Making Pteruges (or at least trying to make Pteruges!)

[madoc]

If the leather ones hang in a similar fashion to the sculptures, then it is surely a viable method of reconstruction ?

leather _does_ have protective qualities. I have been present when tests, admittedly with viking period sharp weapons, have been carried out.
It is also used to strengthen shields, both intrinsically and against weapons both in a contemporary contexts * and later anglo saxon ones **. It survives in these contexts as traces behind rivets and edging.
Personally speaking, I have a dark age shield that has conservatively seen 20 years of use (some of it very hard use indeed) and outlived all of it's contempories purely because it is leather covered. Yes the metal weapons were blunt, but that is still some impressive longevity.

I could never understand why everyone believes that roman leather shield covers are removed before fighting ? Makes far more sense to leave them on.

*iron age cemeteries in east yorkshire - stead -1991
*first century shield find from doncaster, buckland,, 1978
** wood usage in anglo-saxon shields, watson, 1994