04-07-2013, 05:56 PM
A few points:
1- the earliest identifiable lamellar occurs in the fourteenth century BC in Egypt.
2- Not all lamellar is completely devoid of a backing (see my various publications on middle Byzantine lamellar for example) and not all scale has a backing (e.g. the sample of wire tied "semi-rigid" scale armour from Carnuntum posted in this thread.)
3- This Palmyrene triad is not unique - there are a couple of other very similar examples from the same period.
4- The Mars of Todi armour is lamellar. There are other Etruscan examples.
5- Assyrian reliefs show lamellar of very similar appearance, often in more detail.
6- The Etruscan / Assyrian / Palmrene groups could well be deemed to be a family, although I concluded in preparing my book (<cite>Armour Never Wearies: Scale and Lamellar in the West from the Bronze Age to the Nineteenth Century</cite> The History Press, August 2013) that the lacing system differed between the Assyrian and Etruscan forms, with the Palmyrene reliefs being insufficiently detailed to draw a conclusion. The Togolok Tepe find is related, although I conclude a less accomplished re-invention.
7- My book offers a new typology of scale armour based upon the functional affect of the way each form is constructed. There are just 5 types. Hands up all those who are confident they understand Von Groller's typology!
Timothy
1- the earliest identifiable lamellar occurs in the fourteenth century BC in Egypt.
2- Not all lamellar is completely devoid of a backing (see my various publications on middle Byzantine lamellar for example) and not all scale has a backing (e.g. the sample of wire tied "semi-rigid" scale armour from Carnuntum posted in this thread.)
3- This Palmyrene triad is not unique - there are a couple of other very similar examples from the same period.
4- The Mars of Todi armour is lamellar. There are other Etruscan examples.
5- Assyrian reliefs show lamellar of very similar appearance, often in more detail.
6- The Etruscan / Assyrian / Palmrene groups could well be deemed to be a family, although I concluded in preparing my book (<cite>Armour Never Wearies: Scale and Lamellar in the West from the Bronze Age to the Nineteenth Century</cite> The History Press, August 2013) that the lacing system differed between the Assyrian and Etruscan forms, with the Palmyrene reliefs being insufficiently detailed to draw a conclusion. The Togolok Tepe find is related, although I conclude a less accomplished re-invention.
7- My book offers a new typology of scale armour based upon the functional affect of the way each form is constructed. There are just 5 types. Hands up all those who are confident they understand Von Groller's typology!
Timothy
