Ironware

Japanese: 鉄器 - てっき

Iron tools. Archaeological term for iron products. Iron is an abundant source of raw materials, and has excellent metallic properties, except for its tendency to corrode, and its uses span a wide range of fields. The use of iron tools is one of the most revolutionary achievements of humankind, and its impact on society is immeasurable. However, it took a long period of trial and error before humans were able to fully master the excellent qualities of iron and freely create products for different uses. There are two types of iron tools: those made from natural iron such as meteorite iron, and artificial iron made by smelting iron ore or iron sand. The latter are broadly classified into wrought iron (wrought iron and steel) products and cast iron products. Wrought iron can be directly smelted at a relatively low temperature, and steel in particular is impact resistant and can be made into sharp tools. Cast iron, on the other hand, is made into free-form shapes using molds, and is extremely hard but brittle.

[Sadayuki Watanabe]

Utilization of meteorites

Meteorite is composed primarily of an alloy of high-quality iron and nickel, and mankind's first attempt at producing iron tools began with the use of meteorites. Iron tools forged from meteorites date back to the 4th millennium BC in the Orient, with some known excavated examples dating back to the 3rd millennium BC. However, these were small beads, pins, decorative plates, etc., and iron tools were not practical items, but merely rare ritual objects or treasures. Meteorite products from the period preceding the Iron Age have been found in China and the Americas, but again, they are limited to ritual items.

[Sadayuki Watanabe]

Orient and Europe

In Western Asia in the second half of the third millennium BCE, ironware thought to have been made by forging sponge iron obtained by the low-temperature reduction of iron ore (for example, a dagger? from Shagar Bazaar in Syria and a dagger from Tell Asmar in Iraq) have been excavated, indicating that iron smelting technology was invented around this time. Such ironware has also been found sporadically in ruins from the second millennium BCE, but all of them were ceremonial weapons, tools, and ornaments such as bracelets and amulets, and were also treated as valuable metals. The technology to carburize wrought iron obtained by forging sponge iron into steel is thought to have been established in the Hittites around the middle of the second millennium BCE, which made it possible to make weapons and production tools with strong blades. Thus, humans succeeded in fully utilizing the power of iron, began to put it to practical use, and many tools, including weapons and production tools, were replaced by iron from bronze. This marked the beginning of the Iron Age. With these technological achievements, the Hittite Empire systematically produced iron and ironware and almost monopolized the technology, but when the empire was destroyed by a wave of ethnic migration in the 12th century BC, the technology immediately spread to various places. This spread was extremely rapid, and by the second millennium BC it had reached not only the Orient but also Greece, Italy, and India, and by the first millennium BC, distinctive ironware cultures such as the Villanova culture, the Hallstatt culture, and the La Tène culture had flourished in Europe. All of these were wrought iron, and pig iron (cast iron) was not produced in Europe until the invention of the blast furnace in the Middle Ages.

[Sadayuki Watanabe]

Ironware from China, Korea, and Japan

However, in China, both wrought iron and cast iron had already appeared during the Spring and Autumn period, and the beginnings of cast iron technology are much earlier than in the West. This is thought to be because the development of pottery-making technology made it possible to maintain a furnace temperature high enough to melt iron. In the early period, iron was mainly used for agricultural tools (mostly cast iron) and tools (wrought iron and cast iron), but in the late Warring States period, the technology of decarburization and carburization was acquired and steel production began, and gradually weapons such as swords and halberds were made of iron, and by the Han dynasty, most daily utensils were made of iron. In Korea, the use of cast iron began in the northern part of the country at the end of the Warring States period, and forged iron became widespread around the time of the establishment of Lelang Commandery (108 BC). In Japan, forged iron has been the mainstream since the Yayoi period, and cast iron has also been produced, but there are many unresolved issues regarding its technology. In the Americas before the invasion of Europeans, artificial iron was never produced.

[Sadayuki Watanabe]

Iron and Bronze

Due to its excellent metallic properties, iron was able to completely replace stone tools, something that bronze had not been able to do, and became indispensable in all aspects of human activity, dramatically increasing productivity, developing weapons, and promoting the prosperity and disintegration of society, playing a decisive role in the development of human society. However, because iron rusts easily and does not always have a beautiful appearance, even in the Iron Age, other metals such as bronze continued to be used for highly decorative objects such as accessories, ceremonial objects, and containers. When considering the nature of iron, we can see in these facts a major characteristic that makes it fundamentally different from bronze.

