Aspis Construction Method

[rocktupac]

They were turned on a lathe, reinforced across the grain on the front with thin wooden laths, and reinforced on the back with leather.

Scott, I know what you are searching for, it's what we are all searching for...certainty.

It this case it does not exist, and there are no academics who can tell you an aspis was made in such and such a way with 100% certainty. The information provided here is what there is, and pretty good. And frankly Academics talk to other other Academics on Academic forums, not here. This is a much friendlier place to post a question than any Academic forum.  

I've done a quick check of what I have on hand by Kagan, Viggiano, Van Wees, Snodgrass, Krentz, Schwartz, Matthew and of course Hanson and nothing has come up yet regarding how the shield was made. They are generally more interested in how it was used. I am curious myself so a deeper dive into the published literature may be on hand.

I can only think of two ways to make the shield, by turning from a large glued block or pre-cutting the pieces and gluing them together, and my opinion is for the turning method based on the scant evidence provided. Any other ideas?

Thank you for the informative response! While certainty would be nice, at this point I'm more out to collect information in all forms. And before making a judgment or rigidly defending a possible theory, I'd rather gather as much information and evidence as possible. I accept that there are things we will never know for sure. What I refuse to do is hold a position and be unwilling to waver from it based on such little evidence. If I have a theory about something and indisputable evidence appears that proves me wrong, I would gladly welcome it; I'd much rather know the truth about something than be stuck defending my ego and get a reputation for an unwillingness to change and adapt. New ideas are welcome!

Ultimately, I would like to test a few different construction methods and see which seems most likely. I think that would give us somewhat of an insight into how these shields were constructed. Theories I would include: a block of glued-together wood turned on a lathe; a block of glued-together wood chiseled out by hand and finished into a bowl shape; thin strips of wood glued and laminated together, overlapping to increase thickness. There may be a few other methods to try, and I'm just brainstorming, but this could be a good place to start.