Lorica hamata / segmentata

[mcbishop]

Judging from the plate in Curle's book, the found pieces of the Newstead mail are not a "rusty mass."

No they're not. In fact they are in such good condition that it is not that difficult to see that they have a squarish section which indicates punching and not welding.

Do you happen to know of the study showing that Newstead rings were not welded? Could you please provide a reference?

My own examinations have proven to me they were punched. I have personally examined both the Newstead and the Carlingwark Loch examples in detail and have absolutely no doubts whatsoever that they were made by punching.

This is an issue that should be resolved by the forthcoming monograph on the ironwork by Prof Bill Manning, who is the leading specialist on the Romano-British material. All of the Newstead finds will eventually be republished in a series of monographs (Curle published only a selection of the best) and I suspect the only way to lay this particular question to rest (and from bitter experience I know that there will always be a few people who question personal observation - the Corbridge Hoard taught me that) is for an X-ray image to be published.

Here's what Curle said:

Among the finds from the pit in the Principia (No. I) were pieces of chain mail, reduced by rust almost to a solid mass. They were composed of rings of iron wire having a diameter of about a quarter of an inch (Plate XXXVIII., Fig. 10). These rings were of two kinds. In one case the ends of the wire forming the ring had been hammered flat and riveted together, in the other they appear to have been welded. The two kinds are arranged in alternate rows, a system which was employed in the chain mail of the Thorsbjerg moss.

James Curle was a solicitor in the Scottish Borders who also happened to write one of the finest small finds reports in arguably the finest Roman archaeological report ever produced in Britain. His observational skills were acute ('they appear to have been welded') and he was well-read (hence the Thorsbjerg comparison) and it is important to note that he was not being categorical. The fact the photo differs from his description of the mail as found suggests some form of (pretty radical!) mechanical cleaning took place and that, given the nature of iron and its corrosion products, could mean the artefact as it now exists may have been (not was, note) sculpted to a degree.

Personally, just by the application of Occam's Razor, I would tend to agree with Erik (why weld them if you could stamp them and all the comparable evidence is for stamping?), but we need a definitive publication to resolve this and that is coming. There will be a whole series of events in the coming years to mark the centenary of the publication of A Roman Frontier Post and its People, which remains an archaeological report, the like of which, no British archaeologist now possesses the competence to produce. [Pause to reconsider last sentence - nope, I'm dead right!]

Mike Bishop