Interesting facts about iron age: Top 10 Facts about The Iron Age — Fun Kids

Top 10 Facts about The Iron Age — Fun Kids

 

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Do you want to learn about the Iron Age? Well you’ve come to the right place! Check out these 10 facts about the Iron Age…

1. The Iron Age was between 500 BC to 43 AD in Britain.

The date range of the Iron Age varied across the world.

This is because different parts of the world started to use iron at different times.

However, Britain was in the Iron Age between 500 BC to 43 AD.

2. Iron became popular and was what was mainly used during this time.

During the Iron Age, iron became the most popular material to use when making tools and weapons.

It was even used to make things like cooking pots and nails!

They decided to use iron because it is much stronger than anything used previously (such as stone and bronze).

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3.

People were ruled by warrior Kings!

Back in the Iron Age, people used to live in clans.

These clans belonged to tribes and were lead by warrior Kings.

Life was dangerous back then as rival tribes would battle against each other using the dangerous weapons they had made.

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4. Iron was used to make sharp objects!

Iron was much stronger than bronze and was able to make sharp objects.

To shape these objects they would have to heat the iron and hit it with a hammer to shape it.

5. The most popular job was farming.

The main form of income in the Iron Age was farming.

This is what most people did as a job.

The other main jobs in these times were potters, carpenters and metalworkers.

Find out more about farming!

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6. Grain was stored in granaries and storage pits.

Once the grain had been harvested by farmers, it had to be stored.

There were many granaries which were built above the ground on posts.

They were also stored underground in storage pits.

The pits were often around 2 – 3 metres deep!

Thousands of these pits have been found.

Read all about grain with The Grain Chain!

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7. People lived in hill forts.

Hill forts were where people lived.

They were on top of a hill so that they could see when enemies were approaching.

There were lots of houses and the forts were almost like little towns.

They were surrounded by ditches and wooden walls to make it harder for their enemies to attack.

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8. The average life expectancy was 25 years.

Back in the Iron Age, the life expectancy wasn’t very long.

The average life expectancy was around 25 years old.

In the UK, the current average is around 81 years old.

Due to our healthcare and medicines, it has kept us much healthier for longer.

9. Coins were invented.

Have you ever wondered when coins were first made?

Coins were first invented in the Iron Age.

They were made from gold, silver and bronze.

Find out about British coins here!

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10. Board games might have been played.

It is believed that people in the Iron Age used board games as one of their forms of entertainment.

In some of the Iron Age burial sites, glass game pieces have been found.

This shows that board games might have been around back then!

Embed from Getty Images

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Iron Age Facts & Information for Kids

Worksheets /Social Studies /World History /Iron Age Facts & Worksheets

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Table of Contents

The Iron Age was a prehistoric, archaeological era from around 1200 BCE to 100 BCE (the 12th to 1st Centuries BCE). Iron material was commonly used during the Iron Age to make tools, so the era was named after it.

See the fact file below for more information on the Iron Age or alternatively download our comprehensive worksheet pack to utilize within the classroom or home environment.

Facts & Information

The Iron Age

• The Iron Age existed in Africa, Europe, and Asia during prehistoric times in the Old World.
• The Iron Age did not occur in America because this was the New World and had not yet been discovered.
• In Europe and Asia, the Iron Age followed the Bronze Age. In Africa, it followed the Stone Age.
• The Iron Age is divided into three parts: the Early Iron Age, the Middle Iron Age, and the Late Iron Age.
• During the Iron Age, tools were commonly made of steel and alloys. These were much cheaper, stronger, and lighter than the bronze materials used previously, which is why their use became more predominant.
• Iron was excellent material for making tools, implements, and utensils because it could be hammered into shape and didn’t need to be carved. Hammering the iron was known as ‘smithing.’
• The Iron Age helped many countries to become more technologically advanced. Metalwork made tasks like farming easier, as the iron tools were much better than what the people had before.
• Farmers used an ‘ard’ (an iron plow) during the Iron Age to turn over their fields. These were much more efficient than wooden or bronze plows.
• The Iron Age also saw the invention of the rotary quern. This machine helped to grind grains for flour and made the process much quicker and easier for workers.
• Most countries did not adopt iron as their primary material until around 500 BCE, though there is evidence that some places used it as early as 1500 BCE.
• Ironwork first began in Turkey before spreading to other European countries.
• In Britain, the Iron Age continued past the birth of Christ and into the 1st Century CE when the country was invaded by the Romans.
• The people that lived in Europe during the Iron Age were called the Celts. They lived in villages and were ruled by kings and queens.
• 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 the war was common during the Iron Age.
• There were more than 2000 hill forts in Britain.
• The Celtic soldiers who had to go into battle during the Iron Age wore armor made of iron and used swords and spears made from iron.

