Iron Age. Ancient history

The Iron Age is a period of time in human history when iron metallurgy arose and began to actively develop. The Iron Age came immediately after and lasted from 1200 BC. to 340 AD

Processing for ancient people became the first type of metallurgy after. It is believed that the discovery of the properties of copper occurred by accident when people mistook it for a stone, tried to process it and got an incredible result. After the copper age came the bronze age, when copper began to be mixed with tin and thus obtained new material for making tools, hunting, jewelry, and so on. After the Bronze Age came the Iron Age, when people learned to mine and process materials such as iron. During this period, there was a noticeable increase in the production of iron tools. Independent iron smelting is spreading among the tribes of Europe and Asia.

Iron products are found much earlier than the Iron Age, but previously they were used very rarely. The first finds date back to the VI-IV millennium BC. e. Found in Iran, Iraq and Egypt. Iron products, which date back to the 3rd millennium BC, were found in Mesopotamia, Southern Urals, Southern Siberia. At this time, iron was predominantly meteorite, but it was in very small quantities, and it was intended mainly for the creation of luxury goods and ritual objects. The use of products made from meteorite iron or by mining from ore was noticed in many regions in the territories of settlement of ancient people, but before the beginning of the Iron Age (1200 BC) the spread of this material it was very poor.

Why did ancient people use iron instead of bronze in the Iron Age? Bronze is harder and durable metal, however, it is inferior to iron in that it is brittle. In terms of fragility, iron clearly wins, but people had great difficulty processing iron. The fact is that iron melts at much more high temperatures than copper, tin and bronze. Because of this, special furnaces were needed where suitable conditions for melting could be created. Furthermore, iron in pure form It is quite rare, and to obtain it, preliminary smelting from ore is necessary, which is a rather labor-intensive task that requires certain knowledge. Because of this for a long time iron was not popular. Historians believe that iron processing became a necessity for ancient man, and people began to use it instead of bronze due to the depletion of tin reserves. Due to the fact that active mining of copper and tin began during the Bronze Age, deposits of the latter material were simply depleted. Therefore, mining began to develop iron ores and the development of iron metallurgy.

Even with the development of iron metallurgy, bronze metallurgy continued to be very popular due to the fact that this material is easier to process and its products are harder. Bronze began to be replaced when man came up with the idea of ​​creating steel (alloys of iron and carbon), which is much harder than iron and bronze and has elasticity.

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: gold, silver, copper, tin, lead, iron and mercury. These metals can be called “prehistoric”, since they were used by man even before the invention of writing.

Obviously, of the seven metals, man first became acquainted with those that occur in native form in nature. These are gold, silver and copper. The remaining four metals entered human life after he learned to extract them from ores using fire.

The clock of human history began ticking faster when metals and, most importantly, their alloys entered human life. The Stone Age gave way to the Copper Age, then to the Bronze Age, and then to the Iron Age:

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Archaeologists divide the history of mankind into the Stone, Bronze and Iron Ages. Using the Internet, find out when such a division appeared and what signs underlie it. Create a diagram to illustrate your explanation.

Answers:

In the 19th century the classification of primitive monuments of material culture began, which led to the creation of a scientifically based archaeological periodization, which, by the way, confirmed the correctness of Lucretius’ hypothesis. Thus, the Danish scientist K. Thomsen, relying on archaeological data, introduced the concept of three centuries - Stone, Bronze and Iron.

The idea of ​​dividing the prehistoric period of cultural development into the Stone, Bronze and Iron Ages was put forward by the Danish archaeologist Thomsen in 1816-1819 based on a study of the rich archaeological collections of the Danish National Museum. Thomsen argued that these three centuries must succeed each other, because stone would not have been used to make tools if people had bronze, which, in turn, had to give way to iron. With the accumulation of archaeological finds, this scheme was gradually improved. Initially, the Stone Age was divided into ancient and new - Paleolithic and Neolithic. Later the Mesolithic, or Middle Stone Age, was added to them.

The division of the prehistoric period into the Stone, Bronze and Iron Ages was put forward by the Danish archaeologist Thomsen in 1816-1819 based on the study of archaeological finds. Thomsen argued that these three centuries must succeed each other, because stone would not have been used to make tools if people had bronze, which, in turn, had to give way to iron. This theory is confirmed by archaeological excavations. The name of the centuries is characterized by the leading role of found products from a certain material. Therefore, sometimes the Bronze Age is preceded by the Copper Age, since copper is integral part bronze

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Bronze Age
At the end of the Eneolithic, the preconditions were created for the transition to the Bronze Age. Bronze was obtained by various additions to copper. The Bronze Age is divided into early, middle and late eras.

1. Early Bronze Age. It existed from the second half of the 4th millennium until the end of the 3rd millennium.
2. In the Early Bronze Age: hoe farming was replaced by plow farming. Working with a plow drawn by oxen required great physical strength, and therefore the role of men in the family, in the household and in society began to grow and, as a result, the dominance of women (matriarchy) was replaced by the dominance of men (patriarchy). Nomadic transhumance (yaylazh) cattle breeding appeared. Property inequality emerged within the pastoral tribes. The first social division of labor took place, i.e. agriculture separated from cattle breeding. Customs of collective burial or burning of corpses appeared, and mounds began to be erected over graves; people began to settle in the foothills and mountain areas. Residential buildings had the appearance of a circular structure. As a result of the unification of several related clans, tribes arose in which everyone spoke the same language and had common customs. Tribes were led by elders. The Council of Elders distributed among the clans places for hunting, grazing and farming, and resolved controversial issues between relatives. To resolve particularly important matters, the elders convened all adult men of the tribe. New branches of the economy appeared - gardening, horticulture, viticulture and winemaking. As a result of the separation of crafts from agriculture, a second large social division of labor occurred and the area of ​​settlements increased. Primary urban centers appeared. Painted ceramics appeared. Large tribal alliances arose. A potter's wheel driven by the foot was used. Semi-nomadic transhumance cattle breeding came to the fore in the economy. The horse was used as a riding and harness animal; it played a large role in the economy. That’s why new rituals arose: horse worship. Camel bones discovered in the mounds indicate the development of camel breeding. In connection with the development of handicraft industries, a group of traders emerged from among the artisans-traders who were engaged not in production, but in sales. finished products. Cyclopean structures (supposedly built by one-eyed giants - Cyclopes) indicate high level development of architecture at the end of the 2nd millennium BC. The network of artificial canals has expanded. The strengthening of the power of tribal leaders led to their deification. The worship of heavenly bodies also became widespread. The process of dividing the population into rich and poor accelerated, and the collapse of the primitive communal system began. In the last period of the primitive communal system, the living tribes had trade relations with neighboring countries.