Even in today's modern society, swords are used in many of the most important military or state ceremonies and functions. Think about the commercials for the U.S. Marine Corps and how they focus on the Marine saber, or the knighting ceremony performed by the Queen of England where a sword is used to touch the shoulders of the knighted individual. The earliest known swords were made from copper , one of the most common metals available. Copper swords were very soft and dulled quickly. Later on, swords were made from bronze .
Bronze is an alloy of copper and tin.
An alloy is a mixture of two or more base metals or elements to create another metal with certain specific properties. A better sword was developed with the advent of iron . Iron ore was easily found in every part of the ancient world. Iron ore contains iron combined with oxygen. To make iron from iron ore, you need to eliminate the oxygen to create pure iron.