Transition From Bronze to Iron Age

• Before the discovery of combining iron and carbon to produce the more rigid material steel, some people extensively used pure iron. Some people preferred its softness over bronze when creating designs with rectilinear and curvilinear patterns or flowing designs. Iron requires a more sophisticated process than bronze.
• When people discovered iron and steel, it primarily influenced agricultural practices and artistic expression. It coincided with the first preserved manuscripts, which were thought to mark the spread of the written language.
• The iron fragments found in Turkey that show the use of carbon steel were the earliest evidence of steel manufacturing, dating around 1800 BCE.
• Historians agreed that a lack of tin forced metalworkers to find a replacement material for bronze, which happened to be iron. One example is the recycling of bronze objects into weapons.
• When bronze resources were rediscovered, iron had already surpassed bronze in importance. Steel weapons were preferred because they were stronger than bronze weapons despite being nearly the same weight.

Birth of the Iron Age

• The Iron Age began at varying times in different civilizations.
• Mycenaean Greece collapsed around 1200 BCE, which archaeologists believe was caused by severe droughts in the eastern Mediterranean region. The Iron Age was thought to have begun a few years after the so-called Greek Dark Ages. However, the Greeks of the early Iron Age left no written records of how they started.
• The Iron Age was thought to have begun in Anatolia in the late 1300 BCE when the citizens discovered iron smelting, which later developed into smithing techniques. The first artifact was found in Jordan at Tell Hammeh.
• Nomadic pastoralists from the Near East were said to have brought the Persian Iron Age. They developed a state where they raised sheep, goats, and cattle on the Iranian plateau that was later on called Persia.
• Because no artifacts claimed the existence of the Bronze Age in Sub-Saharan Africa, it was assumed that its civilizations transitioned directly from using stone tools to smithing iron tools and weapons.

Daily Life

• Before the rise of the iron industry, most people were farmers. Everything they needed was made or grown in their communities.
• Iron tools made farming more accessible and faster when they first became available. Farmers began planting even in harsh soil because iron tools allowed them to plow it. More crops were planted while waiting for harvest. This gave them more time for leisure or other work.
• People also learned to sell and trade supplies with one another. Other farmers used their spare time to make salt, quern stones, or iron. Cloth-making, woodworking, and blacksmithing became a part of their way of life.

Iron Age Religion and Beliefs

• People during the Iron Age were thought to have held polytheistic beliefs. The Ancient Scythians, for example, worshipped seven different gods. Meanwhile, the Celts of Northwestern Europe or the Ancient Greeks worshipped hundreds of deities.
• Unlike today’s belief that the god or gods are not present on Earth, Iron Age people saw their deities actively participating in it.
• Most ancient mythologies include parables and stories about how a god or goddess influenced human life. The primary purpose of these parables, as it is today, is to teach the importance of religious principles that are important to society.
• The ancient Greeks believed that each god or goddess was in charge of every aspect of their lives, including agriculture, war, love, etc.
• Some Iron Age religions practiced animism, which believed gods inhabited ancient life. According to the British Celts, the gods and spirits lived in trees, lakes, rivers, and other physically existing objects.

Iron Age in Europe

• The three-age system (Stone, Bronze, and Iron Ages) is frequently criticized for its Eurocentrism. It was initially designed to explain historical data from Europe and West Asia. Meanwhile, archaeologists began using the three-age system to explain social and technological developments in areas other than Europe and West Asia.
• Iron was only used to make heavy tools in Romania during the Bronze Age.
• Iron swords, Ha C, were made during the La Tene Period, and iron began to assert its importance.
• It began to be used for various new functional items, including plowshares, carpentry tools, and nails.
• Contact and trade routes changed at the start of the Iron Age. In South-central Europe, a prosperous Late Hallstatt community arose.
• The trade was primarily focused on the south of Europe, gradually ignoring the northern links.
• The Bronze Age contact route was broken, but the Mediterranean civilization in South and West-Central Europe expanded. Europe rose to prominence during the Iron Age.

