Talk:Bronze Age collapse
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[edit] BCE versus BC
Both the use of BC or BCE is alowed in Wikipedia. But BC (Before Christ) applies to Christian dates, and while it may be applicable in discussing a non Christian topic with people who are not Christian, it may be offensive to force a usage of BC and AD, as it implies a Christian POV. To remove this bias, personally I prefer a BCE (Before Common Era) dating system, as this certifies a non POV status.
Could the editor who changed the dates from BCE to BC please return them. Otherwise I will do it myself. John D. Croft 15:36, 23 January 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Iron Versus Bronze
"Leonard R. Palmer suggested that iron, whilst inferior to bronze weapons" Arent iron weapons superior to bronze one? 62.245.124.84 20:46, 13 May 2007 (UTC)
Palmer showed, that until the production of steel (through the deliberate adding of small amounts of carbon to the production of iron), in fact iron weapons were inferior to bronze. (Ever tried using wrought iron against bronze?) The superiority of iron weapons was in their ease and speed of production, which meant that you could field many more soldiers in the battle, than if you were armed only with (comparatively more expensive) bronze.
"The magic of iron: from 1500 BC
The Hittites are the first people to work iron, in Anatolia from about 1500 BC. In its simple form iron is less hard than bronze, and therefore of less use as a weapon, but it seems to have had an immediate appeal - perhaps as the latest achievement of technology (with the mysterious quality of being changeable, through heating and hammering), or from a certain intrinsic magic (it is the metal in meteorites, which fall from the sky).
Quite how much value is attached to iron can be judged from a famous letter of about 1250 BC, written by a Hittite king to accompany an iron dagger-blade which he is sending to a fellow monarch.
The discovery of steel: 11th century BC
By the 11th century BC it has been discovered that iron can be much improved. If it is reheated in a furnace with charcoal (containing carbon), some of the carbon is transferred to the iron. This process hardens the metal; and the effect is considerably greater if the hot metal is rapidly reduced in temperature, usually achieved by quenching it in water.
The new material is steel. It can be worked (or 'wrought') just like softer iron, and it will keep a finer edge, capable of being honed to sharpness. Gradually, from the 11th century onwards, steel replaces bronze weapons in the Middle East, birthplace of the Iron Age. It becomes essential, from now on, to have a good steel blade rather than a soft and indifferent one.
Cast iron in the east: 513 BC
Thus far in the story iron has been heated and hammered, but never melted. Its melting point (1528°C) is too high for primitive furnaces, which can reach about 1300°C and are adequate for copper (melting at 1083°C). This limitation is overcome when the Chinese develop a furnace hot enough to melt iron, enabling them to produce the world's first cast iron - an event traditionally dated in the Chinese histories to 513 BC."
Hope this helps John D. Croft 02:30, 14 May 2007 (UTC)
