More Than A Number

From temporary Quonsets to towering skyscrapers that cast shadows over the cityscape, steel has been an invaluable building block for the modern world.  Yet the history of steel extends much farther back into mankind’s history than most people realize.  Although you wouldn’t exactly have seen a construction crew assembling the skeleton of a steel building back in the days of the ancient world, steel was still an important material to early human civilization.

Some of the oldest steel that has been found dates back as far as 1400 BC, located in the East African region.  It is believed that this steel was formed by manipulating the bloom in the metal so that it contained carbon.  Rather than being used for construction purposes, the steel from this period was often formed into the shape of weapons.  These ancient steel weapons were used in many different areas in the world.  The Roman military was known to wield Nordic steel.  The Iberian Peninsula produced steel weapons such as the Falcata back in the 4th century BC.  Around the same period, the Chinese of the Warring States were known for using quench-hardened steel.  Much as the metal building is an concept that can be found around the globe in various forms today, steel weaponry existed in a variety of different cultures in antiquity, showing just how important this metal alloy has been to the development of human civilization as we know it.