10-04-2014, 11:04 PM
There are a few aspects of armour construction that are universal regardless of how it is made. An important one is the fact that the midriff is almost never covered by rigid armour. Many cuirasses reach down to the bottom of the ribcage and stop at about navel level - leaving the lower stomach and groin completely unprotected. Others cover this area with a lighter type of armour that is more flexible.
Depictions of the T & Y armour seem to show armour that reaches down to cover most of the stomach with the pteruges depending down to cover the groin and thighs. If this armour is to conform to the above tradition then either the entire cuirass needs to be flexible (unlikely except for the variants made entirely from mail or scale) or the torso is covered by two different constructions - the chest is protected by rigid armour and the midriff is covered by something that is flexible.
There are some T & Y cuirasses that only have the midriff covered with scales. This makes no sense if the midriff is already as protective as the chest since the chest is always covered by the heaviest armour. The only reason to cover the midriff with scales is if the midriff protection is a lot thinner than the chest. The scales act as reinforcing while maintaining the required level of flexibility.
The above can be made from either leather or textile by simply varying the number of layers on each section of the torso. We know that metal armour was often made of varying thicknesses depending on which part of the torso is being protected and there is no reason why they couldn't have done the same thing with non-metalic materials.
If I were making this from textile then I would use 12-16 layers of cloth on the chest with vertical rows of quilting spaced closely together. Around the midriff I would use far fewer layers - maybe 4-6 with horizontal quilting spaced further apart (the closer the rows of quilting, the more rigid the result). The exact same construction can be made from leather except that there would be fewer layers. The midriff would only have one layer of light leather while the chest would be protected by multiple layers of thicker leather (perhaps 3 or 4).
Depictions of the T & Y armour seem to show armour that reaches down to cover most of the stomach with the pteruges depending down to cover the groin and thighs. If this armour is to conform to the above tradition then either the entire cuirass needs to be flexible (unlikely except for the variants made entirely from mail or scale) or the torso is covered by two different constructions - the chest is protected by rigid armour and the midriff is covered by something that is flexible.
There are some T & Y cuirasses that only have the midriff covered with scales. This makes no sense if the midriff is already as protective as the chest since the chest is always covered by the heaviest armour. The only reason to cover the midriff with scales is if the midriff protection is a lot thinner than the chest. The scales act as reinforcing while maintaining the required level of flexibility.
The above can be made from either leather or textile by simply varying the number of layers on each section of the torso. We know that metal armour was often made of varying thicknesses depending on which part of the torso is being protected and there is no reason why they couldn't have done the same thing with non-metalic materials.
If I were making this from textile then I would use 12-16 layers of cloth on the chest with vertical rows of quilting spaced closely together. Around the midriff I would use far fewer layers - maybe 4-6 with horizontal quilting spaced further apart (the closer the rows of quilting, the more rigid the result). The exact same construction can be made from leather except that there would be fewer layers. The midriff would only have one layer of light leather while the chest would be protected by multiple layers of thicker leather (perhaps 3 or 4).
Author: Bronze Age Military Equipment, Pen & Sword Books