Iron Age and Industrial Revolution

• The use of iron flourished as the Industrial Revolution began. Iron production grew as a result of a series of innovations and the development of new techniques.
• Darby introduced the smelting of iron with coke, fuel, and the reducing agent in the blast furnace produced by heating coal in 1709. The iron produced, however, remained brittle.
• In 1750, iron was used to create a steam engine that primarily pumped water to power a water wheel. However, this industry was only famous for a short time.
• Richard Reynolds invented the first iron rails to aid material transportation in 1767.
• In 1779, the first all-iron bridge was built. It was a turning point in the iron industry. The bridge piqued the public’s interest in iron as a material.
• A rotary action steam engine was invented in 1781 to help increase the size of the furnace, thereby increasing production.
• Around 1783, iron began to become a necessary material in the industry. Henry Cort pioneered the puddling and rolling techniques for collecting iron impurities. This allowed for mass production.
• Because of the widespread use of iron, the industry had to be located near coal fields, assuming that iron ores were nearby. Steam engines grew in popularity as new applications for iron emerged.
• One of the most notable developments in the iron industry was the Napoleonic Wars. The military’s demand for iron increased. From 1793, British iron production increased substantially. Although the price of iron and the market for it fell after the war, Britain remained Europe’s largest producer of iron.

Iron Age Worksheets

This bundle contains 11 ready-to-use Iron Age worksheets that are perfect for students who want to learn more about the Iron Age which was a prehistoric, archaeological era that existed from around 1200 BC to 100 BC (the 12th to 1st Centuries Before Christ). During the Iron Age, iron material was commonly used to make tools, so the era was named after it.

Download includes the following worksheets:

• Iron Age Facts
• Vocabulary
• Technology
• Fill in the Blanks
• Word Search
• Let’s Draw!
• Fact or Bluff
• Hillforts
• Parts of the Iron Age
• Compare and Contrast
• Smithing

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between steel and iron?

Iron can be used to make weapons and tools in its pure form. When mixed with carbon, however, a more potent and rigid metal known as steel can be produced.

Did the Iron Age begin the moment iron was discovered?

No. There have been theories that humans smelted iron during the Bronze Age, but they did not pursue it because bronze tools and weapons were more durable than those made with pure iron. Years later, humans discovered a way to make more durable iron products by smelting them with carbon, resulting in steel.

Which ancient civilization experienced the first Iron Age?

The Mesopotamian civilization, which included the states of Sumer, Akkad, and Assyria, was said to be the first to use iron, around 3000 BCE.

What was the negative impact of the Iron Age?

Mining in the Alps became prevalent at the beginning of the Iron Age. Forests and woodland were reduced as a result of the activity. Soil and water pollution also occurred, causing significant environmental damage.

Are we still in the Iron Age?

Some historians argue that the Iron Age never ended and that we are still living in it today. This was most likely because steel was still widely used, particularly during the Industrial Revolution in the early twentieth century and even today.

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Use With Any Curriculum

These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.

Iron age of civilization: metal changes the world

The development of the method of obtaining iron by man led to the development of agriculture and military affairs and to the subsequent rapid growth of production and the industrial revolution.

Thanks to iron, the primitive communal tribal system was replaced by the emergence of a class society and the formation of states, the establishment of new trade ties. It was in the early Iron Age that the most famous trade route, the Great Silk Road, was formed.

And no matter how fantastic it may sound, it all started with iron of extraterrestrial origin… Yes, at first iron was made from meteorite material. Such products were distinguished by a high nickel content. Later, objects made from earthly iron appear.

Despite the fact that the technology for obtaining iron is more complex and laborious than in the case of bronze, the Iron Age confidently replaced the Bronze Age that preceded it. This is because iron was more widely distributed in nature. During the Bronze Age, many metal objects began to be processed into weapons. It was the shortage of tin for casting bronze that forced the ancient metallurgists to look for an alternative. The widespread use of iron ore has led to an improvement in metal production technology. By the time tin became available again, iron was cheaper, stronger, and lighter, and wrought iron replaced bronze tools forever.

