While evergreens are known as an enduring symbol of the holidays, in the construction world, they’re used to celebrate a building carefully reaching its final height.

Known as the topping out ceremony, the tradition of hoisting an unadorned Christmas tree atop a project-in-progress has been around for ages, but many don’t really know what it stands for, nor its origins.

Natural Sources

In 8^th-century Scandinavia, where the first topping-out ceremonies took place, people used sheathes of grain instead of trees to commemorate reaching the highest point. But soon after, topping-out ceremonies spread throughout northern Europe, and people eventually began replacing plants with trees for the process.

Many cultures are rooted in nature, explaining why some see the growth of a tree to be representative of a growing building.

The custom has remained relevant in modern times, even as buildings are getting taller and taller. The ceremony is still being performed in northern Europe, and has even reached the shores of the U.S. and Australia.

A Meaningful Planting

Since topping-out ceremonies showed up in Europe, the tree has been placed on top of structures to celebrate a safe construction site (thus far), hope for a secure completion of a project and also as a blessing for the building and its future inhabitants.

But, like all ancient traditions, there has been speculation on the ceremony’s original purpose.

While most agree that the construction custom may have started in Scandinavia, there are others who claim the practice started in 2700 B.C. Egypt, where slaves placed a plant on top of a pyramid to honor slaves who died during its construction.

In the U.S., there is a tale that the first high rises were built by Native Americans, who believed that no man-made structure should be taller than a tree.

Later on, American ironworkers would adapt the topping out ceremony more elaborately, attaching an American flag to the tree, and also painting and signing the steel beam before it’s placed.

It’s observed simply because ironworkers are the first to reach the top – similar to how mountain climbers of astronauts celebrate reaching their destination.

Tree Top

Regardless of the actual story behind the topping out ceremony, it’s still a welcoming sight to see on a construction site during the holidays. It indicates that the project is going smoothly, and also is an optimistic harbinger for the building’s future.

It’s an unlikely place to see a lush evergreen, but the custom shows how our roots have stayed the same, even though modern materials, such as steel, have taken over heavy industry.

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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.