production of iron tools helped make the farming process easier and more efficient. Farmers could plow tougher soil, making it possible to harvest new crops and freeing time for more leisure. New varieties of crops and livestock were introduced at different times over the span of the Iron Age.
More time also meant that people could make extra supplies to sell or exchange. Some farming families spent part of their time making salt, quern stones or iron. Most settlements have evidence of making clothes, woodworking and even blacksmithing.
Iron has been enhancing the quality of life for centuries. As more advanced technologies for processing iron were discovered, the world would experience the most rapid period of growth.

Just as civilizations experienced rapid advancement during and after the Iron Age, the fourth industrial revolution of today is changing the dynamics of markets and industries. Find out more about how companies should adapt and capitalize on the change, including steel companies.

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[Iron is the Future] blog post series will explore the history of the iron and speculate on how it will unfold in the future.

Iron has had a significant impact on the advance of human civilization. Do you know how iron, which is now taken for granted and used widely, entered our lives in the first place?

Today, to kick off the first edition of [Iron is the Future] series, we have prepared the behind story of the emergence of iron on Earth, as well as, various origin theories of iron.

How is Iron, number 26 on the periodic table and the fundamental element of life forms, made?

Atomic number 26 Fe, a.k.a. iron, makes up 35% of Earth’s mass and 5.2% of Earth’s crust. The abundant metal is truly one of Earth’s essential building blocks.  As mentioned in our previous post, there are 3 grams of iron even in the human body. Let’s take a look at how it’s made.

Long, long time ago, in a galaxy far away, iron was born during a nuclear fusion reaction within a star. During the initial stages following the Big Bang, no elements that were heavier than hydrogen or helium existed. In other words, iron didn’t even exist in the very beginning.

Nonetheless, all elements have the tendency to return to the most stable state. In order to achieve this, elements continuously go through nuclear fusion and fission. Since iron is the most stable element in the universe, all elements naturally try to convert to it.

However, lighter elements require extreme heat to become iron through nuclear fusion, and to obtain such heat, extreme pressure is necessary. The only place that fulfills such requirements is within a giant star. Thus,  iron is  born when a giant star explodes into a supernova. This is why stars are nicknamed “Iron Factories in Space”.

How much iron is there in Earth?

Like we said, all elements have the tendency to turn into iron, the most stable element in the universe. Let’s see how much iron, one of the most widely used metals, makes up the Earth.

Iron accounts for a third of Earth’s mass. Most of it exists not in the crust, but within the core. It exists as a liquid in the outer core and as a solid in the inner core. In fact, 91% of the Earth’s core is made up of iron!

The iron within the outer core forms Earth’s magnetic field as it rotates along with the Earth. Though the force of Earth’s magnetic field is negligible compared to that of magnets, it nonetheless plays a very important role. The reason why have compasses to show us direction and help us tell north from south is due to Earth’s magnetic field!

Furthermore, the iron in Earth’s core makes our planet habitable by forming Earth’s magnetic field which protects us from solar wind.

Then why is it so important to not be directly exposed to solar wind?

The upper atmospheric layer of the Sun emits plasma, which is what we call solar wind. Plasma, in turn, is essentially for the flow of electrons and protons which is known as radiation. Space radiation, if exposed, could 1) alter our DNA which will lead to cancer; 2) take away the electrons from the atoms that form our bodies; or 3) be absorbed by the atoms. All three scenarios will inevitably make life unsustainable.  If there were no iron in Earth’s core, there would be no magnetic field to shield us and we wouldn’t be able to exist on Earth in the first place.

Are you curious about the various origin theories of iron? There are three theories about the birth of iron, let’s find out now!

Theory 1: A Mistake

The first theory is that the discovery of iron was, interestingly, a mistake. This theory posits that our ancestors mistook iron for chalcopyrite, an ingredient of bronze, which happened to be of similar shade and color. This theory becomes plausible when we assume that our ancestors already had the technology to manufacture bronze during the Bronze Age.

Theory 2: Wildfire

Next is the wildfire theory. This theory argues that a wildfire melted the iron ore that emerged on the earth’s surface, thus allowing our ancestors to discover iron. According to this theory, prehistoric humans took the now deoxidized and exposed iron ore and molded it into different shapes for use.

In general, the fire we use daily seldom goes over 800℃, which is insufficient heat to deoxidize iron ore. However, a wildfire in thick, prehistoric jungles could have been much larger and may have lasted for much longer, which makes the wildfire theory possible.

Theory 3: Meteorites

Last but not least is the meteorite theory. This theory posits that humankind discovered iron from fallen meteorites. In fact, many of the meteorites which landed on Earth contain abundant iron, which is called meteorite iron. Meteorites, which are an alloy of iron and nickel, are reported to contain 4~20% nickel and 0.3%~1.6% cobalt.

The most plausible of the aforementioned theories is the first one, which states that our ancestors mistook iron for bronze. According to ancient documents and ruins, humankind first began to use iron around BC 4,000 in the Asia Minor region. Also, evidence claims that iron refining technology existed around 3,000 B.C. in Mesopotamia and Egypt.

From cars to ships, planes, homes, various daily necessities, iron is indeed all around us. We hope this post provided some enlightenment around Iron. Look forward to our part 2 in the [Iron is the Future] series.