A silvery-white, soft, malleable, and ductile ferromagnetic element rarely encountered in its pure form. All early iron was produced by chemical reduction of iron ore to a solid, almost pure iron at about 1200 oC, with the aid of charcoal (carbon) to provide the major utilitarian metal of the Etruscan period. The ore was widely available in Etruria, although principally available in the Tolfa area, the Colline Metallifere, and Elba.
Historical Dictionary of the Etruscans. Simon K. F. Stoddart.