Chapter 8

Bronze not the best metal—Difficulties attending the discovery of Iron—Probable steps in this discovery—Where this discovery was first made—Known in Ancient Egypt—How this knowledge would spread—Iron would not drive out Bronze—The primitive Iron-worker—The advance in government—Pottery and ornaments of the Iron Age—Weapons of early Iron Age—The battle-field of Tilfenau—Trade of early Iron Age—Invention of Money—Invention of Alphabetic Writing—Invasion of the Germanic Tribes—The cause of the Dark Ages—Connection of these three ages—Necessity of believing in an Extended Past—Attempts to determine the same—Tiniere Delta—Lake Bienne—British Fen-lands—Maximum and Minimum Data—Mr. Geikie’s conclusions—The Isolation of the paleolithic Age.