Linothorax design/construction

[PMBardunias]

C. Linen with plates within:

2. the springiness appearance of the shoulder flaps when open: would be perfectly explained by thin bronze plates within

Doubtful. The springiness has been demonstrated quite well for linen glued and stitched. The shoulders would probably have been the first bronze to go based on the lack or minimization of shoulder protection in armors with large pectorals.

My main arguement is evolutionary. If we look at the mediaeval plate for example, it took centuries to arrive at full plate armor, then centuries to get back out of it, with many intermediary steps of partail plate. Such a staged transition should have occured with the greeks, or we need to know why not (For instance if the Linothorax was imported from another culture, or marked a class shift in the warriors. Both seem not to be the case.)

I have only one obvious image of a transitional armor. Bell cuirasse with the Ptergites usually assocoated with the linothorax. See below.

The step after this would be to have a reduced bronze element on top, but we don't see in greece the pectorals seen elsewhere. Importantly the "linen" thorax is still being worn with bronze thigh guards and other peripheral armor, so it probably was not seen as drastically lighter at the time. Thus I think there was a "missing link". It may have only been used for a short period- 25 years or so- before they moved to all linen or all leather, but this would have been enough to explain the shape of the slab-sided linothorax being carried into the later armor.