# | Polity | Coded Value | Tags | Year(s) | Edit | Desc |
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If "the first archaeologically recognizable, large post-Indus urban settlements are not earlier than the fifth century BC ... solidly visible states ... appear in a sudden profusion in the late first millennium B.C."
[1]
- who was king Stabrobates of India who used war elephants against a queen of Assyria (considered Shammuramat?) in the 9th century BCE?
[2]
One could infer king Stabrobates, if not based there himself, must have subdued and controlled the Kachi Plain region in order to invade Mesopotamia from ’India’. (Another source says Assyria invaded India and were driven out of Pakistan and India).
[3]
Diodorus Siculus says this too, queen Semiramis was based in Bactra (Bactria?).
[4]
If king Stabrobates’s polity controlled the Kachi Plain then we must code the according to the military technology he possessed. This would have included armour. Note: one military historian estimates that the Assyrian army had a strategic range of 2000 km
[5]
which places the Indus region in reach of their forces.
[1]: (Ahmed 2014, 64) Mukhtar Ahmed. 2014. Ancient Pakistan - An Archaeological History: Volume V: The End of the Harappan Civilization, and the Aftermath. Foursome Group. [2]: (Mayor 2014, 289) Adrienne Mayor. Animals in Warfare. Gordon Lindsay Campbell. ed. 2014. The Oxford Handbook of Animals in Classical Thought and Life. Oxford University Press. Oxford. [3]: (Kistler 2007, 18) John M Kistler. 2007. War Elephants. University of Nebraska Press. Lincoln. [4]: Diodorus Siculus. Delphi Complete Works of Diodorus Siculus. Delphi Classics. [5]: (Gabriel 2002, 9) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. |
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Plate armor from Iran appears to have been used by Steppe Nomads and has been coded present in other Steppe polities for different reasons. "Sauromatian bronze helmets and scale or plate armor not of local production appear in the Volga River region and southern Ural Steppes in the fifth-fourth century b.c., showing an increase in the exchange economy among neighboring communities."
[1]
[1]: Nicola Di Cosmo. 2002. Ancient China and Its Enemies: The Rise of Nomadic Power in East Asian History. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge, p. 42 |
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If "the first archaeologically recognizable, large post-Indus urban settlements are not earlier than the fifth century BC ... solidly visible states ... appear in a sudden profusion in the late first millennium B.C."
[1]
- who was king Stabrobates of India who used war elephants against a queen of Assyria (considered Shammuramat?) in the 9th century BCE?
[2]
One could infer king Stabrobates, if not based there himself, must have subdued and controlled the Kachi Plain region in order to invade Mesopotamia from ’India’. (Another source says Assyria invaded India and were driven out of Pakistan and India).
[3]
Diodorus Siculus says this too, queen Semiramis was based in Bactra (Bactria?).
[4]
If king Stabrobates’s polity controlled the Kachi Plain then we must code the according to the military technology he possessed. This would have included armour. Note: one military historian estimates that the Assyrian army had a strategic range of 2000 km
[5]
which places the Indus region in reach of their forces.
[1]: (Ahmed 2014, 64) Mukhtar Ahmed. 2014. Ancient Pakistan - An Archaeological History: Volume V: The End of the Harappan Civilization, and the Aftermath. Foursome Group. [2]: (Mayor 2014, 289) Adrienne Mayor. Animals in Warfare. Gordon Lindsay Campbell. ed. 2014. The Oxford Handbook of Animals in Classical Thought and Life. Oxford University Press. Oxford. [3]: (Kistler 2007, 18) John M Kistler. 2007. War Elephants. University of Nebraska Press. Lincoln. [4]: Diodorus Siculus. Delphi Complete Works of Diodorus Siculus. Delphi Classics. [5]: (Gabriel 2002, 9) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. |
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If "the first archaeologically recognizable, large post-Indus urban settlements are not earlier than the fifth century BC ... solidly visible states ... appear in a sudden profusion in the late first millennium B.C."
[1]
- who was king Stabrobates of India who used war elephants against a queen of Assyria (considered Shammuramat?) in the 9th century BCE?
[2]
One could infer king Stabrobates, if not based there himself, must have subdued and controlled the Kachi Plain region in order to invade Mesopotamia from ’India’. (Another source says Assyria invaded India and were driven out of Pakistan and India).
[3]
Diodorus Siculus says this too, queen Semiramis was based in Bactra (Bactria?).
[4]
If king Stabrobates’s polity controlled the Kachi Plain then we must code the according to the military technology he possessed. This would have included armour. Note: one military historian estimates that the Assyrian army had a strategic range of 2000 km
[5]
which places the Indus region in reach of their forces.
[1]: (Ahmed 2014, 64) Mukhtar Ahmed. 2014. Ancient Pakistan - An Archaeological History: Volume V: The End of the Harappan Civilization, and the Aftermath. Foursome Group. [2]: (Mayor 2014, 289) Adrienne Mayor. Animals in Warfare. Gordon Lindsay Campbell. ed. 2014. The Oxford Handbook of Animals in Classical Thought and Life. Oxford University Press. Oxford. [3]: (Kistler 2007, 18) John M Kistler. 2007. War Elephants. University of Nebraska Press. Lincoln. [4]: Diodorus Siculus. Delphi Complete Works of Diodorus Siculus. Delphi Classics. [5]: (Gabriel 2002, 9) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. |
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Plate armor from Iran appears to have been used by Steppe Nomads and has been coded present in other Steppe polities for different reasons. "Sauromatian bronze helmets and scale or plate armor not of local production appear in the Volga River region and southern Ural Steppes in the fifth-fourth century b.c., showing an increase in the exchange economy among neighboring communities."
[1]
[1]: Nicola Di Cosmo. 2002. Ancient China and Its Enemies: The Rise of Nomadic Power in East Asian History. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge, p. 42 |
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The miles (mounted knight) was the core fighting unit and in this period he became a landed aristocrat.
[1]
Called a "heavy cavalryman".
[1]
Coat of plates "a defence made of several butted plates attached to a poncho-like fabric garment".
[2]
c1250-1330 CE: "development of weapons capable of piercing mail: the gradual introduction of pieces of plate (at first of whalebone, horn, and boiled leather, as well as of the iron and steel that ultimately prevailed) to cover an ever larger part of the mail). By 1330, every part of the body of a knight was nomally protected by one or several plates... By 1410, the various pieces of plate, including a breastplate and backplate instead of the earlier coat of plates, were all connected by straps and rivets in an articulated suit, or ’harness,’ of polished steel."
[3]
[1]: (Hallam and Everard 2014) Elizabeth M Hallam. Judith Everard. 2014. Capetian France 987-1328. Second Edition. Routledge. London. [2]: (Nicolle 2000, 15) [3]: (Boulton 1995 67-68) Jonathan D Boulton. Armor And Weapons. William W Kibler. Grover A Zinn. Lawrence Earp. John Bell Henneman Jr. 1995. Routledge Revivals: Medieval France (1995): An Encyclopedia. Routledge. Abingdon. |
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The miles (mounted knight) was the core fighting unit and in this period he became a landed aristocrat.
[1]
Called a "heavy cavalryman".
[1]
Coat of plates "a defence made of several butted plates attached to a poncho-like fabric garment".
[2]
c1250-1330 CE: "development of weapons capable of piercing mail: the gradual introduction of pieces of plate (at first of whalebone, horn, and boiled leather, as well as of the iron and steel that ultimately prevailed) to cover an ever larger part of the mail). By 1330, every part of the body of a knight was nomally protected by one or several plates... By 1410, the various pieces of plate, including a breastplate and backplate instead of the earlier coat of plates, were all connected by straps and rivets in an articulated suit, or ’harness,’ of polished steel."
[3]
[1]: (Hallam and Everard 2014) Elizabeth M Hallam. Judith Everard. 2014. Capetian France 987-1328. Second Edition. Routledge. London. [2]: (Nicolle 2000, 15) [3]: (Boulton 1995 67-68) Jonathan D Boulton. Armor And Weapons. William W Kibler. Grover A Zinn. Lawrence Earp. John Bell Henneman Jr. 1995. Routledge Revivals: Medieval France (1995): An Encyclopedia. Routledge. Abingdon. |
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Technology not yet available
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Code inferred from Abbasid Caliphate
[1]
which occupied Yemen between 751-868 CE.
[1]: Hugh N Kennedy. 2001. The Armies of the Caliphs: Military and Society in the Early Islamic State. Routledge. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/SGPPFNAZ/q/kennedy |
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Coat of plates cuirasses existed back in warring states times
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we need expert input in order to code this variable
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we need expert input in order to code this variable
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Coat made from hundreds of steel plates can been seen on statues.
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Inferred from previous polity
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inferred from previous polity codes
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The ethnographic record contains descriptions of caps and ornamentation rather than physical armor in the conventional sense of the term
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Not mentioned in sources so far consulted.
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Not mentioned in sources so far consulted.
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Steel breast-plate (cavalry - often not worn). Cuirasses (cavalry, Cuirassiers du Roi). Breastplate (Gardes du Corps).
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Not mentioned in the literature.
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Not mentioned in the literature.
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Not mentioned in the literature.
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Not mentioned in the literature.
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No metals at this time.
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Introduced later.
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Technology not yet available.
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Technology not yet available.
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Technology not yet available.
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Technology not yet available.
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Technology not yet available.
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Technology not yet available
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Technology not yet available
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[There is evidence of the use of quilted garment (gambeson) which is made of linen and stuffed with wool from the 13th century onward.]
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The Papacy did not maintain arsenals or arms workshops during this period, and equipment most likely would have been furnished by troops.
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Beginning in the end of the period. ‘Such suits, called nambando gusoku in Japanese, often incorporated two single-ridged, hammered iron sheets which were hinged on one side and fastened with cord on the other.’
[1]
"The earliest armor used in Japan, as elsewhere, was padded or made of scales or rings sewn on cloth. The armor found in the grove mounds of prior to 400 B.C. is made by riveting together small pieces of iron to make helmets and cuirasses. Some of the latter give quite the effect of plate armor but are built up of small pieces. By the 10th century, the earliest time of which we have definite knowledge, it had assumed a characteristic form which it retained until armor was abandoned in the middle of the 19th century. A Japanese suit, fig. 78, consists of a helmet, kabuto, usually made of a large number of narrow plates riveted together with raised edges at the joints. It has a small peak, maizashi, in front and a wide neck guard, shikoro, made of strips of steel or of scales of leather or steel laced together with heavy silk or leather cords. One or more of these pieces is turned back in front to form ear guards, fukigayeshi. The front is usually decorated with two horn-like pieces, kuwagata, representing the leaves of a water plant; between them is an ornament, maidate, corresponding to the European crest. The face is covered by a steel mask, menpo, to which a laminated neck guard, yodare-kake, is attached. There are five varieties of menpo - covering the entire face - all of the face below the eyes - the forehead and cheeks only - and two for the cheeks and chin only. Of these, the second is much most used. A gorget, nodowa, was sometimes worn but was not considered as a regular part of the suit. The body was enclosed in a corselet, do, made of plates or strips laced together with silk or leather cords. It either opened at the side, do-maru, or at the back haramaki-do. Attached to it were shoulder pieces, watagami, from which it hung. The taces, kusazuri, made of strips laced together, hung from the do. Under these was worn an apron, hai-date, of brocade covered with mail or mixed plate and mail. The legs below the knee were protected by close fitting greaves, sune-ate, of plate; and the feet were covered with bearskin shoes, tsurumaki, or with mail or plate tabi. The arm guards, kote, were brocade sleeves covered with mixed plate and mail. They usually ended in guantlets which covered only the backs of the hands and thumbs. Mail guantlets were rare but were sometimes used. Large guards, sode, were hung on the shoulders. They were either single plates, two hinged together or made up of strops or rows of scales laced together."
[2]
"The Japanese made more varieties of mail than all the rest of the world put together."
[2]
[1]: Deal, William E. 2005. Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan. Oxford University Press.p.171. [2]: (Stone 1999, 60-61) George Cameron Stone. 1999. Glossary of the Construction, Decoration and Use of Arms and Armor in All Countries and in All Times. Dover Publications, Inc. Mineola. |
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"Samurai protection from the 5th to 8th centuries, called ’tanko,’ was made of discrete, overlapping iron plates.’
[1]
Does this armour count as plate armour or is it only scaled armour?
[1]: (Nolan 2006, 26) Cathal J Nolan. 2006. The Age of Wars of Religion, 1000-1650: An Encyclopedia of Global Warfare and Civilization. Volume 1 A - K. Greenwood Press. Westport. |
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‘Once firearms were introduced to Japan, armor requirements and designs changed once again. In addition to matchlock harquebuses, Western armor began to be imported into Japan from the late Muromachi period. Initially, Japanese warriors adapted Western cuirasses by simply attaching protective skirts and neck guards, but soon entire sets of body armor in Western styles began to be produced in Japan. Such suits, called nambando gusoku in Japanese, often incorporated two single-ridged, hammered iron sheets which were hinged on one side and fastened with cord on the other.’
