Difference Between Bronze Age And Iron Age

The Iron Age (1200 – 1 BC) followed the Bronze Age in the three-tiered classification system of ancient civilizations described by Christian Jürgensen Thomsen: the Stone Age, Bronze Age, and Iron Age. A thousand years before ancient Greece and the Roman Empire, iron making emerged to change the landscape of civilization. This dark metal changed everything from agriculture to wars and weaponry. In West Africa and Southwestern Asia people realized dark rocks could be shaped into tools and weapons (1500 BC). This same discovery didn 't reach Europe for another 500 years. In the British Isles iron was skillfully used by the famous Celts. Through warfare, they spread iron technology throughout much of the continent. This time period experienced several

Bronze is made of copper and tin. While copper is plentiful tin is not. To complicate matters the two metals are rarely found near each other, which is why trade during the Bronze Age was so important. Ancient metallurgists were forced to look for another source of metal due to the Bronze Age Collapse, as they no longer had tin to make bronze. Iron was not a new discovery; the Hittites had used iron since 2000 BC. Bronze, however, was the preferred metal for many reasons. Iron was not much harder than bronze. Bronze could be easily melted in a pot over a fire whereas iron making required a furnace and carefully controlled temperatures. Tin was easy to extract, however iron required hotter temperatures and more processes. Overall, extracting and smelting iron is a much more complicated process. Once metallurgists began to work with iron an important discovery was made:

The Iron Age can be organized in two parts: Iron I and Iron II. During Iron I (1200-1000 B) Bronze Age culture remains intact until the end of the second millennium. The states of Judah and Israel emerge in Iron II (1000-332 BC) due to the decline of Assyrian and Egyptian power (1200-900 BC). The Kingdom of Israel was united under King Saul. The capital, Jerusalem, was established by the next ruler, King David. In 950 BC the people revolted against excessive and indulgent rulers breaking the kingdom into two parts: The Kingdom of Israel and The Kingdom of Judah. The split left Israel vulnerable to new empires emerging in the