A \'new\' look at the linothorax

[Dan Howard]

If I can see a reconstruction using any material that looks and behaves like the depictions in art I will believe that it is at least possible.

Kendo kote. They consist of nothing but quilted layered cloth and the resulting construction is as rigid as a board. This method has been used to make armour all over the world for thousands of years. I have previously posted a list of surviving examples that you can go and look at in various museums. I can't understand why people are so resistant to this basic concept of armour construction.

You can't make a decent reconstruction of armour without a basic knowledge of how historical costumes were made. I've already posted a link to a good book to start with.
http://www.amazon.com/Patterns-Fashion-C...532&sr=1-2

The standing projection of the yoke at the back of the neck, faithfully reproduced in iron in the Vergina armour, is a case in point, This argues for the yoke being formed then cut to shape, the projection, useful as it may have been, is then a logical by product of its method of construction. In quilted armour this projection would have to have been specifically created, this would argue for a leather or glued-textile construct.

That is the fundamental problem with Aldrete's work. The Greek texts he uses describe foreigners wearing linen armour, not Greeks. There is nothing to suggest that foreign linen armour was made in the tube-and-yoke style. HIs Homeric cites don't help since Greek Bronze Age armour wasn't made in the T&Y style either. What little evidence we have suggests that classical Greek T&Y armour was made of leather, not linen. The illustrations can't help because in many instances you can't tell whether they are depicting textile, leather, or metal.