[1]
"The earliest armor used in Japan, as elsewhere, was padded or made of scales or rings sewn on cloth. The armor found in the grove mounds of prior to 400 B.C. is made by riveting together small pieces of iron to make helmets and cuirasses. Some of the latter give quite the effect of plate armor but are built up of small pieces. By the 10th century, the earliest time of which we have definite knowledge, it had assumed a characteristic form which it retained until armor was abandoned in the middle of the 19th century. A Japanese suit, fig. 78, consists of a helmet, kabuto, usually made of a large number of narrow plates riveted together with raised edges at the joints. It has a small peak, maizashi, in front and a wide neck guard, shikoro, made of strips of steel or of scales of leather or steel laced together with heavy silk or leather cords. One or more of these pieces is turned back in front to form ear guards, fukigayeshi. The front is usually decorated with two horn-like pieces, kuwagata, representing the leaves of a water plant; between them is an ornament, maidate, corresponding to the European crest. The face is covered by a steel mask, menpo, to which a laminated neck guard, yodare-kake, is attached. There are five varieties of menpo - covering the entire face - all of the face below the eyes - the forehead and cheeks only - and two for the cheeks and chin only. Of these, the second is much most used. A gorget, nodowa, was sometimes worn but was not considered as a regular part of the suit. The body was enclosed in a corselet, do, made of plates or strips laced together with silk or leather cords. It either opened at the side, do-maru, or at the back haramaki-do. Attached to it were shoulder pieces, watagami, from which it hung. The taces, kusazuri, made of strips laced together, hung from the do. Under these was worn an apron, hai-date, of brocade covered with mail or mixed plate and mail. The legs below the knee were protected by close fitting greaves, sune-ate, of plate; and the feet were covered with bearskin shoes, tsurumaki, or with mail or plate tabi. The arm guards, kote, were brocade sleeves covered with mixed plate and mail. They usually ended in guantlets which covered only the backs of the hands and thumbs. Mail guantlets were rare but were sometimes used. Large guards, sode, were hung on the shoulders. They were either single plates, two hinged together or made up of strops or rows of scales laced together."
[2]
"The Japanese made more varieties of mail than all the rest of the world put together."
[2]
[1]: Deal, William E. 2005. Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan. Oxford University Press.p.171. [2]: (Stone 1999, 60-61) George Cameron Stone. 1999. Glossary of the Construction, Decoration and Use of Arms and Armor in All Countries and in All Times. Dover Publications, Inc. Mineola. |
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No archaeological evidence for this. Moreover, the scholarly consensus is that the Jomon were relatively peaceful.
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No archaeological evidence for this. Moreover, the scholarly consensus is that the Jomon were relatively peaceful.
|
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No archaeological evidence for this. Moreover, the scholarly consensus is that the Jomon were relatively peaceful.
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‘Such suits, called nambando gusoku in Japanese, often incorporated two single-ridged, hammered iron sheets which were hinged on one side and fastened with cord on the other.’
[1]
"The earliest armor used in Japan, as elsewhere, was padded or made of scales or rings sewn on cloth. The armor found in the grove mounds of prior to 400 B.C. is made by riveting together small pieces of iron to make helmets and cuirasses. Some of the latter give quite the effect of plate armor but are built up of small pieces. By the 10th century, the earliest time of which we have definite knowledge, it had assumed a characteristic form which it retained until armor was abandoned in the middle of the 19th century. A Japanese suit, fig. 78, consists of a helmet, kabuto, usually made of a large number of narrow plates riveted together with raised edges at the joints. It has a small peak, maizashi, in front and a wide neck guard, shikoro, made of strips of steel or of scales of leather or steel laced together with heavy silk or leather cords. One or more of these pieces is turned back in front to form ear guards, fukigayeshi. The front is usually decorated with two horn-like pieces, kuwagata, representing the leaves of a water plant; between them is an ornament, maidate, corresponding to the European crest. The face is covered by a steel mask, menpo, to which a laminated neck guard, yodare-kake, is attached. There are five varieties of menpo - covering the entire face - all of the face below the eyes - the forehead and cheeks only - and two for the cheeks and chin only. Of these, the second is much most used. A gorget, nodowa, was sometimes worn but was not considered as a regular part of the suit. The body was enclosed in a corselet, do, made of plates or strips laced together with silk or leather cords. It either opened at the side, do-maru, or at the back haramaki-do. Attached to it were shoulder pieces, watagami, from which it hung. The taces, kusazuri, made of strips laced together, hung from the do. Under these was worn an apron, hai-date, of brocade covered with mail or mixed plate and mail. The legs below the knee were protected by close fitting greaves, sune-ate, of plate; and the feet were covered with bearskin shoes, tsurumaki, or with mail or plate tabi. The arm guards, kote, were brocade sleeves covered with mixed plate and mail. They usually ended in guantlets which covered only the backs of the hands and thumbs. Mail guantlets were rare but were sometimes used. Large guards, sode, were hung on the shoulders. They were either single plates, two hinged together or made up of strops or rows of scales laced together."
[2]
"The Japanese made more varieties of mail than all the rest of the world put together."
[2]
[1]: Deal, William E. 2005. Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan. Oxford University Press.p.171. [2]: (Stone 1999, 60-61) George Cameron Stone. 1999. Glossary of the Construction, Decoration and Use of Arms and Armor in All Countries and in All Times. Dover Publications, Inc. Mineola. |
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"The dearth of illustrative material for the greater part of six centuries is largely due to the wanton destruction caused by two savage invasions from the east and only such finds as the stucco figures from Kara-shar [Central Asian warrior, eighth to tenth century] tell us that in all this period there had been little change."
[1]
[1]: (Robinson 1967) Robinson, H. Russell. 1967. Oriental Armour. Walker and Co. New York. |
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Jacq-Hergoualc’h’s (2007) in-depth and exhausting examination of Khmer armor discusses breastplates, rattan, resin-coated rattan, and thickly-braided cotton protective wear, but makes no mention of scaled armour, laminar armour, or plate armour.
[1]
[1]: (Jacq-Hergoualc’h and Smithies 2007, Chapter 2) |
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Present in Egypt at this time - the regime in the Morocco probably used weapons similar to those of its neighbours. We could also check - as yet unconsulted - references for Christians in contemporary Iberia who may have been used as mercenaries.
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Metalworking was not widely used in Mesoamerica, with metal products consisting mainly of small beads and ornaments.
[1]
[2]
[1]: Coe, M. D., Koontz, R. (2013) Mexico: From the Olmecs to the Aztecs (7th ed.) Thames and Hudson, London, p157 [2]: Kowalewski, S. A., Feinman, G. M., Finten, L., Blanton, R. E., Nicholas, L. M. (1989) Monte Albán’s Hinterland, Part II: Prehispanic settlement patterns in Tlacolula, Etla, and Ocotlan, The Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico, Volume II. Memoirs of the Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Number 23. Ann Arbor. |
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Technology not yet available
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"There was little armor during the Early Classic, with the primary Teotihuacan innovation being the use of protective helmets of quilted cotton."
[1]
[1]: (Hassig 1992: 48) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/E9VHCKDG. |
||||||
Metalworking was not widely used in Mesoamerica, with metal products consisting mainly of small beads and ornaments.
[1]
[2]
[1]: Coe, M. D., Koontz, R. (2013) Mexico: From the Olmecs to the Aztecs (7th ed.) Thames and Hudson, London, p157 [2]: Kowalewski, S. A., Feinman, G. M., Finten, L., Blanton, R. E., Nicholas, L. M. (1989) Monte Albán’s Hinterland, Part II: Prehispanic settlement patterns in Tlacolula, Etla, and Ocotlan, The Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico, Volume II. Memoirs of the Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Number 23. Ann Arbor. |
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Although there is no information on the warfare of this period, it is highly unlikely the resources were available for this technology.
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This technology is not known to have been developed anywhere in the Americas before European colonization.
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This technology is not known to have been developed anywhere in the Americas before European colonization.
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Code inferred from Abbasid Caliphate
[1]
which occupied Yemen between 751-868 CE.
[1]: Hugh N Kennedy. 2001. The Armies of the Caliphs: Military and Society in the Early Islamic State. Routledge. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/SGPPFNAZ/q/kennedy |
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Horse armour (bar-gustuwan).
[1]
Exported cuirasses.
[2]
Ghaznavid and Ghurid armies: heavy armour.
[3]
[1]: (Jackson 2003, 17) Peter Jackson. 2003. The Delhi Sultanate: A Political and Military History. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. [2]: (Nizami 1999, 178) K A Nizami. The Ghurids. M S Asimov. C E Bosworth. eds. 1999. History of Civilizations of Central Asia. Volume IV. Part One. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Private Limited. Delhi. [3]: (Wink 1997, 89-90) Andre Wink. 1997. Al-Hind the Making of the Indo-Islamic World. Volume II: The Slave Kings and the Islamic Conquest 11th-13th Centuries. BRILL. Leiden. |
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The coins from the period show muscled cuirass.
[1]
There is also some limited archaeological evidence.
[2]
[1]: Sidky, H., The Greek Kingdom of Bactria, from Alexander to Eucratides the Great, Oxford, 2000, pp. 168-169 [2]: Nikonorov, Valeri P., and Serge A. Savchuk. "New Data on Ancient Bactrian Body-Armour (In the Light of Finds from Kampyr Tepe)." Iran (1992): 49-54. |
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Technology not yet available. "By 2100 BCE the victory stele of Naram Sin appears to show plate armor, and it is likely that plate armor had been in wide use for a few hundred years. Plate armor was constructed of thin bronze plates sewn to a leather shirt or jerkin."
[1]
[1]: (Gabriel 2002, 21) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. |
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"Cuirass (char-a’ina). Iran, Qajar period, early 19th century. Steel, gold, and textile."
[1]
[1]: (Phyrr 2015, 6) Stuart W Phyrr. 2015. American Collectors and the Formation of the Metropolitan Museum’s Collection of Islamic Arms and Armor. David G Alexander. ed. Islamic Arms and Armor in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Metropolitan Museum of Art. Yale University Press. New Haven. |
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No references identified in the literature. RA.
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No references in the literature.
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Technology not yet available
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Technology not yet available
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Technology not yet available
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Technology not yet available
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Technology not yet available
|
||||||
not mentioned in literature
|
||||||
Armour seems to have included the muscle cuirass. Kings are shown on coins wearing scale shaped plates, and some evidence from archaeological digs have found iron plates.
[1]
"Sauromatian bronze helmets and scale or plate armor not of local production appear in the Volga River region and southern Ural Steppes in the fifth-fourth century b.c., showing an increase in the exchange economy among neighboring communities."
[2]
Saka warriors who destroyed the Greco-Bactrian city of Ai Khanoum in 145 BCE (and may have used similar military technology to the Kushan nomads) left illustrations in Sogdia (Orlat) depicting chainmail, domed helmets, high-collared metal-plated corselets.
[3]
[1]: The armies of Bactria 70 BC-450 AD p. 57 [2]: Nicola Di Cosmo. 2002. Ancient China and Its Enemies: The Rise of Nomadic Power in East Asian History. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge, p. 42 [3]: (McLaughlin 2016, 76) Raoul McLaughlin. 2016. The Roman Empire and the Silk Routes: The Ancient World Economy and the Empires of Parthia, Central Asia and Han China. Pen and Sword History. Barnsley. |
||||||
Plate armor from Iran appears to have been used by Steppe Nomads and has been coded present in other Steppe polities for different reasons. "Sauromatian bronze helmets and scale or plate armor not of local production appear in the Volga River region and southern Ural Steppes in the fifth-fourth century b.c., showing an increase in the exchange economy among neighboring communities."
[1]
[1]: Nicola Di Cosmo. 2002. Ancient China and Its Enemies: The Rise of Nomadic Power in East Asian History. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge, p. 42 |
||||||
Traditional view: "Mounted warfare in Chinese armies began in the sixth century BCE, while the increasing projectile power of composite bows and especially the crossbow from the fifth century BCE led to the rise of heavy armour."
[1]
However, there is evidence heavy armour existed in the preceding Western Zhou: "... suit has yet been unearthed, but a bronze breastplate and two bronze backplates have been found in a Western Zhou ..."
[2]
[1]: (Günergun and Raina 2010, 65) Günergun, Feza. Raina, Dhruv. 2010. Science between Europe and Asia: Historical Studies on the Transmission, Adoption and Adaptation of Knowledge. Springer Science & Business Media [2]: (Hong 1992, 84) Hong, Yang. 1992. Weapons in Ancient China. Science Press. |
||||||
"this armour cannot be considered a plate armour in its truest sense. The Chinese lack necessary metallurgical expertise to develop full plate armour (with the possible exception of late Ming period Guangdong), and they did not seem to import plate armour directly from the Europeans like their Japanese and Indian neighbours either. ... The Quan Tie Jia (全鐵甲, ’Full iron armour’) is made of several large lacquered iron or steel plates sewn to a backing made from thick cotton (or calico) fabric. The edges of these metal plates are wrapped with thrice-folded coarse fabric, likely to prevent chafing. In this regard, the Quan Tie Jia more closely resemble Russian Zertsalo (Зерцало) armour in construction than European full plate."
[1]
[1]: http://greatmingmilitary.blogspot.com/2015/02/plate-armour-of-ming-dynasty.html |
||||||
Coat of plates cuirasses existed back in warring states times
|
||||||
Widespread use of armor seems to have developed alongside rise of large infantry forces only in Warring States period, 5th c. BCE.
[1]
[2]
[1]: (Dien 1981) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/F82EE9ZF. [2]: (Tin-bor Hui 2005) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/CSPZPNV5?. |
||||||
coded inferred present for Ming. For high-ranking officers; "copper gilt plates alternating with brocade and copper studs." A lower-ranking soldier wore a long coat of quilted nankeen cotton or a thickly wadded jacket of bark-pulp paper "covered with thin plates of metal surrounded by brass studs."
[1]
[1]: (Garrett, 2007, 28) |
||||||
Liang-tang armor worn during the Six Dynasties period: "One piece in the front and one in back, which we will call breastplate and backplate...joined by straps over the shoulders and a skirt attached below."
[1]
[1]: (Dien 1981, 26) Dien, Albert E. 1981. A Study of Early Chinese Armor. Artibus Asiae 43.1/2: 5-66. |
||||||
Traditional view: "Mounted warfare in Chinese armies began in the sixth century BCE, while the increasing projectile power of composite bows and especially the crossbow from the fifth century BCE led to the rise of heavy armour."
[1]
However, there is evidence heavy armour existed in the Western Zhou: "... suit has yet been unearthed, but a bronze breastplate and two bronze backplates have been found in a Western Zhou ..."
