More glue - bah

[rocktupac]

To quote from Cawkwell's "Orthodoxy and Hoplites" discussing the firm stance many take on the 'orthodox' way of hoplite battle (p.385):
"Against such fixity of belief, one can make little progress..."

When some evidence is found to support glued linen armour then it could be seriously studied. Until then it takes away resources from the study of real armour. It is no better than all those boofheads shooting arrows at butted mail and pretending that it has any relevance to the riveted mail worn in battle. If resources weren't squandered on the glued part of the tests then so much more could have been discovered about quilted textile defenses.

I'm just frustrated at the wasted opportunity. Dr. Aldrete grew, harvested, processed, spun and wove his own flax fibers into linen. Then he goes and buggers it up with glue. That effort could have been better invested in further exploring the possiblities of quilting.

Dan, when you show me some evidence that the Greeks or Macedonians wore quilted armor then everyone can stop exploring the possibility of laminated linen armor. Simply listing what other cultures wore for protection, and applying that to the Greeks etc., does not count. As far as I'm concerned doing this (i.e. exploring one possibility) does nothing to take away from the study of other types of armor. I'm sure there are plenty that are looking into quilted armor. Nothing in this entire process has been squandered, except for maybe arguing with your negativity and neophobia.

If you're so "frustrated at the wasted opportunity," then you should by all means put together a rival project scientifically testing quilted armor, finding artistic representations of quilted armor in vase paintings, sculptural reliefs, frescoes etc, and all literary mentions from primary sources of quilted armor worn by ancient Mediterranean peoples. Until then, saying this type of research "takes away from the study of real armour," that it squanders resources and it is a "wasted opportunity," stifles the creative and imaginative mind and does nothing positive for the advancement of anything -- including quilted armor.

There is certainly evidence of laminating in the ancient world. We are exploring one possible explanation of the makeup of the linen thorax, linothorax, tube-and-yoke, Type IV etc. -- whatever you want to call it. I understand your point of view and your opinions on the matter are clearly stated. Never once does our research deny the existence of quilted armor and in fact considers it a possibility (as we do with leather). And I'm not sure where you got that "Dr. Aldrete grew, harvested, processed, spun and wove his own flax fibers into linen" when this is never hinted at.