How iron was obtained

The technology for obtaining iron consisted of a series of operations for its recovery from ores, and, according to experts, was discovered in the 2nd millennium BC in Asia Minor.

For this, cheese-blast furnaces or blast furnaces were used. Air was forced into them with the help of furs. The earliest such furnaces looked like a cylinder narrowed to the top about a meter in height. Blower nozzles were inserted into the lower part of the furnace, they supplied the air necessary for burning coal. A very high temperature was reached in the furnace, which made it possible to melt the loaded mixture of iron oxides and waste rock. As a result of chemical reactions, one part of the oxides combined with the rock, forming a fusible slag, while the other part was reduced to iron and welded into a plastic loose mass — kritsa. Then the ancient metallurgists broke open the front wall of the furnace and took out the blooming iron. But the metal in this form could not be poured into molds, as was done earlier with bronze. Kritsa was a spongy sintered mass of iron in the form of metal grains. While it was hot, it was forged, which made the metal more dense and uniform. Such a piece of metal was already used for the manufacture of various items in the forge. The blacksmith heated the kritsa on an open fire and, with the help of a hammer and anvil, created iron products.

The influence of the Iron Age on the development of civilization

Long before the Industrial Revolution, most people in the early Iron Age raised livestock and farmed. The center of life was the village, where the communities cultivated the land and hand-crafted the essentials.

Manufacture of iron tools helped to make farming easier and more efficient. Peasants were able to cultivate harder soils, allowing new varieties to be developed and new crops to be planted. The same was true for animal husbandry. Thanks to a more efficient way of farming, time was also freed up.

More time meant that now people could not only farm, but also sell or exchange what they had grown. Some families began to establish their own bakeries, tailoring workshops and forges. The development of blacksmithing, in turn, stimulated the development of such crafts as leather, wood and bone processing. Trade flourished during this period.

Development of iron processing technologies

Metal processing technology has developed steadily and rapidly. Welded weapons, damask and Damascus steel appear, and high stukofen ovens come to replace cheese-blowing furnaces. At the end of the 13th century, these four-meter furnaces began to appear on the territory of modern Europe. Such a furnace produced up to 250 kg of iron per day.

In the middle of the 15th century, stukofen began to be replaced by even taller blauofen ovens with preheated air. However, they had one big drawback: due to the higher temperature in blauofen, not only the yield of iron from the ore increased, but also increased from 10% to 30% (in comparison with shtukofen) the formation of carburized «pig iron» — cast iron, with which in those days they could not handle. This served as a reason to improve the technology.

The next step in the development of iron processing was the appearance of blast furnaces. Due to the large size, preheating and mechanical air supply in the blast furnace, all iron became cast iron. The furnaces worked continuously and could produce up to one and a half tons of pig iron per day.

In the 16th century, the conversion process in metallurgists became popular in Europe, in which iron was distilled into cast iron, and that, in turn, being liquid, was freed from excess carbon in the furnaces during annealing. As a result, he turned into steel.

Later, technologies using coal, coking, puddling and hot blasting were actively used in metallurgy. In 1856, the English inventor Henry Bessemer invents a converter and patents his steel production technology, called the Bessemer process.

In the 20th century, open-hearth furnaces actively replaced the Bessemer converter. But even they become obsolete by the end of the century, and oxygen-converter production comes to replace them. With the advent of powerful power plants as energy sources, the technology of electrometallurgy is gaining industrial distribution both for the production of non-ferrous metals and for ferrous metallurgy.

The 21st century is making its own adjustments to the processing of iron, forcing us to think not only about the benefits, but also about the damage that metallurgy causes to the environment. The process of direct reduction of iron from ore with hydrogen today looks the most promising from the point of view of ecology. At the next processing stage, steel is obtained by melting iron particles in electric furnaces, followed by the addition of carbon.

Modern technological innovations are a determining factor in maintaining the competitiveness of the metallurgy in the world market.

Iron has improved the quality of human life for centuries. As more advanced processing technologies were discovered, the world experienced the fastest period of growth. The achievements of the metallurgical industry in the middle of the eighteenth century led to the rapid development of mechanical engineering and the real revolution of machines.