[2]
[1]: (Günergun and Raina 2010, 65) Günergun, Feza. Raina, Dhruv. 2010. Science between Europe and Asia: Historical Studies on the Transmission, Adoption and Adaptation of Knowledge. Springer Science & Business Media [2]: (Hong 1992, 84) Hong, Yang. 1992. Weapons in Ancient China. Science Press. |
||||||
No discussion in literature of this. In this case it is evidence of absence since this is in line with logical expectations for this late-complexity society.
|
||||||
No discussion in literature of this. In this case it is evidence of absence since this is in line with logical expectations for this late-complexity society.
|
||||||
The ethnographic record contains descriptions of caps and ornamentation rather than physical armor in the conventional sense of the term
|
||||||
"The soldiers of the Old and Middle Kingdom wore no armour. In the Old Kingdom they are usually depicted wearing only a belt and a small triangular loincloth, and by the Middle Kingdom their costume was invariably the same short linen kilt as that worn by civilian workmen. [...] From the late Predynastic Period to the Middle Kingdom, Egyptian soldiers’ only bodily protection (apart from the occasional use of a band of webbing across the shoulders and chest) was supplied by long, roughly rectangular shields made of cowhide stretched over a wooden frame."
[1]
[1]: (Shaw 1991: 32) Shaw, Ian. 1991. Egyptian Warfare and Weapons. Princes Risborough: Shire. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/7J8H86XF. |
||||||
"The soldiers of the Old and Middle Kingdom wore no armour. In the Old Kingdom they are usually depicted wearing only a belt and a small triangular loincloth, and by the Middle Kingdom their costume was invariably the same short linen kilt as that worn by civilian workmen. [...] From the late Predynastic Period to the Middle Kingdom, Egyptian soldiers’ only bodily protection (apart from the occasional use of a band of webbing across the shoulders and chest) was supplied by long, roughly rectangular shields made of cowhide stretched over a wooden frame."
[1]
[1]: (Shaw 1991: 32) Shaw, Ian. 1991. Egyptian Warfare and Weapons. Princes Risborough: Shire. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/7J8H86XF. |
||||||
"The soldiers of the Old and Middle Kingdom wore no armour. In the Old Kingdom they are usually depicted wearing only a belt and a small triangular loincloth, and by the Middle Kingdom their costume was invariably the same short linen kilt as that worn by civilian workmen. [...] From the late Predynastic Period to the Middle Kingdom, Egyptian soldiers’ only bodily protection (apart from the occasional use of a band of webbing across the shoulders and chest) was supplied by long, roughly rectangular shields made of cowhide stretched over a wooden frame."
[1]
[1]: (Shaw 1991: 32) Shaw, Ian. 1991. Egyptian Warfare and Weapons. Princes Risborough: Shire. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/7J8H86XF. |
||||||
"From the late Predynastic Period to the Middle Kingdom, Egyptian soldiers’ only bodily protection (apart from the occasional use of a band of webbing across the shoulders and chest) was supplied by long, roughly rectangular shields made of cowhide stretched over a wooden frame."
[1]
[1]
[1]: (Shaw 1991: 32) Shaw, Ian. 1991. Egyptian Warfare and Weapons. Princes Risborough: Shire. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/7J8H86XF. |
||||||
"From the late Predynastic Period to the Middle Kingdom, Egyptian soldiers’ only bodily protection (apart from the occasional use of a band of webbing across the shoulders and chest) was supplied by long, roughly rectangular shields made of cowhide stretched over a wooden frame."
[1]
[1]
[1]: (Shaw 1991: 32) Shaw, Ian. 1991. Egyptian Warfare and Weapons. Princes Risborough: Shire. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/7J8H86XF. |
||||||
"the Egyptians had been using bronze armor since the Eighteenth dynasty, "but it consisted of nothing more elaborate than metal scales sewn onto a leather base."
[1]
Bronze scale armor on short-sleeved, knee length shirt made out of linen or leather.
[2]
"Body armour, in the form of small bronze plates riveted to linen or leather jerkins, was introduced by the early New Kingdom".
[3]
[1]: (Fischer-Bovet 2014, 135-138) Fischer-Bovet (2014) Army and Society in Ptolemaic Egypt. Cambridge University Press [2]: (Gnirs 2001) [3]: (Shaw 1991: 42) Shaw, Ian. 1991. Egyptian Warfare and Weapons. Princes Risborough: Shire. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/7J8H86XF. |
||||||
"The soldiers of the Old and Middle Kingdom wore no armour. In the Old Kingdom they are usually depicted wearing only a belt and a small triangular loincloth, and by the Middle Kingdom their costume was invariably the same short linen kilt as that worn by civilian workmen. [...] From the late Predynastic Period to the Middle Kingdom, Egyptian soldiers’ only bodily protection (apart from the occasional use of a band of webbing across the shoulders and chest) was supplied by long, roughly rectangular shields made of cowhide stretched over a wooden frame."
[1]
Armour not worn during 3rd millennium BCE.
[2]
[1]: (Shaw 1991: 32) Shaw, Ian. 1991. Egyptian Warfare and Weapons. Princes Risborough: Shire. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/7J8H86XF. [2]: (Spalinger 2013, 472) |
||||||
The only mention of armour is chainmail. "Diodorus also mentions that some warriors wear iron breast plates of chain mail. Seated figures of stone from the sanctuary of Roquepertuse (Fig.163) and a stone statue of a Gaul from Vachères (Basse-Alpes) (Pl. VI), dating to the late first century BC, are shown wearing chain mail, and actual examples have been found in a few burials, including that of the warrior provided with the bird-crested helmet, who was buried at Ciumesti. One of the features of Celtic warfare which impressed itself upon the Classical mind was the fact that some warriors fought naked except for the sword belt and a gold neck torc."
[1]
[1]: (Cunliffe 2000, 98-99) |
||||||
This technology is not known to have been developed anywhere in the Americas before European colonization.
|
||||||
"The soldiers of the Old and Middle Kingdom wore no armour. In the Old Kingdom they are usually depicted wearing only a belt and a small triangular loincloth, and by the Middle Kingdom their costume was invariably the same short linen kilt as that worn by civilian workmen. [...] From the late Predynastic Period to the Middle Kingdom, Egyptian soldiers’ only bodily protection (apart from the occasional use of a band of webbing across the shoulders and chest) was supplied by long, roughly rectangular shields made of cowhide stretched over a wooden frame."
[1]
Armour not worn during 3rd millennium BCE.
[2]
[1]: (Shaw 1991: 32) Shaw, Ian. 1991. Egyptian Warfare and Weapons. Princes Risborough: Shire. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/7J8H86XF. [2]: (Spalinger 2013, 472) |
||||||
According to one military historian by 600 BCE early Greeks and Romans had introduced the bronze cast bell muscle cuirass.
[1]
"the bronze plate-armor, the two handed shield and the Corinthian one-piece helmet were Greek innovations, and the Greeks were also experienced in melting and working iron."
[2]
Tempered steel was probably not in use. Bronze breastplates, helmets, greaves, and shields were commonly in use.
[1]: (Gabriel 2002, 21) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. [2]: (Fischer-Bovet 2014, 135-138) Fischer-Bovet (2014) Army and Society in Ptolemaic Egypt. Cambridge University Press |
||||||
According to one military historian by 600 BCE early Greeks and Romans had introduced the bronze cast bell muscle cuirass.
[1]
"the bronze plate-armor, the two handed shield and the Corinthian one-piece helmet were Greek innovations, and the Greeks were also experienced in melting and working iron."
[2]
Tempered steel was probably not in use. Bronze breastplates, helmets, greaves, and shields were commonly in use.
[1]: (Gabriel 2002, 21) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. [2]: (Fischer-Bovet 2014, 135-138) Fischer-Bovet (2014) Army and Society in Ptolemaic Egypt. Cambridge University Press |
||||||
"The soldiers of the Old and Middle Kingdom wore no armour. In the Old Kingdom they are usually depicted wearing only a belt and a small triangular loincloth, and by the Middle Kingdom their costume was invariably the same short linen kilt as that worn by civilian workmen. [...] From the late Predynastic Period to the Middle Kingdom, Egyptian soldiers’ only bodily protection (apart from the occasional use of a band of webbing across the shoulders and chest) was supplied by long, roughly rectangular shields made of cowhide stretched over a wooden frame."
[1]
[1]: (Shaw 1991: 32) Shaw, Ian. 1991. Egyptian Warfare and Weapons. Princes Risborough: Shire. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/7J8H86XF. |
||||||
Technology not yet available. "the Egyptians had been using bronze armor since the Eighteenth dynasty, "but it consisted of nothing more elaborate than metal scales sewn onto a leather base."
[1]
18th Dynasty: mid-late 2nd millennium BCE.
[1]: (Fischer-Bovet 2014, 135-138) Fischer-Bovet (2014) Army and Society in Ptolemaic Egypt. Cambridge University Press |
||||||
"The widespread use of firearms and waning popularity of jousting tournaments caused a steep decline in the production of armor in the seventeenth century. Because the symbolic value of armor outlived its effectiveness in battle, sumptuous examples were still made as diplomatic gifts and appeared in portraits of members of the royal family."
[1]
“Captains and wealthier nobles might have three-quarter armour, consisting of a closed helmet, curiass (breastplate), arm defences, and leg defences that ended at the knees. Those of lesser means made do with a helmet and some form of leather or cotton armour. In time, however, the Spanish began to favour the native-style quilted cotton armour, which was far more comfortable to wear in the humid climate of the New World.”
[2]
[1]: “The Art of Power: Royal Armor and Portraits from Imperial Spain. National Gallery of Art. Web. Accessed May 5, 2017. https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/WHH6KD3N) [2]: (Pemberton 2011, preview) Pemberton, John. 2011. Conquistadors: Searching for El Dorado: The Terrifying Spanish Conquest of the Aztec and Inca Empires. Canary Press eBooks Limited. https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/3SI549GS |
||||||
Armor plates were found in house No 49 at Ivolginskoe.
[1]
Plate armor from Iran appears to have been used by Steppe Nomads and has been coded present in other Steppe polities for different reasons: "Sauromatian bronze helmets and scale or plate armor not of local production appear in the Volga River region and southern Ural Steppes in the fifth-fourth century b.c., showing an increase in the exchange economy among neighboring communities."
[2]
[1]: (Kradin 2010, 249) [2]: Nicola Di Cosmo. 2002. Ancient China and Its Enemies: The Rise of Nomadic Power in East Asian History. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge, p. 42 |
||||||
The cuirass counts as plate armour. "The full suit of body armor was thus a product of the end of the age of armor, and still in use into the 16th century. But personal plate became ineffective and obsolete with introduction of more powerful firearms capable of using corned gunpowder, which gave far greater penetrating power to handguns and cannon. At that point, the weight of ever-thickening plate became too great a burden: a fully articulated suit of 16th-century plate weighed 60 pounds."
[1]
Mercenary professionals: "By the 17th century most had discarded all armor other than a helmet and cuirass".
[2]
"By the mid-17th century even cavalry units, which were still predominantly aristocratic in origin, discarded most armor other than the helm and breastplate. Leg armor went first, replaced by three-quarter leather skirts. ... By the end of the 17th century only bits and pieces of burnished metal survived here and there, and then mostly as polished ceremonial accouterments for officers-on-parade."
[2]
[1]: (Nolan 2006, 25) Cathal J Nolan. 2006. The Age of Wars of Religion, 1000-1650: An Encyclopedia of Global Warfare and Civilization. Volume 1 A - K. Greenwood Press. Westport. [2]: (Nolan 2006, 26) Cathal J Nolan. 2006. The Age of Wars of Religion, 1000-1650: An Encyclopedia of Global Warfare and Civilization. Volume 1 A - K. Greenwood Press. Westport. |
||||||
Although there is no information on the warfare of this period, it is highly unlikely the resources were available for this technology.
|
||||||
The miles (mounted knight) was the core fighting unit and in this period he became a landed aristocrat.
[1]
Called a "heavy cavalryman".
[1]
c1250-1330 CE: "development of weapons capable of piercing mail: the gradual introduction of pieces of plate (at first of whalebone, horn, and boiled leather, as well as of the iron and steel that ultimately prevailed) to cover an ever larger part of the mail). By 1330, every part of the body of a knight was nomally protected by one or several plates... By 1410, the various pieces of plate, including a breastplate and backplate instead of the earlier coat of plates, were all connected by straps and rivets in an articulated suit, or ’harness,’ of polished steel."
[2]
[1]: (Hallam and Everard 2014) Elizabeth M Hallam. Judith Everard. 2014. Capetian France 987-1328. Second Edition. Routledge. London. [2]: (Boulton 1995 67-68) Jonathan D Boulton. Armor And Weapons. William W Kibler. Grover A Zinn. Lawrence Earp. John Bell Henneman Jr. 1995. Routledge Revivals: Medieval France (1995): An Encyclopedia. Routledge. Abingdon. |
||||||
The few who could afford it used body armour.
[1]
The military retinue of kings and magnates (including clergy) "had the most complete equipment and were virtually professional warriors."
[2]
David Baker says absent.
[3]
c1250-1330 CE: "development of weapons capable of piercing mail: the gradual introduction of pieces of plate (at first of whalebone, horn, and boiled leather, as well as of the iron and steel that ultimately prevailed) to cover an ever larger part of the mail). By 1330, every part of the body of a knight was normally protected by one or several plates... By 1410, the various pieces of plate, including a breastplate and backplate instead of the earlier coat of plates, were all connected by straps and rivets in an articulated suit, or ’harness,’ of polished steel."
[4]
David Baker says absent.
[3]
[1]: (Hooper and Bennett 1996, 12) Nicholas Hooper. Matthew Bennett. 1996. The Cambridge Illustrated Atlas of Warfare: The Middle Ages, 768-1487. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. [2]: (Hooper and Bennett 1996, 14) Nicholas Hooper. Matthew Bennett. 1996. The Cambridge Illustrated Atlas of Warfare: The Middle Ages, 768-1487. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. [3]: David Baker. Personal communication to Seshat Databank. [4]: (Boulton 1995 67-68) Jonathan D Boulton. Armor And Weapons. William W Kibler. Grover A Zinn. Lawrence Earp. John Bell Henneman Jr. 1995. Routledge Revivals: Medieval France (1995): An Encyclopedia. Routledge. Abingdon. |
||||||
The few who could afford it used body armour.
