etc., which found their way almost simultaneously into the other European countries. But by-and-by these different nationalities began to manufacture bronze objects themselves, as is proved by the discovery of the moulds in which the various articles were cast. Hence, in the course of time, a great development in the bronze industry took place, especially in countries at some distance from the Adriatic, such as Hungary, Switzerland, North Germany, Scandinavia and the British Isles. On the other hand, in Greece, Italy, South Austria and the valley of the Rhone, the bronze industry was cut short by the discovery of another metal, viz. iron, which gradually supplanted bronze in the manufacture of cutting implements. Although iron was known in Egypt about 1500 b.c. it was not utilized to any great extent for industrial purposes in Europe till about the ninth century b.c., by which time the Greeks, Italians, Etruscans, Illyrians and Phœnicians were settling down in their historic homes. No iron objects occur among the relics from the prehistoric cities of Troy, Tiryns and Mycenæ
During the initiatory stages of the competition between iron and bronze it is probable that the result of the struggle depended on the comparative expense of the production of the respective metals, the former being possibly the dearer of the two. It cannot, however, be supposed that, in the face of the abundance and wide distribution of iron ores.
