The Iron Age began in around 1200 BCE when the use of iron had become widespread in the Eastern Mediterranean. Iron-working first began in what is now Turkey between 1500 and 1300 BCE and by 700 BCE, it had spread throughout all of Europe. During the Iron Age, people across much of Europe, Asia and parts of Africa began making tools and weapons from iron and steel.
Iron melts at a higher temperature than bronze. It required smithing (heating and hammering) to make it into tools and implements. When blacksmiths learned how to make iron tools, they were able to make many of them. Iron could be shaped into finer and sharper objects. Iron tools were much stronger than bronze. With more and better tools, people could do more. Some people invented coins to help buy and sell their crops and their iron tools.
Iron plows were called ards. These were more efficient than bronze or wooden plows. Farmers were able to use ards to til heavier soils. So, they could farm their fields better and grow more crops. Farming became more productive and thus, the population began to rise.
The invention of the 'rotary quern' was the most important and time-saving invention of the Iron Age. It was used for grinding grain to make flour. The grain was placed between two circular stones and the top stone was turned or rotated using a handle. Grain was stored in granaries or in underground vaults. Meat or fish could be preserved by salting or smoking. As people began to produce and store more grain than they could use, they were able to trade the surplus. Land ownership and grain production became the way to gain wealth and power.
The people who first used iron tools are known as the Celts. They lived in tribes ruled by Chiefs or Kings and Queens. They were skilled metalworkers. Iron was used to make weapons, tools, cooking pots, horse harnesses, and nails.
Iron Age farmers grew crops and vegetables. They kept geese, goats, and pigs and had large herds of cows and flocks of sheep. Some people worked as potters, carpenters, and metalworkers. Men and boys trained as warriors.
Many of the people that lived during the Iron Age lived in hill forts. Hill forts were groups of thatched houses on top of a hill, surrounded by moats, walls, and ditches. People lived like this for protection, as wars were common during the Iron Age. Inside the hill forts, families lived in roundhouses. These were simple one-roomed homes with a pointed thatched roof and walls made from wattle and daub (a mixture of mud and twigs). In the center of a roundhouse was a fire where meals were cooked in a cauldron.
Tools and weapons in Iron Age
