linothorax and other white cuirases

[Dan Howard]

As far as your second pic goes: How could you say that is "chainmail" if we had no extant objects of such armour? Of course, If I would say those are strangs of woven whalebone you would say that that is nonsense. But from the relief alone it is not possible to determine the materiality. If we would agree that what we see here is "chainmail" could we find out if the rings of this armor were made of copper alloy or steel? If steel, what kind of steel? How much carbon in the steel? Where was the iron gained? I´d say we cannot.
So your argument here is quite circular.

Exactly.There are plenty of alternative interpretations. How about a woollen shirt knitted using nalbinding?


Or a corselet made from woven cane?


Or plaited coconut fibre


You can't just pick the one interpretation that fits your pet theory without building a case to dismiss all of the other interpretations. This doesn't actually look much like mail armour at all. It looks more like a sweater my grandmother would knit.


The only reason he says it is "chainmail" is because we have extant physical examples of it. If he wants to do this then he must adhere to the same reasoning with his other images and conclude that they are metal cuirasses, unless he can produce evidence to support his linen/leather theory over the more obvious metal interpretation.