[Sadayuki Watanabe]

"The Early Iron Age Culture of East Asia" by Hiroshi Shiomi (1982, Yoshikawa Kobunkan)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

鉄製の器具。鉄製品に対する考古学上の用語。鉄は原料が非常に豊富であり、腐食しやすい点を除けば何よりも優れた金属的性質をもっており、その用途はあらゆる分野に及ぶ。鉄器の利用は人類のさまざまな技術的達成のなかでももっとも画期的なものの一つであり、その社会に及ぼした影響も計り知れなく大きい。しかし、人類が鉄のこの優れた特質を完全に自己のものとし、用途に応じたものを自在につくりだすようになるまでには、長い試行錯誤の期間があった。鉄器には、隕鉄(いんてつ)など自然鉄を利用したものと、鉄鉱石や砂鉄を製錬してつくった人工鉄とがあり、後者は大きく鍛鉄（錬鉄と鋼に分けられる）製品と鋳鉄製品に分類される。鍛鉄は比較的低温で直接製錬することが可能で、とくに鋼は衝撃に強く鋭い利器となりうる。一方の鋳鉄は、鋳型によって自由な形のものがつくられ、きわめて硬いがもろいという弱点をもつ。

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隕鉄の利用

隕鉄は良質の鉄とニッケルの合金を主成分としており、人類による鉄器製作の最初の試みはこの隕鉄の利用から始まっている。隕鉄を鍛成してつくった鉄器は、オリエントでは紀元前四千年紀にまでさかのぼり、前三千年紀にかけていくつかの出土例が知られている。しかし、これらはたとえば小玉やピンや飾り板であり、鉄器は実用品ではなく、きわめて珍稀(ちんき)な儀器、宝器にすぎなかった。鉄器時代に先だつ時期の隕鉄製品は中国やアメリカ大陸でもみられるが、やはり儀礼用品に限られている。

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オリエントとヨーロッパ

西アジアでは前三千年紀後半になると、鉄鉱石を低温還元して得た海綿鉄を鍛えてつくったと考えられる鉄器が出土しており（たとえば、シリアのシャガル・バザールの短刀？やイラクのテル・アスマルの短剣など）、このころ鉄の製錬技術の発明があったことがわかる。こうした鉄器は前二千年紀の遺跡からも散発的に発見されているが、いずれも儀礼用の武器、工具や、腕輪、護符などの装飾品であり、やはり貴重な金属として扱われたものであった。海綿鉄を鍛えて得た錬鉄を浸炭して鋼にする技術は、前二千年紀なかばごろにヒッタイトで確立されたと考えられているが、これによって強靭(きょうじん)な刃をもつ武器や生産用具をつくることが可能になった。こうして、人類は鉄のもつ威力を十分に発揮させることに成功し、鉄の実用化が始まって、武器、生産用具をはじめとする多くの器具が青銅器から鉄器にかわることになった。鉄器時代の到来である。ヒッタイト帝国は、こうした技術的達成のもとで鉄と鉄器の組織的生産を行い、その技術をなかば独占していたが、前12世紀に民族移動の波を受けて同帝国が滅亡するや、その技術はただちに各地へ拡散することになった。この伝播(でんぱ)はきわめて迅速であり、前二千年紀のうちにはオリエントはもとよりギリシア、イタリアやインドにも及び、前一千年紀にはヨーロッパでビッラノーバ文化やハルシュタット文化、ラ・テーヌ文化など、特徴ある鉄器文化を花開かせている。これらはいずれも鍛鉄であり、ヨーロッパでは中世に高炉が発明されるまで基本的に銑鉄（鋳鉄）の製造は行われていない。

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中国、朝鮮、日本の鉄器

ところが中国では、春秋時代にすでに鍛鉄と鋳鉄の両者が出現しており、鋳鉄技術の開始が西方に比して非常に古い。これは、製陶技術の発達により鉄を溶解させうるような炉内温度を持続させることが可能であったからだと考えられる。初期においては、主として農具（鋳鉄が多い）や工具（鍛鉄、鋳鉄）に鉄器が用いられたが、戦国時代後期には脱炭や浸炭の技術を獲得して鋼の生産も始まり、しだいに剣や戟(げき)などの武器の鉄器化も進んで、漢代には日用器具のほとんどが鉄器化されるようになった。朝鮮では、戦国末にその北部で鋳造鉄器の使用が始まり、鍛造鉄器は楽浪郡設置（前108）前後以降に普及するようになる。日本では弥生(やよい)時代以降、鍛造鉄器が主流で鋳鉄も行われているが、その技術の問題などについては未解決の部分が多い。なお、ヨーロッパ人の侵入以前のアメリカ大陸では、人工鉄はついに行われなかった。

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鉄器と青銅器

鉄器は、その優れた金属的特質のゆえに、青銅器がなしえなかった石器の駆逐を完遂して、人類の諸活動のあらゆる部分でなくてはならないものになり、生産力を飛躍的に高め、武器を発達させ、社会の繁栄と分解とを促進して、人類社会の発展に決定的な役割を果たした。しかし一方で、鉄は銹(さ)びやすく外観がかならずしも美麗ではないため、鉄器時代になっても装身具、儀器、容器など装飾性の強い器物には、依然として青銅など他の金属が利用され続けた。鉄器の性格を考える場合、青銅器とは根本的に違った大きな特徴を、こうした事実のなかにみることができよう。

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『潮見浩著『東アジアの初期鉄器文化』（1982・吉川弘文館）』

出典　小学館　日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)について　情報 | 凡例

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