Is it possible that there were Iron tools during the Stone Age and Bronze, but they were totally destroyed by rust?

Answer 1

When looking at archaeological remains to learn about the past we have to take cumulative evidence into account and constantly build our best current theory based on that information. In certain conditions, especially environments deprived of oxygen, iron artifacts can last a very long time. We even have a few wooden objects from such distant time periods! If there were iron objects crafted even in the early parts of the Stone Age (the paleolithic) it is actually possible they could survive, but so far none have been found to refine our current theories. Besides iron objects themselves there would likely be other evidence of iron smelting. These might include chemical traces left over from slag, unrefined ores, or other tools connected to the iron producing process.