[1]
The military retinue of kings and magnates (including clergy) "had the most complete equipment and were virtually professional warriors."
[2]
David Baker says absent.
[3]
c1250-1330 CE: "development of weapons capable of piercing mail: the gradual introduction of pieces of plate (at first of whalebone, horn, and boiled leather, as well as of the iron and steel that ultimately prevailed) to cover an ever larger part of the mail). By 1330, every part of the body of a knight was normally protected by one or several plates... By 1410, the various pieces of plate, including a breastplate and backplate instead of the earlier coat of plates, were all connected by straps and rivets in an articulated suit, or ’harness,’ of polished steel."
[4]
[1]: (Hooper and Bennett 1996, 12) Nicholas Hooper. Matthew Bennett. 1996. The Cambridge Illustrated Atlas of Warfare: The Middle Ages, 768-1487. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. [2]: (Hooper and Bennett 1996, 14) Nicholas Hooper. Matthew Bennett. 1996. The Cambridge Illustrated Atlas of Warfare: The Middle Ages, 768-1487. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. [3]: David Baker. Personal communication to Seshat Databank. [4]: (Boulton 1995 67-68) Jonathan D Boulton. Armor And Weapons. William W Kibler. Grover A Zinn. Lawrence Earp. John Bell Henneman Jr. 1995. Routledge Revivals: Medieval France (1995): An Encyclopedia. Routledge. Abingdon. |
||||||
"The first recorded instance of body armor is found on the Stele of Vultures in ancient Sumer, which shows Eannatum’s soldiers wearing leather cloaks on which are sewn spined metal disks. The disks do not appear to be arranged in any order, and we do not know if the disks were made of copper or bronze. By 2100 BCE the victory stele of Naram Sin appears to show plate armor, and it is likely that plate armor had been in wide use for a few hundred years. Plate armor was constructed of thin bronze plates sewn to a leather shirt or jerkin."
[1]
Coding this as scale armor.
[1]: (Gabriel 2002, 21) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. |
||||||
Warrior culture: burials with iron swords, helmets, spears, shields.
[1]
The only mention of armour is chainmail. "Diodorus also mentions that some warriors wear iron breast plates of chain mail. Seated figures of stone from the sanctuary of Roquepertuse (Fig.163) and a stone statue of a Gaul from Vachères (Basse-Alpes) (Pl. VI), dating to the late first century BC, are shown wearing chain mail, and actual examples have been found in a few burials, including that of the warrior provided with the bird-crested helmet, who was buried at Ciumesti. One of the features of Celtic warfare which impressed itself upon the Classical mind was the fact that some warriors fought naked except for the sword belt and a gold neck torc."
[2]
[1]: (Wells 1999, 45-47) [2]: (Cunliffe 2000, 98-99) |
||||||
The only mention of armour is chainmail. "Diodorus also mentions that some warriors wear iron breast plates of chain mail. Seated figures of stone from the sanctuary of Roquepertuse (Fig.163) and a stone statue of a Gaul from Vachères (Basse-Alpes) (Pl. VI), dating to the late first century BC, are shown wearing chain mail, and actual examples have been found in a few burials, including that of the warrior provided with the bird-crested helmet, who was buried at Ciumesti. One of the features of Celtic warfare which impressed itself upon the Classical mind was the fact that some warriors fought naked except for the sword belt and a gold neck torc."
[1]
[1]: (Cunliffe 2000, 98-99) |
||||||
Coat of plates "a defence made of several butted plates attached to a poncho-like fabric garment"
[1]
Breastplate late 13th century.
[2]
Hundred Years’ War (1337-1453 CE) reference: typical French knight wore "plate armor for shoulders and limbs topped by a bascinet, a metal helmet with projecting hinged visors and air holes. Instead of the surcoat, they wore a shorter leather jupon, and their warhorses were also armored, with plate covering their heads and mail or leather their flanks."
[3]
Hundred Years’ War (1337-1453 CE) reference: plate armour for horses.
[3]
[1]: (Nicolle 2000, 15) David Nicolle. 2000. French Armies Of The Hundred Years War. Osprey Publishing. Oxford. [2]: (Nicolle 2000, 19) David Nicolle. 2000. French Armies Of The Hundred Years War. Osprey Publishing. Oxford. [3]: (Wagner 2006, 27-29) John A Wagner. 2006. Encyclopedia of the Hundred Years War. Greenwood Press. Westport. |
||||||
As much as "350 lbs" - surely a typo for 35 lbs, or 15.9kg - after 1500 CE due to emergence of gunshot.
[1]
Hundred Years’ War (1337-1453 CE) reference: typical French knight wore "plate armor for shoulders and limbs topped by a bascinet, a metal helmet with projecting hinged visors and air holes. Instead of the surcoat, they wore a shorter leather jupon, and their warhorses were also armored, with plate covering their heads and mail or leather their flanks."
[2]
Hundred Years’ War (1337-1453 CE) reference: pollaxe: 4-6 foot wooden shaft with spike and axehead.
[3]
[1]: (Potter 2008, 78-79) [2]: (Wagner 2006, 27-29) John A Wagner. 2006. Encyclopedia of the Hundred Years War. Greenwood Press. Westport. [3]: (Wagner 2006, 27) John A Wagner. 2006. Encyclopedia of the Hundred Years War. Greenwood Press. Westport. |
||||||
’The custom of wearing talismanic war garments was well established by the nineteenth century, and some were worn with other northern appurtenances. ‘Their vest was of red cloth, covered with fetishes and saphies in gold and silver; and embroidered cases of almost every colour, which flapped against their bodies as they moved, intermixed with small brass bells, the horns and tails of animals, shells, and knives; long leopards tails hung down their backs, over a small bow covered with fetishes. They wore loose cotton trowsers [ sic], with immense boots of a dull red leather, coming half way up the thigh, and fastened by small chains to their cartouch or waist belt; these were also ornamented with bells, horses tails, strings of amulets, and innumerable shreds of leather; a small quiver of poisoned arrows hung from their right wrist, and they held a long iron chain between their teeth, with a scrap of Moorish writing affixed to the end of it.’
[1]
[1]: McLeod, M. D. (Malcolm D.) 1981. “Asante”, 147 |
||||||
No metals at this time.
|
||||||
No metals at this time.
|
||||||
No mention of plate armour until the Archaemenids who used iron breastplates.
[1]
"By 2100 BCE the victory stele of Naram Sin appears to show plate armor, and it is likely that plate armor had been in wide use for a few hundred years. Plate armor was constructed of thin bronze plates sewn to a leather shirt or jerkin."
[2]
Coding this as scale armor.
[1]: (Farrokh 2007, 76) Farrokh, K. 2007. Shadows in the Desert: Ancient Persia at War. Osprey Publishing. [2]: (Gabriel 2002, 21) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. |
||||||
According to the Chinese Nan chou i wu chih (A Record of Strange Things in the Southern Regions) written about 222-228 CE a volcanic country called ’Ge-ying’ (thought to be western Java) traded with the Malay Peninsula and imported horses from India. They were used by warriors.
[1]
It is likely they had some basic armour. Metallurgy was introduced after the third century BCE
[2]
so in addition to imported items, they may have had the ability to smith their own armour.
[1]: (Miksic and Goh 2017, 215) John Norman Miksic. Geok Yian Goh. Routledge. 2017. Ancient Southeast Asia. London. p. 215 [2]: (Bellwood 2004, 36) Bellwood, Peter. The origins and dispersals of agricultural communities in Southeast Asia. Glover, Ian. Bellwood, Peter. eds. 2004. Southeast Asia: From Prehistory to History. RoutledgeCurzon. London. |
||||||
The Borobudur reliefs depict armour but do not specify which kinds.
[1]
Old Mataram was a ’highly Indianized culture’ until it was replaced by an East Javanese one "that increasingly promoted various elements of the island’s older indigenous traditions."
[2]
Indian military terms surviving in Javanese include ’armour, shield, helmet’.
[3]
[1]: (Draeger 1972, 23) D F Draeger. 1972. Weapons and Fighting Arts of Indonesia. Tuttle Publishing. [2]: (Unesco 2005, 233) Unesco. 2005. The Restoration of Borobudur. Unesco. [3]: (Kumara 2007, 161) Sasiprabha Kumara. 2007. Sanskrit Across Cultures. Special Centre for Sanskrit Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University. New Delhi. |
||||||
"After the formation of the Majapahit Dynasty, however, weapons and warfare underwent significant changes. The military dress completely evolved from the Indian to the East Javanese fashion."
[1]
Indian military terms surviving in Javanese include ’armour, shield, helmet’.
[2]
The Borobudur reliefs depicted armour but do not specify which kinds.
[3]
[1]: (Powell 2002, 325) John Powell. 2002. Weapons & Warfare: Ancient and medieval weapons and warfare (to 1500). Salem Press. [2]: (Kumara 2007, 161) Sasiprabha Kumara. 2007. Sanskrit Across Cultures. Special Centre for Sanskrit Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University. New Delhi. [3]: (Draeger 1972, 23) D F Draeger. 1972. Weapons and Fighting Arts of Indonesia. Tuttle Publishing. |
||||||
Old Mataram was a ’highly Indianized culture’ until it was replaced by an East Javanese one "that increasingly promoted various elements of the island’s older indigenous traditions."
[1]
Indian military terms surviving in Javanese include ’armour, shield, helmet’.
[2]
[1]: (Unesco 2005, 233) Unesco. 2005. The Restoration of Borobudur. Unesco. [2]: (Kumara 2007, 161) Sasiprabha Kumara. 2007. Sanskrit Across Cultures. Special Centre for Sanskrit Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University. New Delhi. |
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Ancient Indians used iron for armour cuirasses and breastplates but copper was also used.
[1]
"Several Chalukyan epigraphs refer to kavacha or armour. A good number of sculptures at Badami, Aihole and Pattadakal show not only armoured soldiers but also caparisoned horses. Metal armours served as shields against attack by enemies, protecting both men and animal forces."
[2]
Kautilya’s Arthasastra, written after 200 BCE, mentions metal plate, cuirass, corselet and breast plate.
[3]
[1]: (Singh 1997) Sarva Daman Singh. 1997. Ancient Indian Warfare: With Special Reference to the Vedic Period. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. Delhi. [2]: (Dikshit 1980, 266) Durga Prasad Dikshit. 1980. Political History of the Chalukyas of Badami. Abhinav Publications. New Delhi. [3]: (Olivelle 2016, 142-143) Patrick Olivelle trans. 2016. King, Governance, and Law in Ancient India: Kautilya’s Arthasastra. Oxford University Press. Oxford. |
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According to Ibn Battuta in 1333 Delhi forces employed heavy-armoured cavalry.
[1]
Elephant armour (bargustawan-i-pil) included plate.
[2]
[1]: (Jackson 2003, 17) Peter Jackson. 2003. The Delhi Sultanate: A Political and Military History. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. [2]: (Bloom and Blair eds. 2009, 137) Johnathan M Bloom. Sheila S Blair. eds. 2009. Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art & Architecture: Three-Volume Set. Volume I. Abarquh To Dawlat Qatar. Oxford University Press. Oxford. |
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Kautilya’s Arthasastra, written after 200 BCE, mentions metal fabric, metal plate, cuirass, corselet, and breast plate.
[1]
According to Kamandaka’s Nitisara c650 CE elephants were equipped with iron plates.
[2]
There is no scholarly agreement on the date of Kamandaka’s Nitisara (an advice for rulers genre text) which is "the principal source for understanding the norms and techniques of warfare in north India". It is dated by different scholars to between 400-550 CE, 500-700 CE, or as late as 800 CE. Kaushik Roy suggests the post-Harsha period.
[3]
Under chapter 9 "The Rajput Administration": "Elephants had their bodies covered with armour and tasks [tusks?] provided with arms."
[4]
"Further details about military dress and equipment can be had from the Kathakosaprakarana, Yasastilaka champu and the Tilakamanjari."
[4]
[1]: (Olivelle 2016, 142-143) Patrick Olivelle trans. 2016. King, Governance, and Law in Ancient India: Kautilya’s Arthasastra. Oxford University Press. Oxford. [2]: (Roy 2013, 29) Kaushik Roy. 2013 Military Manpower, Armies and Warfare in South Asia. Routledge. London. [3]: (Roy 2012, 137) Kaushik Roy. 2012. Hinduism and the Ethics of Warfare in South Asia: From Antiquity to the Present. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. [4]: (Bakshi, Gajrani and Singh eds 2005, 394) S R Bakshi. S Gajrani. Hari Singh. eds. 2005. Early Aryans to Swaraj. Volume 3: Indian Education and Rajputs. Sarup & Sons. New Delhi. |
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No mention of plate armour until the Archaemenids who used iron breastplates.
[1]
"By 2100 BCE the victory stele of Naram Sin appears to show plate armor, and it is likely that plate armor had been in wide use for a few hundred years. Plate armor was constructed of thin bronze plates sewn to a leather shirt or jerkin."
[2]
Coding this as scale armor.
[1]: (Farrokh 2007, 76) Farrokh, K. 2007. Shadows in the Desert: Ancient Persia at War. Osprey Publishing. [2]: (Gabriel 2002, 21) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. |
||||||
Kautilya’s Arthasastra, written after 200 BCE, mentions metal fabric, metal plate, cuirass, corselet, and breast plate.
[1]
According to Kamandaka’s Nitisara c650 CE elephants were equipped with iron plates.
[2]
There is no scholarly agreement on the date of Kamandaka’s Nitisara (an advice for rulers genre text) which is "the principal source for understanding the norms and techniques of warfare in north India". It is dated by different scholars to between 400-550 CE, 500-700 CE, or as late as 800 CE. Kaushik Roy suggests the post-Harsha period.
