01-05-2006, 10:41 AM
Quote:Salimbeti posted a week or so ago that part of a linothorax has been found at Thebes. He thinks that it consisted of at least 10 layers but could be as many as 15 layers. The fragment still had part of the border attached so it was more likely to have been a linothorax rather than a folded bolt of cloth. It increases the likelihood that the fragment found at Mycenae was also from a linothorax. It also puts another nail into the coffins of those who still think the linothorax was made from leather or linen-covered plate.
I wonder if this last sentence slightly misses the point. Surely the question should not be whether the linothorax was made of linen, but whether the Archaic-Classical cuirass with shoulder-yoke and pteryges (which is what most people here seem to be interested in reconstructing) was in fact a linothorax. While we have plenty of references to linen armour in 7th-century and earlier sources like Homer and Alkaios, there are few - no? - references to Greek linen armour in the heyday of the shoulder-piece cuirass, say 550-400 BC.
cheers,
Duncan
cheers,
Duncan
Duncan