Just as the Iron Age changed the way people lived centuries ago, it is quite possible that the coming Fourth Industrial Revolution will be the beginning of a new century in the development of our civilization.

Interesting Facts about Iron — Museum of Facts

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Why has the iron pillar in Delhi hardly rusted in 16 centuries?

Not far from Delhi, there is a 7-meter iron column, which has hardly corroded since its construction in 415. To explain this phenomenon, there are many legends: the knowledge of the secret of making stainless steel by ancient Indian masters, and the use of special meteoric iron, and even the involvement of aliens. In fact, as shown by chemical analysis, there is nothing special about the column material, and it corresponds to the technological capabilities of that time, and the main reason for corrosion resistance is a naturally formed oxide film on the metal surface. The increased content of phosphorus in iron also contributes, which just increases the ability to form such a film, and low air humidity in the area. But the underground part of the column is covered with a centimeter layer of rust.

Source: Wikipedia / Iron column in Delhi

Delhi iron India columns corrosion metals phosphorus chemistry

Why in 1813 rich German women were happy to exchange gold jewelry for iron ones?

In 1813, during the war with Napoleon, the Prussian princess Mariana invented a way to replenish the treasury. German women were offered to exchange gold jewelry for similar iron jewelry, which had the inscription «Gold gab ich für Eisen» («Gold I gave for iron»). Wearing such jewelry quickly became fashionable and emphasized the patriotism of the owner. A similar idea contributed to the creation in the same year of one of the most famous German awards, the Iron Cross. Unlike other existing medals, the Iron Cross of Precious had only a modest silver setting.

Source: Wikipedia / I gave gold for iron

Iron cross iron gold awards patriotism Prussia

Which creatures are responsible for the color of the Bloody Falls in Antarctica?

In Antarctica, Bloody Falls emerge from the Taylor Glacier from time to time. The water in it contains ferrous iron, which, when combined with atmospheric air, oxidizes and forms rust. This gives the waterfall its blood-red color. However, ferrous iron does not appear in water just like that — it is produced by bacteria that live in a reservoir deep under ice isolated from the outside world. These bacteria have managed to organize a life cycle in the complete absence of sunlight and oxygen. They process the remains of organic matter, and «breathe» ferric iron from the surrounding rocks.

Source: Wikipedia / Blood Falls

Antarctica bacteria waterfalls iron glaciers nature chemistry

Why is spinach overrated for its iron content?

In terms of iron content — 2.7 mg per 100 grams — spinach is not a champion among vegetables. However, for a long time it was believed that spinach is exceptionally rich in iron. This misconception was born in the late 19th century from two sources. One American researcher came up with a figure of 2.9 mg, but forgot to put a comma, and in the published study it was 29mg. Regardless of him, a scientist from Switzerland announced an even higher figure — 35 mg, but he received such a result based on the analysis of dry spinach. The mistake was revealed only half a century later.

Source: Wikipedia / Garden spinach

iron science vegetables mistakes USA Switzerland spinach

Which vertebrates have colorless blood?

Antarctic white-blooded fish are the only vertebrates with colorless blood, which lacks red blood cells and hemoglobin. In addition, the protein myoglobin is absent in the skeletal muscles of these fish. Oxygen is delivered to cells directly from blood plasma. According to ichthyologists, the reason for this adaptation was the water in the habitat of white-blooded fish: very cold and oxygenated, but poor in iron.

Source: Wikipedia / Channichthyidae

Antarctica biology iron blood nature fish

Which Moscow object will include all the gold mined by mankind so far?

Over the entire history of mankind, 197 thousand tons of gold have been mined (as of 2019). If you cast it into a single ingot, you get a cube with a side of only 21.7 meters — for example, it can easily fit inside the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. And the amount of iron ore, equal to all the gold mined by mankind, is extracted from the bowels of the globe in about 35 minutes.

Source: Wikipedia / Gold, Wikipedia / Iron

mining iron gold metals Moscow

Which snails have a shell covered with a layer of iron mineral?

Chrysomallon squamiferum snails, living near hydrothermal vents at the bottom of the Indian Ocean, are distinguished by an unusual «armor».