Why was Copper, Brass and Bronze used so much in the Iron Age?

ages of stone and metal what's that many thousands of years ago our ancestors became experts at finding rocks that were best for bludgeoning cutting and even hitting each other at a distance with this age of stone transformed into one of metal copper although not as sharp as some stones or durable as others copper had several important qualities that made it more efficient and effective than using stone for most tools TOS making stone tools was incredibly labor intensive and while sharp and hard stones are brittle once broken or shattered only the largest pieces can be used to make smaller tools out of eventually all the material used could be discarded in contrast copper is quite easy to work with copper is far more likely to bend than to break if broken it could be easily repaired or recycled melted down and made into something else throughout the the world gold copper and Lead are often the first Metals used by humans partially because the ore for these Metals looks pretty and stands out all these metals also have relatively low melting points which could be discovered if the ore was thrown into a large bonfire while copper ore is commonly found in many areas throughout our planet the metal that was destined to be its buddy and change history is especially rare tin when smelted together at a ratio of nine Parts copper to one part 10 the amalgamation makes bronze and while copper is great bronze is better bronze is significantly harder and holds an edge far better than copper bronze tools facilitated a huge boost in human productivity in various Fields including but not limited to agriculture construction Commerce science and Military applications consequently the increase in prosperity led to a dramatic rise in the human population in the near East powerful city states grew into large Empires over time an interconnected system of diplomacy cultural and economic exchange developed in the region and Beyond then the Bronze Age ended in a dramatic collapse continuous conflict plague famine and a host of other maladies led to widespread depopulation and societal collapse in the centuries following the collapse iron smelting technology which was in its infancy during the late Bronze Age slowly continued to develop like bronze before it once Humanity learned how to master iron working it led to a huge boost in productivity Not only was iron stronger and can hold an edge better than bronze but importantly iron ore is far more common than the components needed to make bronze so typically iron was more affordable sharper stronger and it even weighed less but copper and bronze had some qualities that kept people using them long after iron stole the spotlight and a new metal amalgamation forged from copper and zinc would become a major player brass would rise to some prominence during the Iron Age after a sluggish start the Iron Age saw even more massive Empires rise like Assyria Persia Macedon and Rome part two early iron problems too soft or too hard contrary to what the names of the ages might lead you to believe the knowledge of and use of iron was widely known in the Bronze Age the problem was most of this iron was not very good or useful for tools most iron objects we have found from the Bronze Age are not very very remarkable beads jewelry and the odds ofal dagger some but not all of these early iron objects were made from meteorites that contained high amounts of iron after humans recognized and became familiar with rocks that had iron in them they began collecting them while mining for other metals they valued in contrast to the rock stars iron ore looks pretty plain typically it has an unassuming gray or dirty reddish color while copper ore forms a protective oxidized outer layer when exposed to the elements at the surface exposed iron rusts and erods Away consequently it took a long time for Ancient Man to figure out how and where to find it efficiently despite its relative abundance after finding the elusive rocks there were more problems iron has a melting point almost 1,000° higher than copper or nearly 500° hotter if you are using celsius instead of Fahrenheit the high temp temperature required could not be reached with the available technology at that time instead of molten iron a substance called Bloom was produced from the iron ore which is a mixture of iron and useless byproducts to remove the imper slag it needed to be hammered repeatedly to produce pure iron called rot iron the problem with rot iron is that it's soft softer than quality bronze but harder than copper the next Iron Age technological development was arborization which was heating soft iron over a cool fire carbon atoms are absorbed into the iron making it harder if just the right amount of carbon was absorbed 1 half of a perent to 1% this iron would become steel but more often than not especially in the early Iron Age this process yielded cast iron which is iron that has above 2% carbon cast iron is very hard but it is also very brittle which which made it not so great for weapons because they tended to crack or break however because of its low melting point and cheap cost cast iron was ideal for many tools fit for civilian life following the bronze H collapse many long-distance trade routes that brought rare tin needed to make bronze were cut off it has been widely and long speculated that the collapse of Bronze Age trade networks incentivized Innovation and iron working as many survivors only or best option was to use iron ore that was native to their own region to produce the tools they needed this process of innovation was very slow but as the centuries passed many techniques developed that could more reliably produce highquality iron or Steel in Greater quantities to get the right balance between hardness and flexibility a controlled process of cooling called tempering Andor combining a few or many layers of soft and hard hard iron were used by skilled blacksmiths to produce high quality Iron and Steel only then in region by region bronze was slowly replaced by iron or steel so it wouldn't be very incorrect to call the Iron Age the steel age but it just doesn't have the same ring to it I kind of like how Iron Age sounds better part three reasons to keep using copper and its Alloys after iron improved once iron technology improved enough to make it hard and flexible the metal became ideal for swords daggers axes and spearheads and anything that needed to be hard sharp flexible and able to withstand repeated use lower quality Iron was often used for implements that were generally single use during the course of a battle like arrowheads or javelins bronze helmets and armor saw extensive use in the Iron Age bronze was not quite as tough as Quality Steel but it was stronger and more durable than iron that had too much or too little carbon in it it took a skilled black Smith to get within the half a percent of carbon range needed to make iron into good Steel in contrast bronze was Far easier to get right there were less complex steps in its production and the copper to 10 ratio could be a couple percentage points off and the final product would still be good and there was an added bonus All Copper Alloys enjoy the benefit of being able to withstand corrosion and do not rust consequently they require far less maintenance despite its many qualities bronze had a big problem it was expensive and it was tin's fault in the latter half of the first millennium BC a cheaper alternative was found zinc sometimes called false silver a valuable use was found for zinc brass is made from an amalgamation of roughly two parts copper and one part zinc zinc and copper Alloys had been used for for centuries before but it took a long time for them to improve and catch on compared to bronze brass is a little less strong a little bit lighter and way cheaper when the very practical Romans got a hold of it they loved it and made all sorts of stuff out of it including helmets and armor because of bronze and brass's low friction wear and corrosion resistance the metals were ideal for anything that got dirty or banged around a lot buckles fastenings or handles were often bronze or brass as well as Greaves the edge of Shields and the spike at the back end of a spear which came in contact with the ground a lot when plunged into the ground this Spike could be used to stand the spear upright when there was nothing to lean it against this Spike would be fine where in similar conditions an iron Spike would rust if not constantly wiped off resistance to corrosion is also why ship's Rams were made of bronze the Romans also use brass and bronze for many other ically related implements despite also being resistant to corrosion I don't believe the Romans use brass for ship's Rams probably because it's a little less dense a little weaker and more susceptible to cracking as the centuries passed iron Metallurgy and Mining technology continued to incrementally improve consequently the cost of iron ore and the production cost of good steel also continued to decline brass and bronze use also declined as it became a less viable Al alternative for some arms and armor because of the positive attributes copper Alloys have such as the resistance to corrosion and its pleasing visual appearance it's use never completely vanished in the Iron Age or in any age we have had since then copper and its Alloys are an indispensable part of Modern Life from household items tools and electronics we use and come into contact with these metals on a daily basis this has been Epimetheus thank you so much for watching