[3]
Soldiers of the Pala Empire after 750 CE - the core of which was located in the southern reaches of the Ganges Basin to the east of this polity and at its height possessed territory all the way to Afghanistan - wore plate armour and conical-shaped helmets.
[4]
[1]: (Olivelle 2016, 142-143) Patrick Olivelle trans. 2016. King, Governance, and Law in Ancient India: Kautilya’s Arthasastra. Oxford University Press. Oxford. [2]: (Roy 2013, 29) Kaushik Roy. 2013 Military Manpower, Armies and Warfare in South Asia. Routledge. London. [3]: (Roy 2012, 137) Kaushik Roy. 2012. Hinduism and the Ethics of Warfare in South Asia: From Antiquity to the Present. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. [4]: (Lomazoff and Ralby 2013) Amanda Lomazoff. Aaron Ralby. 2013. The Atlas of Military History. Simon and Schuster. San Diego. |
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Corslet: "In the Uttararama-carita a great contingent of soldiers armed with corslets, staves and quivers..."
[1]
[1]: (Mishra 1977, 146) Shyam Manohar Mishra. 1977. Yaśovarman of Kanauj: A Study of Political History, Social, and Cultural Life of Northern India During the Reign of Yaśovarman. Abhinav Publications. |
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"Of the Medes and Persians as a whole, only a few wore armour. Some had body armour of iron scales and wicker targes and only some of the cavalry wore helmets of bronze or iron. As both Greek mercenaries and Assyrians were amongst the best armed in this great force, one may assume that any armour worn by Persians was inspired by one or the other of these militant peoples."
[1]
Breastplates present. Isn’t that the same thing as "plate" armour? Present in previous and subsequent periods.
[1]: (Robinson 1967) Robinson, H. Russell. 1967. Oriental Armour. Walker and Co. New York. |
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e.g. the Chahar-Ayned [lit. "four mirrors"] - four armour plates wrapped round the torso.
[1]
Iron plate armour: "four iron plates covering chest and back with a hole for the arms on the two side pieces was an innovation of the Safavid Period."
[2]
[1]: Farrokh, Kaveh. Iran at War, 1500-1988. Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2011., chapter three. [2]: (Powell 2010, 626) Powell, John. 2010. Weapons & Warfare: Modern weapons and warfare (since c. 1500). Salem Press. |
||||||
Kautilya’s Arthasastra, written after 200 BCE, mentions metal fabric, metal plate, cuirass, corselet, and breast plate.
[1]
According to Kamandaka’s Nitisara c650 CE elephants were equipped with iron plates.
[2]
There is no scholarly agreement on the date of Kamandaka’s Nitisara (an advice for rulers genre text) which is "the principal source for understanding the norms and techniques of warfare in north India". It is dated by different scholars to between 400-550 CE, 500-700 CE, or as late as 800 CE. Kaushik Roy suggests the post-Harsha period.
[3]
Soldiers of the Pala Empire after 750 CE - the core of which was located in the southern reaches of the Ganges Basin to the east of this polity and at its height possessed territory all the way to Afghanistan - wore plate armour and conical-shaped helmets.
[4]
[1]: (Olivelle 2016, 142-143) Patrick Olivelle trans. 2016. King, Governance, and Law in Ancient India: Kautilya’s Arthasastra. Oxford University Press. Oxford. [2]: (Roy 2013, 29) Kaushik Roy. 2013 Military Manpower, Armies and Warfare in South Asia. Routledge. London. [3]: (Roy 2012, 137) Kaushik Roy. 2012. Hinduism and the Ethics of Warfare in South Asia: From Antiquity to the Present. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. [4]: (Lomazoff and Ralby 2013) Amanda Lomazoff. Aaron Ralby. 2013. The Atlas of Military History. Simon and Schuster. San Diego. |
||||||
Ancient Indians used iron for armour cuirasses and breastplates but copper was also used.
[1]
Likely referring to time following the Macedonian invasion. Kautilya’s Arthasastra, written after 200 BCE, mentions metal plate, cuirass, corselet, and breast plate.
[2]
[1]: (Singh 1997) Sarva Daman Singh. 1997. Ancient Indian Warfare: With Special Reference to the Vedic Period. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. Delhi. [2]: (Olivelle 2016, 142-143) Patrick Olivelle trans. 2016. King, Governance, and Law in Ancient India: Kautilya’s Arthasastra. Oxford University Press. Oxford. |
||||||
According to one military historian (this data needs to be confirmed by a polity specialist): "What evidence we have suggests that from Vedic times until the coming of the Greeks, only slight use was made of body armor, and most of that was of the leather or textile variety."
[1]
Inferred from continuity with Mauryan polity .
[2]
This quotation does not rule out use of body armour or metal armour, and the Sunga Empire post-dates the Greek invasion.
[1]: (Gabriel 2002, 219) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies Of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. [2]: (Roy 2016, 19) Kaushik Roy. 2016. Military Manpower, Armies and Warfare in South Asia. Routledge. Abingdon. |
||||||
Ancient Indians used iron for armour cuirasses and breastplates but copper was also used.
[1]
Vakataka "soldiers were provided with armours and helmets."
[2]
Kautilya’s Arthasastra, written after 200 BCE, mentions a metal coat of mail, metal fabric, metal plate, cuirass, corselet, and breast plate.
[3]
[1]: (Singh 1997) Sarva Daman Singh. 1997. Ancient Indian Warfare: With Special Reference to the Vedic Period. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. Delhi. [2]: (Majumdar and Altekar 1986, 277) Anant Sadashiv Altekar. The Administrative Organisation. Ramesh Chandra Majumdar. Anant Sadashiv Altekar. 1986. Vakataka - Gupta Age Circa 200-550 A.D. Motilal Banarsidass. Delhi. [3]: (Olivelle 2016, 142-143) Patrick Olivelle trans. 2016. King, Governance, and Law in Ancient India: Kautilya’s Arthasastra. Oxford University Press. Oxford. |
||||||
"Protection against weapons was still generally made of leather or thick felt, although the later second millennium saw growing use among those who could afford it of body armor made of overlapping copper or bronze platelets sewn onto the leather. It became more common in the first millennium, now made with iron rather than bronze scales."
[1]
[1]: (McIntosh 2005: 190) McIntosh, J. 2005. Ancient Mesopotamia: New Perspective. Santa Barbara: ABC Clio. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/KK2E3KMD. |
||||||
"Protection against weapons was still generally made of leather or thick felt, although the later second millennium saw growing use among those who could afford it of body armor made of overlapping copper or bronze platelets sewn onto the leather. It became more common in the first millennium, now made with iron rather than bronze scales."
[1]
[1]: (McIntosh 2005: 190) McIntosh, J. 2005. Ancient Mesopotamia: New Perspective. Santa Barbara: ABC Clio. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/KK2E3KMD. |
||||||
"Protection against weapons was still generally made of leather or thick felt, although the later second millennium saw growing use among those who could afford it of body armor made of overlapping copper or bronze platelets sewn onto the leather. It became more common in the first millennium, now made with iron rather than bronze scales."
[1]
[1]: (McIntosh 2005: 190) McIntosh, J. 2005. Ancient Mesopotamia: New Perspective. Santa Barbara: ABC Clio. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/KK2E3KMD. |
||||||
"Protection against weapons was still generally made of leather or thick felt, although the later second millennium saw growing use among those who could afford it of body armor made of overlapping copper or bronze platelets sewn onto the leather. It became more common in the first millennium, now made with iron rather than bronze scales."
[1]
[1]: (McIntosh 2005: 190) McIntosh, J. 2005. Ancient Mesopotamia: New Perspective. Santa Barbara: ABC Clio. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/KK2E3KMD. |
||||||
Present in previous and subsequent polities.
|
||||||
"The Ak Koyunlu were the natural enemies of the Ottomans who, however, unwittingly aided the preservation of samples of their armour and weaponry by capturing the entire Ak Koyunlu baggage train at the battle of Otluk Beli in 1473. This equipment was shifted to the armoury of St. Irene in Istanbul."
[1]
"This mail and plate armour is characteristic of the Ak Koyunlu Turkoman".
[2]
[1]: 1991. Islamic and Indian Art, Oriental Manuscripts and Miniatures. Sotheby’s. page 56. [2]: (Jones ed. 2012, 92-93) Gareth Jones. ed. The Military History Book: The Ultimate Visual Guide to the Weapons that Shaped the World. Dorling Kindersley Limited. London. |
||||||
Technology not yet available. According to a military historian (a polity specialist needs to check this data): "The first recorded instance of body armor is found on the Stele of Vultures in ancient Sumer, which shows Eannatum’s soldiers wearing leather cloaks on which are sewn spined metal disks. The disks do not appear to be arranged in any order, and we do not know if the disks were made of copper or bronze. By 2100 BCE the victory stele of Naram Sin appears to show plate armor, and it is likely that plate armor had been in wide use for a few hundred years. Plate armor was constructed of thin bronze plates sewn to a leather shirt or jerkin."
[1]
Coding this as scale armor so absent.
[1]: (Gabriel 2002, 21) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. |
||||||
"In the seventh century the Arab Caliphate overran the Sāssānian Empire and, as far as we can tell, no great changes took place in the Persian equipment then or for a long time afterwards."
[1]
Unknown? if Sassanids used plate armour, whilst absent for the Abbasids.
[2]
[1]: (Robinson 1967) Robinson, H. Russell. 1967. Oriental Armour. Walker and Co. New York. [2]: Kennedy, the Armies of the Caliphs pp. 168-178 |
||||||
No mention of plate armour until the Archaemenids who used iron breastplates.
[1]
The Late Bronze and Early Iron Age in Northwestern Iran: ‘Other major object and material categories include iron and bronze armor’.
[2]
Is this relevant? What was this metal armour? "By 2100 BCE the victory stele of Naram Sin appears to show plate armor, and it is likely that plate armor had been in wide use for a few hundred years. Plate armor was constructed of thin bronze plates sewn to a leather shirt or jerkin."
[3]
Coding this as scale armor.
[1]: (Farrokh 2007, 76) Farrokh, K. 2007. Shadows in the Desert: Ancient Persia at War. Osprey Publishing. [2]: Michael D. Danti, ‘The Late Bronze and Early Iron Age in Northwestern Iran’, In Daniel T. Potts (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Iran, 2013, p. 359 [3]: (Gabriel 2002, 21) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. |
||||||
No reference to plate armour. Plate armour more typical for heavy cavalry which carried lances rather than horsemen with bows. However, some Mongol cavalry carried lances.
[1]
[1]: Martin, H. Desmond. “The Mongol Army.” Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, no. 1 (April 1, 1943): 52. |
||||||
No mention of plate armour until the Archaemenids who used iron breastplates.
[1]
The Late Bronze and Early Iron Age in Northwestern Iran: ‘Other major object and material categories include iron and bronze armor’.
[2]
Is this relevant? What was this metal armour? "By 2100 BCE the victory stele of Naram Sin appears to show plate armor, and it is likely that plate armor had been in wide use for a few hundred years. Plate armor was constructed of thin bronze plates sewn to a leather shirt or jerkin."
[3]
Coding this as scale armor.
[1]: (Farrokh 2007, 76) Farrokh, K. 2007. Shadows in the Desert: Ancient Persia at War. Osprey Publishing. [2]: Michael D. Danti, ‘The Late Bronze and Early Iron Age in Northwestern Iran’, In Daniel T. Potts (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Iran, 2013, p. 359 [3]: (Gabriel 2002, 21) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. |
||||||
No mention of plate armour until the Archaemenids who used iron breastplates.
[1]
The Late Bronze and Early Iron Age in Northwestern Iran: ‘Other major object and material categories include iron and bronze armor’.
[2]
Is this relevant? What was this metal armour?
[1]: (Farrokh 2007, 76) Farrokh, K. 2007. Shadows in the Desert: Ancient Persia at War. Osprey Publishing. [2]: Michael D. Danti, ‘The Late Bronze and Early Iron Age in Northwestern Iran’, In Daniel T. Potts (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Iran, 2013, p. 359 |
||||||
Used to protect men and horses.
[1]
Suit of armour found at Nisa and another in a 4th century BCE tomb at Tchirik-rabat.
[2]
[1]: Wiesehöfer, Josef, Ancient Persia: From 550 BC to 650 AD, trans. by Azizeh Azodi (London ; New York: I.B. Tauris, 1996), p.148. [2]: (Raschke 1976, 821) Raschke, Manfred G. in Haase, Wolfgang ed. 1976. Politische Geschichte (Provinzen und Randvölker: Mesopotamien, Armenien, Iran, Südarabien, Rom und der Ferne Osten). Walter de Gruyter. |
||||||
Used to protect men and horses.
[1]
Suit of armour found at Nisa and another in a 4th century BCE tomb at Tchirik-rabat.
[2]
[1]: Wiesehöfer, Josef, Ancient Persia: From 550 BC to 650 AD, trans. by Azizeh Azodi (London ; New York: I.B. Tauris, 1996), p.148. [2]: (Raschke 1976, 821) Raschke, Manfred G. in Haase, Wolfgang ed. 1976. Politische Geschichte (Provinzen und Randvölker: Mesopotamien, Armenien, Iran, Südarabien, Rom und der Ferne Osten). Walter de Gruyter. |
||||||
"There were two types of armor, full body and left arm, both made of quilted cotton."
[1]
[1]: (Hassig 1992: 114) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/E9VHCKDG. |
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"The dearth of illustrative material for the greater part of six centuries is largely due to the wanton destruction caused by two savage invasions from the east and only such finds as the stucco figures from Kara-shar [Central Asian warrior, eighth to tenth century] tell us that in all this period there had been little change."
[1]
[1]: (Robinson 1967) Robinson, H. Russell. 1967. Oriental Armour. Walker and Co. New York. |
||||||
No mention of plate armour until the Archaemenids who used iron breastplates.
