In the Bronze Age, there are evidences to suggest that land was systematically reclaimed from swamp and desert and record quantities of food stuffs were being produced Artificial waterways also helped to protect society against the vagaries of the weather.

In the words of Gordon Childe, "Cheap iron democratized agriculture and industry and warfare too. Any peasant could afford an iron axe to clear fresh land for himself and iron ploughshares wherewith to break up stony ground". In the past the superior tools and weapons were rare and expensive. The discovery of iron equalled these differences.