Leather Cuirass

[Matthew Amt]

Magnus, do we have two of the three categories if it comes to linen armour?

All three. There are several Mycenaean depictions of white tunics with dotted lines of quilting, both vertical and a diagonal grid pattern. Most of us interpret all those thingies on Classical vase paintings as being linen, too, but I certainly understand being ambivalent about them. Next, there are clear descriptions of linen armor both in Homer and in Classical sources. Descriptions, mind you, not just iffy mentions. Finally, there are surviving fragments from Mycenae and Thebes, the latter being a substantial chunk about 15 layers thick with some of the edging intact, so it clearly isn't just a folded piece of cloth. Artistic, literary, and archeological evidence.

As a further comparison, linen armors were far and away the most common defenses in the high middle ages.

Khairete,

Matthew