[1]
"By 2100 BCE the victory stele of Naram Sin appears to show plate armor, and it is likely that plate armor had been in wide use for a few hundred years. Plate armor was constructed of thin bronze plates sewn to a leather shirt or jerkin."
[2]
Coding this as scale armor.
[1]: (Farrokh 2007, 76) Farrokh, K. 2007. Shadows in the Desert: Ancient Persia at War. Osprey Publishing. [2]: (Gabriel 2002, 21) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. |
||||||
No mention of plate armour until the Archaemenids who used iron breastplates.
[1]
"By 2100 BCE the victory stele of Naram Sin appears to show plate armor, and it is likely that plate armor had been in wide use for a few hundred years. Plate armor was constructed of thin bronze plates sewn to a leather shirt or jerkin."
[2]
Coding this as scale armor.
[1]: (Farrokh 2007, 76) Farrokh, K. 2007. Shadows in the Desert: Ancient Persia at War. Osprey Publishing. [2]: (Gabriel 2002, 21) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. |
||||||
No mention of plate armour until the Archaemenids who used iron breastplates.
[1]
"By 2100 BCE the victory stele of Naram Sin appears to show plate armor, and it is likely that plate armor had been in wide use for a few hundred years. Plate armor was constructed of thin bronze plates sewn to a leather shirt or jerkin."
[2]
Coding this as scale armor.
[1]: (Farrokh 2007, 76) Farrokh, K. 2007. Shadows in the Desert: Ancient Persia at War. Osprey Publishing. [2]: (Gabriel 2002, 21) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. |
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Approximate transition date 1250 CE.
[1]
General reference for this time period in Europe: by end of fourteenth century complete suits of plate armour were being used. With time the metal composition was improved from iron, eventually to high quality steel.
[2]
[1]: (Boulton 1995, 124-127) [2]: (Rogers 2007, 31) Clifford J Rogers. 2007. Soldiers’ Lives Through History: The Middle Ages. Greenwood Press. Westport. |
||||||
General reference for this time period in Europe: by end of fourteenth century complete suits of plate armour were being used. With time the metal composition was improved from iron, eventually to high quality steel.
[1]
[1]: (Rogers 2007, 31) Clifford J Rogers. 2007. Soldiers’ Lives Through History: The Middle Ages. Greenwood Press. Westport. |
||||||
General reference for medieval warfare: "Plate armor was developed beginning in the thirteenth century."
[1]
General reference for medieval warfare: Full-plate armor.
[2]
General reference for medieval warfare: c1320 CE "Full plate arm defenses appeared".
[3]
General reference for medieval warfare: "From about 1340, the plates covering the chest were combined to form a rudimentary breastplate, which first covered only the upper chest area. ... By about 1370 the breastplate was extended downward by means of an attached skirt of hoops, a fauld, so that the whole torso was protected."
[3]
General reference for medieval warfare: "The increasing use of gunpowder weapons as well as changes in tactics and the increasing sizes of armies led to the demise of armor in the seventeeth century."
[4]
Illustration shows "Knight, Collato family, c.1340" with a helmet, guantlets, sword, dagger, limb protection including plate armour for the feet, lower legs and knees.
[5]
Illustration shows horse armour which includes non-metallic (quilting, leather?) and metallic (plate) elements.
[6]
Illustration shows "Venetian infantryman, late 14th C." with a spear, sword, helmet, shield, guantlets, and plate armour for lower legs.
[6]
Illustrations show plate armour covering the torso for "Dalmatian knight, mid-15th C."
[7]
and "Venetian man-at-arms, late 15th C."
[7]
Illustration shows "Venetian man-at-arms, late 15th C." in full plate armour holding a spear and carrying a sword.
[7]
Illustration shows "Venetian light cavalryman, c.1500" wearing full plate armour, holding a sword and carrying a dagger.
[8]
Illustration shows "Venetian knight, c.1600" with a sword, full plate armour and shield.
[9]
Illustration shows "Venetian arquebusier, early 17th C." holding an arquebus, carrying a sword, wearing plate armour covering the torso and a helmet.
[10]
[1]: (Smith 2010, 68) Robert Douglas Smith. Armor, Body. Clifford J. Rogers. ed. 2010. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Medieval Warfare and Military Technology, Volume 1. Oxford University Press. Oxford. [2]: (Smith 2010, 69) Robert Douglas Smith. Armor, Body. Clifford J. Rogers. ed. 2010. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Medieval Warfare and Military Technology, Volume 1. Oxford University Press. Oxford. [3]: (Smith 2010, 70) Robert Douglas Smith. Armor, Body. Clifford J. Rogers. ed. 2010. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Medieval Warfare and Military Technology, Volume 1. Oxford University Press. Oxford. [4]: (Smith 2010, 73) Robert Douglas Smith. Armor, Body. Clifford J. Rogers. ed. 2010. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Medieval Warfare and Military Technology, Volume 1. Oxford University Press. Oxford. [5]: (Nicolle 1989, Plate B) David Nicolle. 1989. The Venetian Empire 1200-1670. Osprey Publishing. Oxford. [6]: (Nicolle 1989, Plate C) David Nicolle. 1989. The Venetian Empire 1200-1670. Osprey Publishing. Oxford. [7]: (Nicolle 1989, Plate E) David Nicolle. 1989. The Venetian Empire 1200-1670. Osprey Publishing. Oxford. [8]: (Nicolle 1989, Plate F) David Nicolle. 1989. The Venetian Empire 1200-1670. Osprey Publishing. Oxford. [9]: (Nicolle 1989, Plate G) David Nicolle. 1989. The Venetian Empire 1200-1670. Osprey Publishing. Oxford. [10]: (Nicolle 1989, Plate H) David Nicolle. 1989. The Venetian Empire 1200-1670. Osprey Publishing. Oxford. |
||||||
General reference for medieval warfare: "Plate armor was developed beginning in the thirteenth century."
[1]
General reference for medieval warfare: Full-plate armor.
[2]
General reference for medieval warfare: c1320 CE "Full plate arm defenses appeared".
[3]
General reference for medieval warfare: "From about 1340, the plates covering the chest were combined to form a rudimentary breastplate, which first covered only the upper chest area. ... By about 1370 the breastplate was extended downward by means of an attached skirt of hoops, a fauld, so that the whole torso was protected."
[3]
General reference for medieval warfare: "The increasing use of gunpowder weapons as well as changes in tactics and the increasing sizes of armies led to the demise of armor in the seventeeth century."
[4]
Illustrations show plate armour covering the torso for "Dalmatian knight, mid-15th C."
[5]
and "Venetian man-at-arms, late 15th C."
[5]
Illustration shows "Venetian man-at-arms, late 15th C." in full plate armour holding a spear and carrying a sword.
[5]
Illustration shows "Venetian light cavalryman, c.1500" wearing full plate armour, holding a sword and carrying a dagger.
[6]
Illustration shows "Venetian knight, c.1600" with a sword, full plate armour and shield.
[7]
Illustration shows "Venetian arquebusier, early 17th C." holding an arquebus, carrying a sword, wearing plate armour covering the torso and a helmet.
[8]
[1]: (Smith 2010, 68) Robert Douglas Smith. Armor, Body. Clifford J. Rogers. ed. 2010. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Medieval Warfare and Military Technology, Volume 1. Oxford University Press. Oxford. [2]: (Smith 2010, 69) Robert Douglas Smith. Armor, Body. Clifford J. Rogers. ed. 2010. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Medieval Warfare and Military Technology, Volume 1. Oxford University Press. Oxford. [3]: (Smith 2010, 70) Robert Douglas Smith. Armor, Body. Clifford J. Rogers. ed. 2010. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Medieval Warfare and Military Technology, Volume 1. Oxford University Press. Oxford. [4]: (Smith 2010, 73) Robert Douglas Smith. Armor, Body. Clifford J. Rogers. ed. 2010. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Medieval Warfare and Military Technology, Volume 1. Oxford University Press. Oxford. [5]: (Nicolle 1989, Plate E) David Nicolle. 1989. The Venetian Empire 1200-1670. Osprey Publishing. Oxford. [6]: (Nicolle 1989, Plate F) David Nicolle. 1989. The Venetian Empire 1200-1670. Osprey Publishing. Oxford. [7]: (Nicolle 1989, Plate G) David Nicolle. 1989. The Venetian Empire 1200-1670. Osprey Publishing. Oxford. [8]: (Nicolle 1989, Plate H) David Nicolle. 1989. The Venetian Empire 1200-1670. Osprey Publishing. Oxford. |
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[There is evidence of the use of quilted garment (gambeson) which is made of linen and stuffed with wool from the 13th century onward.]
|
||||||
"The earliest armor used in Japan, as elsewhere, was padded or made of scales or rings sewn on cloth. The armor found in the grove mounds of prior to 400 B.C. is made by riveting together small pieces of iron to make helmets and cuirasses. Some of the latter give quite the effect of plate armor but are built up of small pieces. By the 10th century, the earliest time of which we have definite knowledge, it had assumed a characteristic form which it retained until armor was abandoned in the middle of the 19th century. A Japanese suit, fig. 78, consists of a helmet, kabuto, usually made of a large number of narrow plates riveted together with raised edges at the joints. It has a small peak, maizashi, in front and a wide neck guard, shikoro, made of strips of steel or of scales of leather or steel laced together with heavy silk or leather cords. One or more of these pieces is turned back in front to form ear guards, fukigayeshi. The front is usually decorated with two horn-like pieces, kuwagata, representing the leaves of a water plant; between them is an ornament, maidate, corresponding to the European crest. The face is covered by a steel mask, menpo, to which a laminated neck guard, yodare-kake, is attached. There are five varieties of menpo - covering the entire face - all of the face below the eyes - the forehead and cheeks only - and two for the cheeks and chin only. Of these, the second is much most used. A gorget, nodowa, was sometimes worn but was not considered as a regular part of the suit. The body was enclosed in a corselet, do, made of plates or strips laced together with silk or leather cords. It either opened at the side, do-maru, or at the back haramaki-do. Attached to it were shoulder pieces, watagami, from which it hung. The taces, kusazuri, made of strips laced together, hung from the do. Under these was worn an apron, hai-date, of brocade covered with mail or mixed plate and mail. The legs below the knee were protected by close fitting greaves, sune-ate, of plate; and the feet were covered with bearskin shoes, tsurumaki, or with mail or plate tabi. The arm guards, kote, were brocade sleeves covered with mixed plate and mail. They usually ended in guantlets which covered only the backs of the hands and thumbs. Mail guantlets were rare but were sometimes used. Large guards, sode, were hung on the shoulders. They were either single plates, two hinged together or made up of strops or rows of scales laced together."
[1]
"The Japanese made more varieties of mail than all the rest of the world put together."
[1]
[1]: (Stone 1999, 60-61) George Cameron Stone. 1999. Glossary of the Construction, Decoration and Use of Arms and Armor in All Countries and in All Times. Dover Publications, Inc. Mineola. |
||||||
"The earliest armor used in Japan, as elsewhere, was padded or made of scales or rings sewn on cloth. The armor found in the grove mounds of prior to 400 B.C. is made by riveting together small pieces of iron to make helmets and cuirasses. Some of the latter give quite the effect of plate armor but are built up of small pieces. By the 10th century, the earliest time of which we have definite knowledge, it had assumed a characteristic form which it retained until armor was abandoned in the middle of the 19th century. A Japanese suit, fig. 78, consists of a helmet, kabuto, usually made of a large number of narrow plates riveted together with raised edges at the joints. It has a small peak, maizashi, in front and a wide neck guard, shikoro, made of strips of steel or of scales of leather or steel laced together with heavy silk or leather cords. One or more of these pieces is turned back in front to form ear guards, fukigayeshi. The front is usually decorated with two horn-like pieces, kuwagata, representing the leaves of a water plant; between them is an ornament, maidate, corresponding to the European crest. The face is covered by a steel mask, menpo, to which a laminated neck guard, yodare-kake, is attached. There are five varieties of menpo - covering the entire face - all of the face below the eyes - the forehead and cheeks only - and two for the cheeks and chin only. Of these, the second is much most used. A gorget, nodowa, was sometimes worn but was not considered as a regular part of the suit. The body was enclosed in a corselet, do, made of plates or strips laced together with silk or leather cords. It either opened at the side, do-maru, or at the back haramaki-do. Attached to it were shoulder pieces, watagami, from which it hung. The taces, kusazuri, made of strips laced together, hung from the do. Under these was worn an apron, hai-date, of brocade covered with mail or mixed plate and mail. The legs below the knee were protected by close fitting greaves, sune-ate, of plate; and the feet were covered with bearskin shoes, tsurumaki, or with mail or plate tabi. The arm guards, kote, were brocade sleeves covered with mixed plate and mail. They usually ended in guantlets which covered only the backs of the hands and thumbs. Mail guantlets were rare but were sometimes used. Large guards, sode, were hung on the shoulders. They were either single plates, two hinged together or made up of strops or rows of scales laced together."
[1]
"The Japanese made more varieties of mail than all the rest of the world put together."
[1]
[1]: (Stone 1999, 60-61) George Cameron Stone. 1999. Glossary of the Construction, Decoration and Use of Arms and Armor in All Countries and in All Times. Dover Publications, Inc. Mineola. |
||||||
No archaeological evidence for this. Moreover, the scholarly consensus is that the Jomon were relatively peaceful.
|
||||||
No archaeological evidence for this. Moreover, the scholarly consensus is that the Jomon were relatively peaceful.
|
||||||
No archaeological evidence for this. Moreover, the scholarly consensus is that the Jomon were relatively peaceful.
|
||||||
Armor plates were found in house No 49 at Ivolginskoe.
[1]
Plate armor from Iran appears to have been used by Steppe Nomads and has been coded present in other Steppe polities for different reasons. "Sauromatian bronze helmets and scale or plate armor not of local production appear in the Volga River region and southern Ural Steppes in the fifth-fourth century b.c., showing an increase in the exchange economy among neighboring communities."
