Questions tagged [iron-age]

For questions regarding the later period in the three-age system, characterized by the production of tools and weaponry made of carbon steel.

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Why iron is not discussed more as a probable cause of "Bronze age collapse"? [closed]

Most discussed possible causes for Bronze Age Collapse are Climate change Droughts (either natural, or caused by deforestation) Volcanic eruption Sea People But Bonze Age Collapse is also begining ...
Prokop Hapala's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
567 views

How many people were in an average Iron Age Celtic settlement? [closed]

How many people were in an average Celtic settlement (or tribe - not sure if they correspond as one to one) in the Iron Age? My intuitive estimation is "from 100 to 5000". I know the Iron Age is ...
SerG's user avatar
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Iron or steel melting in ancient time

How did people from the ancient world, like Warring States period China, melt a high temperature metal like iron when the high temp crucible was not even invented nor having a fire source hot enough ...
Woo Zhi's user avatar
2 votes
3 answers
918 views

Are we now living in an Automation Age? [closed]

Background Historians have grouped epochs of human technological advancement into various "Technology Ages" (characterized by the predominant types of tools and weapons used by humans) including the ...
Kerry L's user avatar
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13 votes
3 answers
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Is there any historicity to the concept of Ghost Fences / Walls?

A Ghost Wall or Fence is a concept I keep coming across in historical fiction set around the Iron Age or Sub-Roman Britain. Generally, it appears as a boundary made of deceased peoples bones to either ...
Charlie Tizzard Ó Kevlahan's user avatar
9 votes
1 answer
724 views

Are there examples of stone age cultures living in proximity close to iron age cultures without adapting to metal use?

BACKGROUND I was reading about the technological diffusion of metallurgy, and started to wonder if there were good historical examples of stone age peoples living near to or having extensive contact ...
Random's user avatar
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18 votes
1 answer
2k views

When did Aurochs (large wild cattle) become extinct in Britain?

Estimated to average around 150cm (cows) and 170cm (bulls) at the shoulder, the aurochs was an important animal to humans, during prehistory when it was widely hunted, and in some areas also ...
Lars Bosteen's user avatar
5 votes
2 answers
189 views

What is the definition, usage, and etymology of “Sandy ware”?

Wikipedia has the category "Sandy ware in the Portable Antiquities Scheme" Is it a kind of pottery? Or a type of coating for pottery? That's what I would understand from this page. What would it have ...
Fructibus's user avatar
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4 votes
2 answers
883 views

What was the strategic importance of Judea?

I'm interested in ancient Judea, from the dissolution of the monarchy to the beginning of John Hyrcanus. It was a small wedge to the west of the Dead Sea. What was the strategic significance of this ...
John Dee's user avatar
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4 votes
1 answer
2k views

Was Celtic society promiscuous?

I have been trying to find an answer to the above question. In pre-Roman and Roman Britain were the Celtic peoples promiscuous or did they have only one married partner? Is there strong enough ...
Charlie's user avatar
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5 votes
1 answer
685 views

How common / uncommon was sword-vs-sword combat on ancient battlegrounds?

The question Any notable battles fought with steel vs. bronze weapons?, more precisely the comment to this answer to the tone of "ah, but that was mainly a chariot battle...", piqued my interest. As ...
DevSolar's user avatar
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12 votes
2 answers
630 views

Did iron age Britons still use the "ritual" sites built by their neolithic predecessors?

Pre-Roman sites in Britain get lumped together as "ancient", but in reality they span a good couple of thousand years between the neolithic and the iron age. That made me wonder whether there was any ...
Bob Tway's user avatar
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3 votes
2 answers
14k views

How was iron obtained in ancient times? [closed]

Today we have advanced machines to mine iron, but it was not so a millennium ago. How did our ancestors locate the presence of iron deposits, mine them and make weapons out of them? How did they ...
Sisir Simha's user avatar
14 votes
2 answers
2k views

Is there contemporary evidence for the Roman Kingdom?

The early history of Ancient Rome is notoriously poorly documented. The Gaul Sack of Rome (390 BC) has destroyed much early written records. What evidence do we have that remains of the Roman Kingdom? ...
Pertinax's user avatar
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10 votes
1 answer
610 views

What age were these Britons in A.D. 43?

I have been doing a lot of research on the Roman invasion of Britain and have come across a number of problems with information. My question is how old specific people were in 43 AD. I have ...
Rhys Saunders's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
331 views

Am I imagining this or did I just found one of the oldest "hidden" erotic artworks ever?

I was just wiki-walking around my country's (Netherlands) history when I stumbled upon this topic: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ger%C3%B0r She is the wife of the god Freyr, whom apparently the ...
Folaht's user avatar
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7 votes
2 answers
636 views

Did the chariot drop in importance between bronze age Greece and the iron age Greece? Why, why not?

In what I've read about classical Greece - about Persian wars, Pelaponesian wars, Battle of Leuctra, Macedonia conquest...etc. - military discussion seems to be mostly about the Phalanx with a bit ...
DBWeinstein's user avatar
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8 votes
3 answers
1k views

How did people acquire things in the pre-Roman Celtic world?

Today, when you want to acquire something that you don't make yourself, you buy it with money. How did people acquire things in the pre-Roman Celtic world? Let's say you wanted to acquire something ...
Joe's user avatar
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14 votes
3 answers
2k views

Early history of prime numbers

Prime numbers are those whole numbers greater than 1 which cannot be written as a product of numbers greater than 1. I'm curious about their very early history, say 200 BC and earlier. What I know: ...
Charles's user avatar
  • 1,055
28 votes
3 answers
4k views

Have there been any notable battles fought with steel vs. bronze weapons?

In answering the question "was the transition from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age violent?" I found out a few facts that I hadn't expected. Namely, that the early iron weapons weren't necessarily ...
Bryce's user avatar
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20 votes
2 answers
4k views

How was life in the Iron Age different from life in the Middle Ages?

Let's say you were from the Middle Ages, 1200s England or Germany, and you got thrown back in time to the Iron Age. It's still the same place, but it's 400 BC. Apart from the language, what would ...
Joe's user avatar
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15 votes
5 answers
5k views

Was the transition from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age violent?

In Europe, when the Bronze Age ended and the Iron Age began, was it a peaceful spread of technology, or was it a violent conquest where the newcomers were able to win by their more advanced technology?...
Joe's user avatar
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