butted vs rivetted

[Caballo]

Aha-found it! :lol:

I think Peroni's reference is to the Kirkburn shirt. I googled around and found this.

"Returning to Stead's account, "the operation was successful and the mail was moved to the [British] museum for further conservation. In the event, the only artefact under it [the tunic] was a small copper-alloy toggle….
"Although complete when buried, the mail tunic is now badly corroded and partly fragmented; it can never be restored to its original state, but conservation and radiography have revealed full details of its construction. Each link is a ring 8.2 - 9.2mm in external diameter, constructed from iron wire 1.5 - 1.9mm thick; each is butt-jointed and linked with four other rings (Fig. 45, d.). As found, the tunic comprised two superimposed layers of mail, the front and the back with a single layer for the shoulder-flaps extending from the back. There was no hint of leather or fabric between the two layers, and no indication of organic binding at the collar, hem, or sleeve. Some mineralised fabric on the underside was all that remained of the covering or clothing of the corpse."

[Iron Age Cemeteries in East Yorkshire, I.M. Stead, English Heritage Archaeological Report no. 22, 1991, pp 54]

Efforts to provide here a photographic image of the tunic have proved fruitless, Dr. J. D. Hill, Curator, British and European Iron Age Collections at the British Museum, in which collection the tunic is housed, has told me that the remains of the tunic "are not very photogenic" and that "there are no high quality images of the shirt." So, I must return to Simon Dove's written account of the lifting of the tunic, which does include a few useable images. "In some areas of the garment individual links could be distinguished but most of the mail had fused together into a mass of corrosion products. Unfortunately this had no intrinsic strength and crumbled easily, so before any lifting could be attempted the mail had to be consolidated to prevent any further damage." The narrative from hence becomes rather technical, but no apologies, as this is a vital process and needs to be presented in full.
"A solution of 50% Texicryl 13-002, an acrylic co-polymer, in water was applied using pipettes and syringes, to avoid any physical damage that brushing might have caused. An emulsion was chosen as consolidant because the ground was damp and it was feared that the use of a solvent-based solution, for example Paraloid B72 in acetone, would have merely formed a white film on the surface and not acted as a consolidant at all. Texicryl had been used satisfactorily as an on-site consolidant on previous excavations. Although it was sunny for most of the excavation period, cold north-east winds lowered the temperature. This, combined with the dampness in the ground, affected the curing time of the Texicryl. It took over 24 hours before hardening was complete. There is rarely time for prolonged procedures on site and in this case there was less than a week left. The delay was not only frustrating but highly inconvenient."
A decision then had to be made about how to lift the tunic, two main options seemed to be available, but each had its own drawbacks. The choice was made after due consideration to use a variation of the method used to lift mosaics and wall-paintings. "After the initial application of consolidant had hardened a layer of scrim and bandage was applied to cover the mail. Texicryl was used again with the resulting delay in hardening. Even when completely cured Texicryl retains some flexibility so if the original contours of the mail tunic were to be preserved a rigid support would be needed.
More at http://www.yorkshirehistory.com/chariot ... ndex_a.htm
and at http://www.vicus.org.uk/ (look under resources "Evidence for British mail shirts"