4 ms·
My understanding is that iron weapons were not greatly superior to bronze, just cheaper/easier to make.
by cfmcdonald 7y ago
My understanding is that iron weapons were not greatly superior to bronze, just cheaper/easier to make.
- rsynnott 7y agoMUCH cheaper, once the technological transition was complete. To the extent that making a bronze weapon as an actual weapon wouldn't make sense. They're available now as effectively decorative items, but I'm pretty sure that's a 20th century phenomenon.
- nl 7y agoThis has some truth, but steel weapons were better than both. High quality pattern welded[1] steel swords were available in Roman times from at least 150 BC[2], and by 600 AD were ubiquitous. They were later mostly replaced by easier steel production techniques. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pattern_welding#Pattern_welding_in_Europe https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pattern_welding#Pattern_weldin... [2] See the table of finds in https://www.tf.uni-kiel.de/matwis/amat/iss/kap_b/backbone/rb_3_3.html https://www.tf.uni-kiel.de/matwis/amat/iss/kap_b/backbone/rb...