Topraichioi Lamellar

[Flavivs Aetivs]

Anybody have information on the mid-late 5th century lamellar find from Topraichioi (near Badabag, Romania)?

[Dan Howard]

It has not yet been published. All I know is that it was found in what is believed to be an arsenal or military warehouse and dates to the second half of the 5th century. This is before the Avars arrived in the area. It is likely to be one of the few examples of proper Byzantine lamellar in existance.

[Flavivs Aetivs]

That's what I know too. Is there any more info on it? From anywhere? Surely someone knows something.

[Dan Howard]

It has not been published. Nobody will give away any info for fear of being scooped on the paper. Even if someone did have inside information they would not be allowed to publish it on a public forum.

[Flavivs Aetivs]

Yeah and at the rate things are published it'll be years before we see anything about it...

[M. Val. Naso]

I suspect you got the intel from Damien Glad's article from the Pontic-Danubian book. The finds are unpublished, even though excavations stopped at Babadag in 1991 and finds were published in the Tulcea Museum Journal.

They are supposedly kept in the National Military Museum of Bucharest, and I don't think Prof. Zahariade will publish them soon.

However, not 40 kilometres from Babadag, actual armor plates were excavated from the Halmyris fort, along with a helmet and several shield bosses. The finds are dated with the help of coins, rubbish layers, and pottery. The helmet is dated to the late 5th c. or first half of 6th, the fragments to the first half of the 6th, all before the establishment of the Pannonian Avar Khaganate and the arrival of the Kutrigurs.

The iron plates are not complete. The largest fragment of attached and fused plates is 9.3*8 cm. They generally follow the style of the Cartagena lamellar (narrow vertical plates in slightly overlapping rows), though all five fragments seem to have different lacing, but this is not really based, since most holes were fused together. Fragment 1 shows 9 mm wide plates, fragment 2 10.5 mm wide ones, with 3 other fragments 10 mm ones, and all are roughly 8-9 long. Fragment 3 consists of 3 10 mm plates with a fourth on the left being of double width, probably functioning as some sort of linkage piece.

Compare these dimensions to Cartagena (app. 6-7*2), Crypta Balbi (6-6.5 high), Svetinja (mostly 8.5*1.6). Hole distribution (as I mentioned) is quite shady. What we can take for granted, are two pairs of holes on either sides (like Cartagena or Svetinja). The holes at the end(s) are much more risky. Cartagena had a set of vertical hole-pairs at one end, Svetinja main plates had a hole at one end, and vertical or horizontal pairs at the other end. These Halmyris plates are very much corroded, but one fragment seems to show a pair of horizontal holes at one end.

At least this is what Thraco-Dacica 2009, Tome I writes and shows. Nothing more sadly.

[Flavivs Aetivs]

Thanks!

(Although I should note the Kutrigurs didn't arrive; they were the Huns.)