Macedonians used leather helmets?

[MeinPanzer]

Noted something? Leather OR linen! Why do they say so? Because they are only ASSUMING where the attachments were from.No actual piece of leather or linen has been found in most of them. They said leather with bronze trim...is it possible they found only the bronze trim and they assume the rest was leather? In Vergina now the inscriprion under Philip's(whoever Philip that was) guilded armour,including some rings and such fittings, say "linothorax fittings" and I admit I don't think they have evidence for them being from a linothorax,but likewise many other finds that are inscribed as "leather armour fittings" are not justified either.
Khairete
Giannis

I'm not holding these mentioned examples up as evidence of leather or linen, as I am just as wary of you when it comes to most archaeologists' identification of fittings as "linen/leather cuirass decoration." All I am saying is that the few more obscure finds mentioned by Karunanithy are worth investigating further to see if they in fact actually yielded traces of leather.

Related to this, Archibald's "The Odrysian Kingdom of Thrace" mentions a few finds of supposed fittings for organic armour and apparent finds of actual traces of leather- in particular:

1. A burial from Golyamata Mogila, Duvanli, apparently included a "leather helmet strengthened with a bronze neckguard, visor, and cheekpieces decorated in low-relief patterns including volutes." This seems a likely case of speculative attribution of fixtures to a leather backing of some sort, but otherwise indicates a helmet made of organic material.

2. A burial from Golyamata Mound (I think this is referring to the same burial above, but Archibald's writing is unclear) of various appliques which were thought to have been attached to a leather jerkin. Archibald notes that "no evidence of such an object [a leather backing] was found, despite the nearby remains of the leather helmet." This implies that the conditions in the tomb were such that at least a trace of the leather was expected to be preserved, and so it seems to indicate that some actual leather was found with the helmet.

3. A burial in a tumulus near Lasar Stanevo (Toros), Lovech was of a warrior who "wore a leather jerkin with a belt to which were fastened thongs for a scabbard, fixed with a bronze ring decorated in the native animal style with a reclining doe." The mention of thongs strongly implies that actual traces of leather were found here.

It's just a shame that we have to go by the vague mentions of authors, almost always mixed with speculation, to try and discern if organic material was actually found in archaeological excavations. It feels like examining ancient writings, but these works were often published only a few years ago!