Iron Age sword
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Swords made of iron (as opposed to bronze) appear from the Early Iron Age (ca. 12th century BC), but do not become widespread before the 8th century BC.
Iron has the advantage of mass-production due to the wider availability of the raw material. Early iron swords were not comparable to later steel blades; being brittle, they were even inferior to well-manufactured bronze weapons, but the easier production, and the better availability of the raw material permitted large scale production.
Eventually smiths learned that by adding an amount of carbon (added during smelting in the form of charcoal) in the iron, they could produce an improved alloy (now known as steel). Several different methods of swordmaking existed in ancient times, including, most famously, pattern welding. Over time, different methods developed all over the world.
The Proto-Celtic Hallstatt culture (8th century BC) figured among the early users of iron swords, evolving into the Celtic sword of the 5th to 3rd centuries BC.
The Scythian/Persian Acinaces appears from ca. the 6th century BC. In Classical Antiquity and the Parthian and Sassanid Empires in Iran, iron swords were common. The Greek xiphos and the Roman gladius are typical examples of the type, measuring some 60 to 70 cm. The late Roman Empire introduced the longer spatha (the term for its wielder, spatharius, became a court rank in Constantinople).
Chinese steel swords make their appearance from the 3rd century BC Qin Dynasty. The Chinese Dao (刀 pinyin dāo) is single-edged, sometimes translated as sabre or broadsword, and the Jian (劍 pinyin jiàn) double edged.
The Roman Iron Age Germanic sword (from ca. 1st c. AD) is based on the spatha and evolves into the Viking sword in the 8th century.
