II.

Iron-working

The major advantage of iron over bronze was that the ores from which it could be obtained were widely available and hence inexpensive when compared with bronze. It needed no alloying, and was an admirable material for the manufacture of saws, axes, hoes, and nails. However, it was much more difficult to process, and in prehistoric times a temperature high enough to melt it for casting in a mould was never achieved, except in China (see below). Instead, the ore was simply smelted (heated) in a furnace; the pieces of iron were picked out of the slag, reheated into a single lump, and then hammered into the required shape. Razor-sharp cutting edges could be produced. But since the whole process differed so radically from the manufacture of copper or bronze implements, it is no surprise that iron-working did not develop directly from bronze-working. Once iron had been adopted for heavy tools and weapons, bronze was used mostly for decorated personal items, such as pins or mirrors. Gold and silver continued as prestige materials, for example to make torcs, the heavy neck rings worn by Celtic warriors.