Thracian Lancers presentation uploaded

[MeinPanzer]

Do you have access to the .ppt file? The image in the file seems to be different, so frankly I am confused. I thought perhaps there was reconstruction. Maybe Chris can weigh in.

The images in the Powerpoint file are of the reconstructions of the actual paintings in place at Kazanluk to give tourists an idea of what the paintings actually looked like. What you see there is just a facsimile and not the actual fresco.

The outline shape, varing between round and oval, is one of the most easily malleable characteristics of shields. For example we see barleycorn pommel shields that are both round and oval. Features, such as a boss type, or perhaps a scallop, are much more reliable indicators of derivation. If there is a scallop, we must ask why? Is it functional as might be the case with pelta (unlikely and more probably a relic of what was once functional)? Is it simply fashion? An artifact of the way they were manufactured? The likelyhood of this emerging de novo are much lower than the reshaping of a shield from round to oval.

Firstly, the variability in shape between the oval thureos and round cavalry shields related to thureoi is much slighter than between a crescent pelta and these shields. Secondly, there isn't even a similarity between the small, heavily rounded scalloping seen on these shields and the pointed crescent shape of the classic pelta. Thirdly, you are not accounting for the other differences between these shields, such as the bronze facing and the horizontal "boss" (or whatever those parallel lines are).