Phil Kohn, age 16, of Reno, Nev., for his question:
WHEN WAS THE IRON AGE?
The Iron Age is the period of time in man's cultural history when iron was the material most used for tools and weapons. It came after the Stone and Bronze ages. It started about 1,200 B.C. and it has continued to the present time.
Actually, the Iron Age started at different times in various places. Iron replaced bronze in tools in southeastern Europe about 1,200 B.C. But then ironworking spread rather slowly with the help of Phoenician and Etruscan sailors to all of the known parts of the world.
It wasn't until about 750 B.C. that the Iron Age crossed the Alps into Europe. It reached England about 500 B.C.
Because iron had so many more uses than bronze, the start of the Iron Age marked a very important advance for civilization. Iron tools, as an example, were found to be much stronger than the old bronze tools. Also, armies with iron weapons were able to defeat armies that used bronze weapons.
The Greeks were using weapons of iron at the time of the Trojan War, although bronze weapons were still common. The people of Scandinavia were still using bronze as late as the time of Christ.
Iron was not known in the New World before the time of Columbus. And even today there are a few primitive peoples of the world who have never used products made of iron.
The first signs of the Iron Age actually go back to about 3000 B.C. Some Middle East people started to make tools by beating and hammering iron from meteors. The oldest pieces of such iron in existence are Egyptian sickle blades and a crosscut saw.
True iron working was first used in Asia Minor, which is now part of Turkey, about 1100 B.C. The great advantage of iron turned out to be its cheapness because iron ore is abundant and widespread. Craftsmen could finally afford metal tools, including iron plows.
The Greek poet Homer spoke of iron as something precious, like gold.
During the Iron Age many inventions, such as the alphabet, came into being. People started using coins. Improved trade, transportation and communication also helped civilization expand and progress during the Iron 'Age .
Iron is one of the metal elements found in the Earth. Its chemical symbol is "Fe" from the Latin word "ferrum," meaning iron.
Steel is made from iron. It is a rather new product. Present steel making processes are only about 100 years old.
Iron truly came into its own in the middle of the 19th Century when the blast furnace came into use. After this, the use of iron spread dramatically.
The two common iron ores are hematite and magnetite, or loadstone. More than 90 percent of the iron today comes from these two ores.