[2]
[1]: (Kradin 2010, 249) [2]: Nicola Di Cosmo. 2002. Ancient China and Its Enemies: The Rise of Nomadic Power in East Asian History. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge, p. 42 |
||||||
"The earliest armor used in Japan, as elsewhere, was padded or made of scales or rings sewn on cloth. The armor found in the grove mounds of prior to 400 B.C. is made by riveting together small pieces of iron to make helmets and cuirasses. Some of the latter give quite the effect of plate armor but are built up of small pieces. By the 10th century, the earliest time of which we have definite knowledge, it had assumed a characteristic form which it retained until armor was abandoned in the middle of the 19th century. A Japanese suit, fig. 78, consists of a helmet, kabuto, usually made of a large number of narrow plates riveted together with raised edges at the joints. It has a small peak, maizashi, in front and a wide neck guard, shikoro, made of strips of steel or of scales of leather or steel laced together with heavy silk or leather cords. One or more of these pieces is turned back in front to form ear guards, fukigayeshi. The front is usually decorated with two horn-like pieces, kuwagata, representing the leaves of a water plant; between them is an ornament, maidate, corresponding to the European crest. The face is covered by a steel mask, menpo, to which a laminated neck guard, yodare-kake, is attached. There are five varieties of menpo - covering the entire face - all of the face below the eyes - the forehead and cheeks only - and two for the cheeks and chin only. Of these, the second is much most used. A gorget, nodowa, was sometimes worn but was not considered as a regular part of the suit. The body was enclosed in a corselet, do, made of plates or strips laced together with silk or leather cords. It either opened at the side, do-maru, or at the back haramaki-do. Attached to it were shoulder pieces, watagami, from which it hung. The taces, kusazuri, made of strips laced together, hung from the do. Under these was worn an apron, hai-date, of brocade covered with mail or mixed plate and mail. The legs below the knee were protected by close fitting greaves, sune-ate, of plate; and the feet were covered with bearskin shoes, tsurumaki, or with mail or plate tabi. The arm guards, kote, were brocade sleeves covered with mixed plate and mail. They usually ended in guantlets which covered only the backs of the hands and thumbs. Mail guantlets were rare but were sometimes used. Large guards, sode, were hung on the shoulders. They were either single plates, two hinged together or made up of strops or rows of scales laced together."
[1]
"The Japanese made more varieties of mail than all the rest of the world put together."
[1]
[1]: (Stone 1999, 60-61) George Cameron Stone. 1999. Glossary of the Construction, Decoration and Use of Arms and Armor in All Countries and in All Times. Dover Publications, Inc. Mineola. |
||||||
"Samurai protection from the 5th to 8th centuries, called ’tanko,’ was made of discrete, overlapping iron plates.’
[1]
Does this count as plate armor or is it scaled armor?
[1]: (Nolan 2006, 26) Cathal J Nolan. 2006. The Age of Wars of Religion, 1000-1650: An Encyclopedia of Global Warfare and Civilization. Volume 1 A - K. Greenwood Press. Westport. |
||||||
Jacq-Hergoualc’h’s (2007) in-depth and exhausting examination of Khmer armor discusses breastplates, rattan, resin-coated rattan, and thickly-braided cotton protective wear, but makes no mention of scaled armour, laminar armour, or plate armour.
[1]
Given that the later Khmer polity did not have plate armor this suggests that this earlier polity didn’t either.
[1]: (Jacq-Hergoualc’h and Smithies 2007, Chapter 2) |
||||||
Vedic for ’breastplate’ is Indo-Iranian.
[1]
Not everyone agrees Vedic culture was descendant from, and thus can tell us about, Andronovo culture.
[2]
[1]: (Kuz’mina 2007, 137) Elena Efimovna Kuzʹmina. 2007. The Origin of the Indo-Iranians. J P Mallory ed. BRILL. Leiden. [2]: (Lamberg-Karlovsky 144-145) C C Lamberg-Karlovsky. 2005. Archaeology and language: the case of the Bronze Age Indo-Iranians. Edwin Francis Bryant. Laurie L Patton. eds. The Indo-Aryan Controversy: Evidence and Inference in Indian History. Routledge. Abingdon. |
||||||
"The earliest armor used in Japan, as elsewhere, was padded or made of scales or rings sewn on cloth. The armor found in the grove mounds of prior to 400 B.C. is made by riveting together small pieces of iron to make helmets and cuirasses. Some of the latter give quite the effect of plate armor but are built up of small pieces. By the 10th century, the earliest time of which we have definite knowledge, it had assumed a characteristic form which it retained until armor was abandoned in the middle of the 19th century. A Japanese suit, fig. 78, consists of a helmet, kabuto, usually made of a large number of narrow plates riveted together with raised edges at the joints. It has a small peak, maizashi, in front and a wide neck guard, shikoro, made of strips of steel or of scales of leather or steel laced together with heavy silk or leather cords. One or more of these pieces is turned back in front to form ear guards, fukigayeshi. The front is usually decorated with two horn-like pieces, kuwagata, representing the leaves of a water plant; between them is an ornament, maidate, corresponding to the European crest. The face is covered by a steel mask, menpo, to which a laminated neck guard, yodare-kake, is attached. There are five varieties of menpo - covering the entire face - all of the face below the eyes - the forehead and cheeks only - and two for the cheeks and chin only. Of these, the second is much most used. A gorget, nodowa, was sometimes worn but was not considered as a regular part of the suit. The body was enclosed in a corselet, do, made of plates or strips laced together with silk or leather cords. It either opened at the side, do-maru, or at the back haramaki-do. Attached to it were shoulder pieces, watagami, from which it hung. The taces, kusazuri, made of strips laced together, hung from the do. Under these was worn an apron, hai-date, of brocade covered with mail or mixed plate and mail. The legs below the knee were protected by close fitting greaves, sune-ate, of plate; and the feet were covered with bearskin shoes, tsurumaki, or with mail or plate tabi. The arm guards, kote, were brocade sleeves covered with mixed plate and mail. They usually ended in guantlets which covered only the backs of the hands and thumbs. Mail guantlets were rare but were sometimes used. Large guards, sode, were hung on the shoulders. They were either single plates, two hinged together or made up of strops or rows of scales laced together."
[1]
"The Japanese made more varieties of mail than all the rest of the world put together."
[1]
[1]: (Stone 1999, 60-61) George Cameron Stone. 1999. Glossary of the Construction, Decoration and Use of Arms and Armor in All Countries and in All Times. Dover Publications, Inc. Mineola. |
||||||
"The earliest armor used in Japan, as elsewhere, was padded or made of scales or rings sewn on cloth. The armor found in the grove mounds of prior to 400 B.C. is made by riveting together small pieces of iron to make helmets and cuirasses. Some of the latter give quite the effect of plate armor but are built up of small pieces. By the 10th century, the earliest time of which we have definite knowledge, it had assumed a characteristic form which it retained until armor was abandoned in the middle of the 19th century. A Japanese suit, fig. 78, consists of a helmet, kabuto, usually made of a large number of narrow plates riveted together with raised edges at the joints. It has a small peak, maizashi, in front and a wide neck guard, shikoro, made of strips of steel or of scales of leather or steel laced together with heavy silk or leather cords. One or more of these pieces is turned back in front to form ear guards, fukigayeshi. The front is usually decorated with two horn-like pieces, kuwagata, representing the leaves of a water plant; between them is an ornament, maidate, corresponding to the European crest. The face is covered by a steel mask, menpo, to which a laminated neck guard, yodare-kake, is attached. There are five varieties of menpo - covering the entire face - all of the face below the eyes - the forehead and cheeks only - and two for the cheeks and chin only. Of these, the second is much most used. A gorget, nodowa, was sometimes worn but was not considered as a regular part of the suit. The body was enclosed in a corselet, do, made of plates or strips laced together with silk or leather cords. It either opened at the side, do-maru, or at the back haramaki-do. Attached to it were shoulder pieces, watagami, from which it hung. The taces, kusazuri, made of strips laced together, hung from the do. Under these was worn an apron, hai-date, of brocade covered with mail or mixed plate and mail. The legs below the knee were protected by close fitting greaves, sune-ate, of plate; and the feet were covered with bearskin shoes, tsurumaki, or with mail or plate tabi. The arm guards, kote, were brocade sleeves covered with mixed plate and mail. They usually ended in guantlets which covered only the backs of the hands and thumbs. Mail guantlets were rare but were sometimes used. Large guards, sode, were hung on the shoulders. They were either single plates, two hinged together or made up of strops or rows of scales laced together."
[1]
"The Japanese made more varieties of mail than all the rest of the world put together."
[1]
[1]: (Stone 1999, 60-61) George Cameron Stone. 1999. Glossary of the Construction, Decoration and Use of Arms and Armor in All Countries and in All Times. Dover Publications, Inc. Mineola. |
||||||
Technology not yet available
|
||||||
Technology not yet available
Naval technology |
||||||
"The earliest armor used in Japan, as elsewhere, was padded or made of scales or rings sewn on cloth. The armor found in the grove mounds of prior to 400 B.C. is made by riveting together small pieces of iron to make helmets and cuirasses. Some of the latter give quite the effect of plate armor but are built up of small pieces. By the 10th century, the earliest time of which we have definite knowledge, it had assumed a characteristic form which it retained until armor was abandoned in the middle of the 19th century. A Japanese suit, fig. 78, consists of a helmet, kabuto, usually made of a large number of narrow plates riveted together with raised edges at the joints. It has a small peak, maizashi, in front and a wide neck guard, shikoro, made of strips of steel or of scales of leather or steel laced together with heavy silk or leather cords. One or more of these pieces is turned back in front to form ear guards, fukigayeshi. The front is usually decorated with two horn-like pieces, kuwagata, representing the leaves of a water plant; between them is an ornament, maidate, corresponding to the European crest. The face is covered by a steel mask, menpo, to which a laminated neck guard, yodare-kake, is attached. There are five varieties of menpo - covering the entire face - all of the face below the eyes - the forehead and cheeks only - and two for the cheeks and chin only. Of these, the second is much most used. A gorget, nodowa, was sometimes worn but was not considered as a regular part of the suit. The body was enclosed in a corselet, do, made of plates or strips laced together with silk or leather cords. It either opened at the side, do-maru, or at the back haramaki-do. Attached to it were shoulder pieces, watagami, from which it hung. The taces, kusazuri, made of strips laced together, hung from the do. Under these was worn an apron, hai-date, of brocade covered with mail or mixed plate and mail. The legs below the knee were protected by close fitting greaves, sune-ate, of plate; and the feet were covered with bearskin shoes, tsurumaki, or with mail or plate tabi. The arm guards, kote, were brocade sleeves covered with mixed plate and mail. They usually ended in guantlets which covered only the backs of the hands and thumbs. Mail guantlets were rare but were sometimes used. Large guards, sode, were hung on the shoulders. They were either single plates, two hinged together or made up of strops or rows of scales laced together."
[1]
"The Japanese made more varieties of mail than all the rest of the world put together."
[1]
[1]: (Stone 1999, 60-61) George Cameron Stone. 1999. Glossary of the Construction, Decoration and Use of Arms and Armor in All Countries and in All Times. Dover Publications, Inc. Mineola. |
||||||
Jacq-Hergoualc’h’s (2007) in-depth and exhausting examination of Khmer armor discusses breastplates, rattan, resin-coated rattan, and thickly-braided cotton protective wear, but makes no mention of scaled armour, laminar armour, or plate armour.
[1]
[1]: (Jacq-Hergoualc’h and Smithies 2007, Chapter 2) |
||||||
Jacq-Hergoualc’h’s (2007) in-depth and exhausting examination of Khmer armor discusses breastplates, rattan, resin-coated rattan, and thickly-braided cotton protective wear, but makes no mention of scaled armour, laminar armour, or plate armour.
[1]
[1]: (Jacq-Hergoualc’h and Smithies 2007, Chapter 2) |
||||||
Jacq-Hergoualc’h’s (2007) in-depth and exhausting examination of Khmer armor discusses breastplates, rattan, resin-coated rattan, and thickly-braided cotton protective wear, but makes no mention of scaled armour, laminar armour, or plate armour.(Jacq-Hergoualc’h and Smithies 2007, Chapter 2);
|
||||||
Jacq-Hergoualc’h’s (2007) in-depth and exhausting examination of Khmer armor discusses breastplates, rattan, resin-coated rattan, and thickly-braided cotton protective wear, but makes no mention of scaled armour, laminar armour, or plate armour.
[1]
Given that the later Khmer polity did not have plate armor this suggests that this earlier polity didn’t either.
[1]: (Jacq-Hergoualc’h and Smithies 2007, Chapter 2) |
||||||
Jacq-Hergoualc’h’s (2007) in-depth and exhausting examination of Khmer armor discusses breastplates, rattan, resin-coated rattan, and thickly-braided cotton protective wear, but makes no mention of scaled armour, laminar armour, or plate armour.
[1]
Given that the later Khmer polity did not have plate armor this suggests that this earlier polity didn’t either.
[1]: (Jacq-Hergoualc’h and Smithies 2007, Chapter 2) |
||||||
Knights: "The princes of Black Africa who could afford to outfitted themselves in complete or partial armor like that of the knights of the Western Middle Ages."
[1]
"coat of mail and iron breastplate, helmet, boots, javelin ... all of it."
[2]
However, due to climate complete knightly armour not as common as in Europe and in fact Songhai Askia Bano died of suffocation.
[2]
1000-1650 CE period: "body armor was rare. Among the cavalry empires of the Sahel and sudan, quilted horse and body armor were common but plate was rarely used."
