Have the majority of Iron Age artifacts sadly rusted?

I have found a good article on the subject: Iron made life a lot easier in those days, when just living to the age of 45 was a feat. By that time, much of Europe had settled into small village life, toiling the soil with bronze and stone tools. read more

Granted, this is because the majority of Iron Age artifacts aren’t made of iron. Iron became available in the Iron Age, but most things were still made of wood, textile fibers, clay, and other such materials. Those have been though their own processes. Most of the organic materials have rotted away or burned. read more

According to them, the relatively pure composition of the iron used, presence of high amounts of phosphorus (as much as 1 per cent against less than 0.05 per cent in today’s iron) and absence of sulphur/magnesium in the iron are the main reasons for its longevity. read more

Sweden destroying iron-age archeological artifacts as scrap metal. Discussion in 'Non Sci Fi Debates' started by Bassoe, Aug 24, 2017. read more