Iron Age sword
Long-bladed weapons used throughout Iron Age Eurasia
철기 시대의 도검
- Type
- sword
Swords made of iron (as opposed to bronze) appear from the Early Iron Age (c. 12th century BC), but do not become widespread before the 8th century BC.
Early Iron Age swords were significantly different from later steel swords. They were work-hardened, rather than quench-hardened, which made them generally comparable to, and sometimes inferior to, high-quality bronze swords in strength and hardness. This meant that they could still be bent out of shape during use. The easier production, however, and the greater availability of the raw material allowed for much larger scale production.
External links
Facts from Wikidata Q3965849 (CC0); quoted introduction from English Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Data retrieved 2026-10-22.
Data: Wikidata (CC0 1.0); Wikipedia (English) (CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.