- Chapter Seventeen -
twelfth century Be which spread the techniques of iron working to their neighbours,
including the Greeks. Certainly iron was being produced in Greece by the eleventh
century Be, and in the following centuries we find it becoming more common and
more widespread. By the eighth century it had reached Italy, and it appears in the
Hallstatt areas of Europe soon after, probably around 700 Be, the date customarily
accepted for the beginning of Hallstatt C. Whether the Hittites really had such a
complete monopoly of ironworking may be doubted. Enough pieces are known from
earlier contexts in Europe to suggest that occasionally it was both produced and
worked, but even if this was the case, such discoveries were not followed up, and it
was not until the end of the second millennium Be in sub-Mycenaean Greece (Late
Helladic III) that iron was produced and used on any scale in Europe. Initially it
was used for small prestige items such as rings, brooches and knife blades, but within
a relatively short time, certainly before 1000 Be, larger objects, such as swords, were
being made. The route by which mastery of the new metal reached the Hallstatt area
is still debated; the most favoured ones are from Italy into the east Alpine region, or
from Greece through the Balkans, although it is possible that more than one route was
involved. Once the Mediterranean cultures which were in contact with the Urnfield
peoples of central Europe had begun to use iron, it was probably inevitable that it
would be introduced into central Europe, in the same way that the use of sheet-
bronze had been introduced some centuries before.
Wrought iron is often compared unfavourably with bronze; it is more malleable,
rather softer and, to modern eyes, lacks the aesthetic appeal of bronze. Wrought-iron
swords were notoriously liable to bend. Polybius (Histories 11.33) records, no doubt
with some exaggeration, that at the Battle of Telamon in 225 Be the Celtic swords
became as bent as strigils after a few blows. Nor could wrought iron hold an edge as
well as work-hardened bronze. But these disadvantages were offset by the fact that
iron weapons were less likely to shatter than bronze, and iron has other advantages.
Copper is a relatively rare metal, while tin is extremely rare. Iron, however, is
common and few areas were far removed from an ore source suitable for use by
prehistoric man, whose requirements were measured in kilograms rather than tons.
The elaborate exchange networks needed to supply much of Europe with bronze
were largely unnecessary for iron, and where they were needed they were usually
more limited; facts which may have had a considerable effect on contemporary social
structures. Iron is a remarkably versatile material which is easily cut, shaped and
welded at red-heat. Taken together, these properties meant that it was relatively easy
to produce a wide range of artefacts, from simple pins to the great anchor chains used
by the Veneti of Brittany, many of which could only be produced in cast bronze with
the greatest difficulty.
The iron age smelter normally used oxide and carbonate ores, both of which were
readily available in most parts of Europe. Sulphide ore were generally avoided as the
sulphur could be carried into the raw iron with deleterious results. In most areas,
including Britain, the ores could be obtained from opencast workings or pits with-
out the need for the deep mines necessary for mining copper ores, although literary
references, such as Caesar's De Bello Gallico (VII.22), suggest that mines were used
in parts of Gaul in the Late Iron Age.
Our knowledge of the furnace technology of this period is fragmentary. The