Figure 8 shields

[Dan Howard]

Hey Dan, I just quoted what Andrea Salimbeti wrote. Still, I can't imagine with all their other achievements they did not see the need for a hand grip of some sort to better control such a large shield. As you can guess I like the idea that Salimbeti thinks the layers of protective material were glued together...where else did I hear something like that....

Homer says that the layers of hide in shields were sewn or stapled together. Some illustrations like the one shown by Todd above seem to show stitching or staples. Salimbeti himself cites the existence of staples at Knossos and thinks that they came from a hide shield so he contradicts himself about the glued nonsense. He is an acolyte of D'Amato and doesn't have a clue how armour or shields actually function. His website is good for all the artefacts that he has collected in one place but his commentary and speculative reconstructions aren't much use.

Agreed with Todd that wicker is unnecessary. All you need is a few layers of hide and the central spine or "keel" to maintain structural integrity. I would make them like Homeric shields with the most layers in the middle around the keel and only one layer out near the rim.