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Message: <blockquote data-quote="SWBaxter" data-source="post: 2095955" data-attributes="member: 27926"><p>Well, kind of, but of course it's more complicated than that. In the Mediterranean basin and on over to at least Mesopotamia, where many of the oldest civilizations were concentrated, tin and copper (the metals used to make bronze) were easily accessible, and so were used to make armour and weapons. Some adjoining ancient peoples - the Hittites, for example - had little access to bronze, but did mess around with iron. But it wasn't until the easily accessible tin and copper deposits ran out that the bronze age civilizations started to work with iron. So during its heyday, bronze would be cheaper than iron, at least in those civilizations that control the tin and copper mines. Then eventually declining supply leads to exploitation of different metals, which are initially harder to exploit but are actually available in much greater quantities.</p></blockquote><p></p>