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Quote:I'll be making another shield this winter, my best yet (hopefully) and it will be based on the Dura finds. Why? Because that's where the good evidence is. I'm not going to frolic about in the enjoyable games of oval vs. round and dished vs. flat, when these arguments are based on vastly differing pictorial references which often seem to contradict each other.
So I'm sticking with a Roman shield-making tradition that is perfectly and exhaustively attested: Dura.
Dura is not as sim ple as it looks. The shields themselves are gone (aren't they?) and offer no possibility to check the records. Shield boss studies however suggest more tangable evidence.
Dished. Round or oval is not the issue, it's both/and.
Have fun painting.
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I'll lay up an oval flat this week.. I don't have enough "planewood" yet so I'll use poplar..
......If only I could get ahold of some plantanus hispanica!
Hibernicus
LEGIO IX HISPANA, USA
You cannot dig ditches in a toga!
[url:194jujcw]http://www.legio-ix-hispana.org[/url]
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Folks,
I've been re-reading the reports on the Illerup and Egyptian shields (I've lent my Dura arms & armour final report to a friend  ) and the planks seem to be just glued edge to edge.
Poplar is a common wood for the Danish shiled planks, while the Egyptian ones are cedar. The Egyptian planks are narrow, around 40 mm wide, while the Illerup ones range from 60-70 mm to more common 120-160 and even 200 mm on some middle plank (they need to be wider to hold the hole for the grip.
Tomorrow I'll have a look at plank thicknesses :wink:
Aitor
It\'s all an accident, an accident of hands. Mine, others, all without mind, from one extreme to another, but neither works nor will ever.
Rolf Steiner
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THANKS Aitor. Just the info I was looking for.
Franklin Slaton
Semper Ubi Sub Ubi
Your mother wears caligae!
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Where an earth can I get poplar from? Its what I need, I know. I'm not too good on wood.
Guess the only thing I can do is start phoning local timber merchants. 
~ Paul Elliott
The Last Legionary
This book details the lives of Late Roman legionaries garrisoned in Britain in 400AD. It covers everything from battle to rations, camp duties to clothing.
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Were the Dura finds all desstroyed in the War? I've only ever seen the old 1930s photographs.
Quote:Dura is not as sim ple as it looks. The shields themselves are gone (aren't they?) and offer no possibility to check the records. Shield boss studies however suggest more tangable evidence.
~ Paul Elliott
The Last Legionary
This book details the lives of Late Roman legionaries garrisoned in Britain in 400AD. It covers everything from battle to rations, camp duties to clothing.
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In EU.....
planewood
London Plane Tree plantanus acerifolia
poplar
Abele, or White Poplar (Populus alba)
Grey Poplar (P. canescens)
Black Poplar (P. nigra)
Lombardy Poplar (P. fastigiata)
{www.2020site.org/trees/poplar.html}
Need a supplier in the UK? Try this....
http://www.greenspec.co.uk/html/materia ... hants.html
Hibernicus
LEGIO IX HISPANA, USA
You cannot dig ditches in a toga!
[url:194jujcw]http://www.legio-ix-hispana.org[/url]
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No time to check more data on shield boards yet...
Notwithstanding, I'm amazed at what Robert says on the Dura shields  hock: Recalling from my memory, the famous oval painted ones are alive and well...It is just the beautiful paintings on their fronts what have all but vanished...
Aitor
It\'s all an accident, an accident of hands. Mine, others, all without mind, from one extreme to another, but neither works nor will ever.
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I chanced upon this IV century ivory lipsanoteque with scenes from the New Testament (Museum of Brescia, Italy). It clearly shows at the same time an oval and a round late scuta, and they look as "flat" to me, even if the artist could have thickness enough to carve easily dished shields.
Surely many of you already know this piece, but I asked myself (and you) if it's a good evidence to demonstrate that in the IV century the shields could be so too.
![[Image: round_oval1.jpg]](http://web.tiscali.it/iulianevivas/round_oval1.jpg)
Valete,
TITVS/Daniele Sabatini
... Tu modo nascenti puero, quo ferrea primum
desinet ac toto surget Gens Aurea mundo,
casta faue Lucina; tuus iam regnat Apollo ...
Vergilius, Bucolicae, ecloga IV, 4-10
![[Image: PRIMANI_ban2.gif]](http://web.tiscali.it/iulianevivas/PRIMANI_ban2.gif)
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Would the wood have been coppiced?
TARBICvS/Jim Bowers
A A A DESEDO DESEDO!
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Quote:I chanced upon this IV century ivory lipsanoteque with scenes from the New Testament (Museum of Brescia, Italy). It clearly shows at the same time an oval and a round late scuta, and they look as "flat" to me, even if the artist could have thickness enough to carve easily dished shields.
Surely many of you already know this piece, but I asked myself (and you) if it's a good evidence to demonstrate that in the IV century the shields could be so too.
Valete,
Is it oval or does it look so from the angle the artist carved it?
Conal Moran
Do or do not, there is no try!
Yoda
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Quote:Would the wood have been coppiced?
Would that give you enough thickness in the planking ?
Conal Moran
Do or do not, there is no try!
Yoda
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Conal wrote:
Quote:Is it oval or does it look so from the angle the artist carved it?
Right because the two shield are so clearly compared that I'd say they are different in shape (and heraldry). I think that at this time it's not an angle matter or an artist's mistake: one is oval/flat and the second is round/flat in my opinion.
Vale,
TITVS/Daniele Sabatini
... Tu modo nascenti puero, quo ferrea primum
desinet ac toto surget Gens Aurea mundo,
casta faue Lucina; tuus iam regnat Apollo ...
Vergilius, Bucolicae, ecloga IV, 4-10
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I wrote a paper about this subject, whoever wants a copy, pm me and send me you E-mail address. I think I solved the problem. 
The paper costs, as usual, 1 (one) beer, payable whenever we meet in person.
Christian K.
No reconstruendum => No reconstruction.
Ut desint vires, tamen est laudanda voluntas.
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I'll take you up on that.
faslaton@ *no spam* gmail.com
Franklin Slaton
Semper Ubi Sub Ubi
Your mother wears caligae!
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