RE: Cool referense on bronze vs. iron

From: Mike Holmes <mike_c_holmes_at_...>
Date: Wed, 26 Oct 2005 13:56:43 -0500


Sorry, sent the last post incomplete accidentally. It's finished below.

>From: Mikko Rintasaari <mikrin_at_...>
>
>...Iron had
>been used throughout the Bronze Age as well, but primarily for
>ceremonial artifacts. It was expensive. Iron took greater amounts of
>labor, and for that cost derived an inferior product. Iron could not
>keep its edge as effectively as bronze; it was heavier and more brittle.
>Additionally, it was ugly;

The thing is that the definition of the beginning of the Iron Age is where methods of making Iron into superior artifacts become available. Since this varies a lot by locale, it's really culturally specific. So a culture is only Bronze Age to the extent that they haven't yet figured good Iron out. So when one says that Glorantha is a Bronze Age setting, what that really means is that few cultures have figured out good Iron. With the exceptions of those that have, however. Obviously the dwarves are Iron Age at least.

Which explains the existence of Iron weapons, the magical considerations aside. Even in the ancient world there were often cultures who, thought they couldn't make good Iron themselves, at least could get it from other nearby cultures. This situation sometimes lasts for centuries.

Mike

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