So.. visited a true-scale ark.

According to the story, Noah did have access to iron:

quote:

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Gen 4:22 And Zillah, she also bare Tubalcain, an instructer of every artificer in brass and iron: and the sister of Tubalcain was Naamah.

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(This is two chapters before the flood.)

The story itself is clear that iron was available to Noah. The time discrepancy might pose a problem for dating the flood but not for construction of the ark.

Sure, that's plausible.The problem is that we can only date the earliest known use of iron. The Bible itself is not solid evidence of earlier use but you can't use absence of evidence to contadict it either.

Absence of evidence is the same argument that we use against the flood itself but absence of a worldwide flood is one thing and absence of small localized ironworks is another. People usually take it for granted that Noah started out in the Middle East but there's no particular Biblical reason to make that assumption. Tubalcain and his successors might well have been far from the popular archaeological venues, the "cradles of civilization". The use of iron isn't the least plausible part of the story.

Just so the creationists won't think we're letting you slide, allow me to nitpick: It's eight people, not ten. (Mr. and Mrs. Noah, Mr. and Mrs. Ham, Mrs. and Mrs. Shem, Mr. and Mrs. Japheth).Iron tools were available in the story. (Read the thread).