Short history of metallurgy

"Toward the end of the Stone Age, people discovered that if logs were left for a long time in a controlled fire (between 600 and 900 degrees Fahrenheit), they would be reduced to charred chunks that burned hotter than regular wood. Using these lumps of pure carbon -- charcoal -- artisans were able to fire clay into harder, more waterproof pottery and to fuse sand and ashes to create the first glass. Then, around 5,000 B.C., craftsmen in Eastern Europe and the Near East began to purify copper ore by burning it in charcoal fires and pouring it into ceramic molds to form chisels, ax heads and other tools. Some 1,500 years later, they learned that mixing a little tin with the copper produced a sharper, stronger blade, which could cut through trees twice as fast as stone. The Bronze Age had begun.

Around 1,500 B.C., workers in the Near East began to smelt a metal much more plentiful than copper or tin -- iron. Since its melting point is above 2,200 degrees Fahrenheit (some 200 degrees hotter than burning charcoal), iron couldn't be poured into molds but had to be heated, then hammered into shape. But iron tools were more durable than those of bronze, making it easier than ever to craft all manner of objects from wood." [1]

1. How to Carve A Civilization
Helferich, Gerard. Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y]23 Dec 2020: A.15.