Lorica segmentata from Caerleon

[Cunicula]

Metal objects in soil blocks will have to be dealt with immediately, anyway.
We live in the world of websites, blogs and Twitter, and the excavation already has a blog which was updated today
http://www.britarch.ac.uk/caf/wikka.php?wakka=CLFBlog5 . I'm sure there will be plenty of information out there as work progresses

[Caratacus]

How about items being excavated 20 years before, and then finally getting published.

Oh, I can top that, Markus! In my work I've come across stuff that has been lying around for 40, 50 or even 70 years that no-one has seen fit to write up and get out there in the open air. I don't think that it is willful - it's just a matter of money and having the time to deal with it all. The Internet may become a partial solution to this situation - but only if "it" gets its act together and things get posted that have been properly peer-reviewed. Yes, I know - don't hold your breath!

Mike Thomas
(Caratacus)

[markusaurelius]

Thanks for the link. I'll keep an eye out over the winter months.

[MARCvSVIBIvSMAvRINvS]

Maybe this copper disc armour is the first find of a proper plumata.......

M.VIB.M.

[john m roberts]

Any ideas as to how this stuff came to be where it was found? Is there evidence of a fire? Surely if the fort was overrun in a battle all that stuff would have been looted. Of course, maybe somebody just locked up the room and it was forgotten.

[jvrjenivs]

Maybe this copper disc armour is the first find of a proper plumata.......

Do you mean a lorica hamata sqaumataque? If so, we have the excellent example (but incomplete) of oudenburg for example.

Anyway, this piece shouts for a decent repronstruction, I would say. I'll keep my eyes on it

[mcbishop]

Do you mean a lorica hamata sqaumataque? If so, we have the excellent example (but incomplete) of oudenburg for example.

But the Ouddorp armour (don't think there's any from Oudenburg, but I could be wrong) and other similar examples are not made of discs, so if they are not plumata (as has been asserted in print by Martin Wijnhoven), then the Caerleon piece could be, 'cos they're not the same thing! ;-) )

Personally, a) I think the discs would make it look more fishy than feathery and b) I think all such speculation should wait until the poor conservators (ah, how they are making the news at the moment!) have got their grubby mitts on the objects and clarified exactly what has been found. Patience, as ever, is a virtue. :-) )

Oh, and c) I wish people would stop inventing Latin terms where they don't exist: it's bad enough having to explain that 'lorica segmentata' isn't a real Roman term!

Enough grumbling from me; exit, pursued by a bear...

Mike Bishop

[Caballo]

Thanks- these circular bronze scales; does anyone know what diameter they are?

PS Thanks to Matt, I now know that Barics is Welsh for barracks. Made me smile anyway!

[jvrjenivs]

Of course I meant the ouddorp example discussed by Martijn Wijnhoven.

[Peroni]

Thanks- these circular bronze scales; does anyone know what diameter they are?

Looking at the centimetre scale on the left of the photo the discs appear to be in the region of 7-8mm diameter(?) so quite small and a lot required to make a cuirass!

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

The scales on a plumata are incredibly small too though Ade! Did you see the sample from E.Scmidt?

[MARCvSVIBIvSMAvRINvS]

Well Mike, since you loathe the newly invented latin terms but do say the piec of disc armour would look rather fishy, how about this one ?

LORICA PISCATA ?

lol



M.VIB.M.

[Tarbicus]

We have found a fragment of what looks like scale armour, but rather than the usual Roman scale this is made of tiny copper circles that must have been pinned to a leather backing.

The method of attachment sounds like something Graham Sumner drew in Roman Military Dress (Arch of Constantine, colour plate Fig. 5), except that has squares, not circles, and the fastenings/rivets are visible (no overlap on the pieces).

[Medicus matt]

last night, Anna showed me more photos she'd taken of the finds in situ. I'm hoping she'll let me put them up here.

One thing which I don't think has been clear (or at least wasn't to me) is that those small discs have integral shanks, more like round headed rivets or pins than anything else. The ends of the shanks are bent, but not enough (in my opinion) to secure them into a leather backing (as conjectured on site). It's very, very odd.

[Medicus matt]

Any ideas as to how this stuff came to be where it was found? Is there evidence of a fire? Surely if the fort was overrun in a battle all that stuff would have been looted. Of course, maybe somebody just locked up the room and it was forgotten.

Looking at the structural evidence, I'd guess that one of the walls collapsed inwards, burying some of the contents.