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When Armor gets Really Old!
#1
"Warrior's 3,900 Year Old Suit of Bone Armour unearthed in Omsk."

So claims the title of a Siberian Times article by Kseniya Lugovskaya. It's refreshing to read an accurate piece written by a non-archaeologist. The armor, made from animal bone laced with rawhide, is most amazing because it was designed in the Early Bronze age, and believed to have been made by a craftsman of the Samus-Seyminskya culture of the northeastern Altai. Here are some photos:

   
   
   
   
   
   

Most interesting, this armor is sophisticated and also (I believe) lamellar. Possibly, this is the oldest example of armor found in Central Asia... or anywhere else. To access the original article, type the quoted headline (above in bold face) into your Google search engine. Enjoy. Big Grin
Alan J. Campbell

member of Legio III Cyrenaica and the Uncouth Barbarians

Author of:
The Demon's Door Bolt (2011)
Forging the Blade (2012)

"It's good to be king. Even when you're dead!"
             Old Yuezhi/Pazyrk proverb
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#2
Alan it is amazing the amount of ancient armour out there, I came across this when looking into the leather armour ect in the Roxolani thread. Most are from the east as you would expect, but some brillant pieces of kit even Tntankamuns leather lamellar armour is amazing, and some of the bone ones are also up there as well the reconstructions I have seen.
Regards Brennivs  Big Grin
Woe Ye The Vanquished
                     Brennvs 390 BC
When you have all this why do you envy our mud huts
                     Caratacvs
Centvrio Princeps Brennivs COH I Dacorivm (Roma Antiqvia)
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#3
Tony,

Agreed! We would never expect this kind of detail in something this old. It looks much like a forerunner of what we see worn by the Han Chinese, also very "Scythian" in design, and similar to the later Alan/Roxolani/Sarmatian examples. I suppose this Omsk armor is the granddad of "all the above." Rolleyes
Alan J. Campbell

member of Legio III Cyrenaica and the Uncouth Barbarians

Author of:
The Demon's Door Bolt (2011)
Forging the Blade (2012)

"It's good to be king. Even when you're dead!"
             Old Yuezhi/Pazyrk proverb
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#4
Always love scale and lammellar designs in armor.
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#5
Depending on which report you read, this armour is anywhere from 3500 to 3900 years old. If it is 3900 years old it is the oldest armour we have. If it is only 3500 then it is not. Do we have a firmer dating on this find yet?
Author: Bronze Age Military Equipment, Pen & Sword Books
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#6
Quote:Always love scale and lammellar designs in armor.

It isn't scale or lamellar. It is a rod/slat construction that was usually made of bone or wood. This construction saw use on both sides of the Bering Strait for thousands of years. Here is a North American example made from wood.

[Image: d5df7aebde2aa42584f9e5e1b879e71d.jpg]
Author: Bronze Age Military Equipment, Pen & Sword Books
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