[3]
[1]: (Diop 1987, 116) Diop, Cheikh Anta. Salemson, Harold trans. 1987. Precolonial Black Africa. Lawrence Hill Books. Chicago. [2]: (Diop 1987, 117) Diop, Cheikh Anta. Salemson, Harold trans. 1987. Precolonial Black Africa. Lawrence Hill Books. Chicago. [3]: (Nolan 2006, 27) Cathal J Nolan. 2006. The Age of Wars of Religion, 1000-1650: An Encyclopedia of Global Warfare and Civilization. Volume 1 A - K. Greenwood Press. Westport. |
||||||
The songhay knight, like his French counterpart, wore a great helm, a hauberk, chainmail, an iron plate armour, a helmet and used a javelin. "Le chevalier songhoy, comme son homologue de l’Ile de France, portait heaume et haubert, cottes de mailles, cuirasse de fer, casque et javelot."
[1]
1000-1650 CE period: "body armor was rare. Among the cavalry empires of the Sahel and sudan, quilted horse and body armor were common but plate was rarely used."
[2]
[1]: (Niane 1975, 122) [2]: (Nolan 2006, 27) Cathal J Nolan. 2006. The Age of Wars of Religion, 1000-1650: An Encyclopedia of Global Warfare and Civilization. Volume 1 A - K. Greenwood Press. Westport. |
||||||
Plate armor from Iran appears to have been used by Steppe Nomads and has been coded present in other Steppe polities for different reasons. "Sauromatian bronze helmets and scale or plate armor not of local production appear in the Volga River region and southern Ural Steppes in the fifth-fourth century b.c., showing an increase in the exchange economy among neighboring communities."
[1]
[1]: Nicola Di Cosmo. 2002. Ancient China and Its Enemies: The Rise of Nomadic Power in East Asian History. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge, p. 42 |
||||||
Knights: "The princes of Black Africa who could afford to outfitted themselves in complete or partial armor like that of the knights of the Western Middle Ages."
[1]
"coat of mail and iron breastplate, helmet, boots, javelin ... all of it."
[2]
However, due to climate complete knightly armour not as common as in Europe and in fact Songhai Askia Bano died of suffocation.
[2]
1000-1650 CE period: "body armor was rare. Among the cavalry empires of the Sahel and sudan, quilted horse and body armor were common but plate was rarely used."
[3]
[1]: (Diop 1987, 116) Diop, Cheikh Anta. Salemson, Harold trans. 1987. Precolonial Black Africa. Lawrence Hill Books. Chicago. [2]: (Diop 1987, 117) Diop, Cheikh Anta. Salemson, Harold trans. 1987. Precolonial Black Africa. Lawrence Hill Books. Chicago. [3]: (Nolan 2006, 27) Cathal J Nolan. 2006. The Age of Wars of Religion, 1000-1650: An Encyclopedia of Global Warfare and Civilization. Volume 1 A - K. Greenwood Press. Westport. |
||||||
Knights: "The princes of Black Africa who could afford to outfitted themselves in complete or partial armor like that of the knights of the Western Middle Ages."
[1]
"coat of mail and iron breastplate, helmet, boots, javelin ... all of it."
[2]
However, due to climate complete knightly armour not as common as in Europe and in fact Songhai Askia Bano died of suffocation.
[2]
1000-1650 CE period: "body armor was rare. Among the cavalry empires of the Sahel and sudan, quilted horse and body armor were common but plate was rarely used."
[3]
[1]: (Diop 1987, 116) Diop, Cheikh Anta. Salemson, Harold trans. 1987. Precolonial Black Africa. Lawrence Hill Books. Chicago. [2]: (Diop 1987, 117) Diop, Cheikh Anta. Salemson, Harold trans. 1987. Precolonial Black Africa. Lawrence Hill Books. Chicago. [3]: (Nolan 2006, 27) Cathal J Nolan. 2006. The Age of Wars of Religion, 1000-1650: An Encyclopedia of Global Warfare and Civilization. Volume 1 A - K. Greenwood Press. Westport. |
||||||
Although there is no information on the warfare of this period, it is highly unlikely the resources were available for this technology.
|
||||||
This technology is not known to have been developed anywhere in the Americas before European colonization.
|
||||||
Knights: "The princes of Black Africa who could afford to outfitted themselves in complete or partial armor like that of the knights of the Western Middle Ages."
[1]
"coat of mail and iron breastplate, helmet, boots, javelin ... all of it."
[2]
However, due to climate complete knightly armour not as common as in Europe and in fact Songhai Askia Bano died of suffocation.
[2]
1000-1650 CE period: "body armor was rare. Among the cavalry empires of the Sahel and sudan, quilted horse and body armor were common but plate was rarely used."
[3]
[1]: (Diop 1987, 116) Diop, Cheikh Anta. Salemson, Harold trans. 1987. Precolonial Black Africa. Lawrence Hill Books. Chicago. [2]: (Diop 1987, 117) Diop, Cheikh Anta. Salemson, Harold trans. 1987. Precolonial Black Africa. Lawrence Hill Books. Chicago. [3]: (Nolan 2006, 27) Cathal J Nolan. 2006. The Age of Wars of Religion, 1000-1650: An Encyclopedia of Global Warfare and Civilization. Volume 1 A - K. Greenwood Press. Westport. |
||||||
Metalworking was not widely used in Mesoamerica, with metal products consisting mainly of small beads and ornaments.
[1]
[2]
[1]: Coe, M. D., Koontz, R. (2013) Mexico: From the Olmecs to the Aztecs (7th ed.) Thames and Hudson, London, p157 [2]: Kowalewski, S. A., Feinman, G. M., Finten, L., Blanton, R. E., Nicholas, L. M. (1989) Monte Albán’s Hinterland, Part II: Prehispanic settlement patterns in Tlacolula, Etla, and Ocotlan, The Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico, Volume II. Memoirs of the Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Number 23. Ann Arbor. |
||||||
Metalworking was not widely used in Mesoamerica, with metal products consisting mainly of small beads and ornaments.
[1]
[2]
[1]: Coe, M. D., Koontz, R. (2013) Mexico: From the Olmecs to the Aztecs (7th ed.) Thames and Hudson, London, p157 [2]: Kowalewski, S. A., Feinman, G. M., Finten, L., Blanton, R. E., Nicholas, L. M. (1989) Monte Albán’s Hinterland, Part II: Prehispanic settlement patterns in Tlacolula, Etla, and Ocotlan, The Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico, Volume II. Memoirs of the Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Number 23. Ann Arbor. |
||||||
Metalworking was not widely used in Mesoamerica, with metal products consisting mainly of small beads and ornaments.
[1]
[2]
[1]: Coe, M. D., Koontz, R. (2013) Mexico: From the Olmecs to the Aztecs (7th ed.) Thames and Hudson, London, p157 [2]: Kowalewski, S. A., Feinman, G. M., Finten, L., Blanton, R. E., Nicholas, L. M. (1989) Monte Albán’s Hinterland, Part II: Prehispanic settlement patterns in Tlacolula, Etla, and Ocotlan, The Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico, Volume II. Memoirs of the Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Number 23. Ann Arbor. |
||||||
Metalworking was not widely used in Mesoamerica, with metal products consisting mainly of small beads and ornaments.
[1]
[2]
[1]: Coe, M. D., Koontz, R. (2013) Mexico: From the Olmecs to the Aztecs (7th ed.) Thames and Hudson, London, p157 [2]: Kowalewski, S. A., Feinman, G. M., Finten, L., Blanton, R. E., Nicholas, L. M. (1989) Monte Albán’s Hinterland, Part II: Prehispanic settlement patterns in Tlacolula, Etla, and Ocotlan, The Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico, Volume II. Memoirs of the Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Number 23. Ann Arbor. |
||||||
Metalworking was not widely used in Mesoamerica, with metal products consisting mainly of small beads and ornaments.
[1]
[2]
[1]: Coe, M. D., Koontz, R. (2013) Mexico: From the Olmecs to the Aztecs (7th ed.) Thames and Hudson, London, p157 [2]: Kowalewski, S. A., Feinman, G. M., Finten, L., Blanton, R. E., Nicholas, L. M. (1989) Monte Albán’s Hinterland, Part II: Prehispanic settlement patterns in Tlacolula, Etla, and Ocotlan, The Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico, Volume II. Memoirs of the Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Number 23. Ann Arbor. |
||||||
The first evidence for the introduction of indigenously produced (copper-based) metallurgy in Mesoamerica is c.600 CE for ornamental valuables,
[1]
and the system closest to coinage ever practiced in Mesoamerica was the widespread use of cacao beans and copper axes as media of exchange during the Postclassic.
[2]
[1]: Shugar, Aaron N. and Scott E. Simmons. (2013) Archaeometallurgy in Mesoamerica: Current Approaches and New Perspectives. Boulder: University Press of Colorado, pg. 1-4. [2]: Berdan, Frances F., Marilyn A. Masson, Janine Gasco, and Michael E. Smith. (2003) "An International Economy." In Michael E. Smith and Frances F. Berdan (eds.) The Postclassic Mesoamerican World. Salt Lake City: The University of Utah Press, pg. 102. |
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The first evidence for the introduction of indigenously produced (copper-based) metallurgy in Mesoamerica is c.600 CE for ornamental valuables,
[1]
and the system closest to coinage ever practiced in Mesoamerica was the widespread use of cacao beans and copper axes as media of exchange during the Postclassic.
[2]
[1]: Shugar, Aaron N. and Scott E. Simmons. (2013) Archaeometallurgy in Mesoamerica: Current Approaches and New Perspectives. Boulder: University Press of Colorado, pg. 1-4. [2]: Berdan, Frances F., Marilyn A. Masson, Janine Gasco, and Michael E. Smith. (2003) "An International Economy." In Michael E. Smith and Frances F. Berdan (eds.) The Postclassic Mesoamerican World. Salt Lake City: The University of Utah Press, pg. 102. |
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"Most of the basic Mesoamerican armaments were in existence at this time [Classic period] - atlatls, darts, and spears, we well as clubs (bladed and unbladed), shields, cotton body armor, and unit standards [...] This military organization and technology was carried forward and elaborated on first by Toltecs and then by Aztecs".
[1]
[1]: (Hassig 1992: 5) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/E9VHCKDG. |
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Metalworking was not widely used in Mesoamerica, with metal products consisting mainly of small beads and ornaments.
[1]
[2]
[1]: Coe, M. D., Koontz, R. (2013) Mexico: From the Olmecs to the Aztecs (7th ed.) Thames and Hudson, London, p157 [2]: Kowalewski, S. A., Feinman, G. M., Finten, L., Blanton, R. E., Nicholas, L. M. (1989) Monte Albán’s Hinterland, Part II: Prehispanic settlement patterns in Tlacolula, Etla, and Ocotlan, The Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico, Volume II. Memoirs of the Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Number 23. Ann Arbor. |
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Metalworking was not widely used in Mesoamerica, with metal products consisting mainly of small beads and ornaments.
[1]
[2]
[1]: Coe, M. D., Koontz, R. (2013) Mexico: From the Olmecs to the Aztecs (7th ed.) Thames and Hudson, London, p157 [2]: Kowalewski, S. A., Feinman, G. M., Finten, L., Blanton, R. E., Nicholas, L. M. (1989) Monte Albán’s Hinterland, Part II: Prehispanic settlement patterns in Tlacolula, Etla, and Ocotlan, The Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico, Volume II. Memoirs of the Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Number 23. Ann Arbor. |
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The coins from the period show muscled cuirass.
[1]
Yuezhi (Kushan) find at Tillya-Tepe: "decorative gold clasp depicted a Greek infantryman in a cuirass breastplate carrying a spear and an oval shield."
[2]
[1]: Sidky, H., The Greek Kingdom of Bactria, from Alexander to Eucratides the Great, Oxford, 2000, pp. 168-169 [2]: (McLaughlin 2016, 78) Raoul McLaughlin. 2016. The Roman Empire and the Silk Routes: The Ancient World Economy and the Empires of Parthia, Central Asia and Han China. Pen and Sword History. Barnsley. |
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No evidence for weapons or armor, apart from arrowheads, spearheads, daggers and axes, have been found at Pirak. This may in part be due to preservation conditions at the site.
[1]
However, Harappan weapons are "characterised by the absence of shields, helmets and armour".
[2]
[1]: Jarrige, J-F. (1979) Fouilles de Pirak. Paris : Diffusion de Boccard. [2]: Sharma, R. S., ‘Material Background of Vedic Warfare’, Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient, 9 (1966):305. |
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This seems to fit the evidence most closely: "Young people up to a certain age looked after the herds, drove them from one place to another, caught, saddled, and loaded horses. They were called uollar, which means fellows. Among them the older and more skillful ones were called batyr -- knight, khosun -- warrior, and bargan (byargyan’) -- good shot, and roamed through the taiga not far from the settlements, hunting and fishing. Many of them had coats of mail (kuyakh) made from plates of iron and bone sewn over a leather caftan."
[1]
"Warriors used armor which consisted of small iron plates fastened to a leather coat and was called kuyax . The Chukchee and Koryak iron armor described by Bogoras and myself was undoubtedly adopted from Yakut sources, perhaps through Tungus intermediaries."
[2]
[1]: Sieroszewski, Wacław. 1993. “Yakut: An Experiment In Ethnographic Research.”, 716 [2]: Jochelson, Waldemar. 1933. “Yakut.” Anthropological Papers, 171 |
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This seems to fit the evidence most closely: "Young people up to a certain age looked after the herds, drove them from one place to another, caught, saddled, and loaded horses. They were called uollar, which means fellows. Among them the older and more skillful ones were called batyr -- knight, khosun -- warrior, and bargan (byargyan’) -- good shot, and roamed through the taiga not far from the settlements, hunting and fishing. Many of them had coats of mail (kuyakh) made from plates of iron and bone sewn over a leather caftan."
[1]
"Warriors used armor which consisted of small iron plates fastened to a leather coat and was called kuyax . The Chukchee and Koryak iron armor described by Bogoras and myself was undoubtedly adopted from Yakut sources, perhaps through Tungus intermediaries."
[2]
[1]: Sieroszewski, Wacław. 1993. “Yakut: An Experiment In Ethnographic Research.”, 716 [2]: Jochelson, Waldemar. 1933. “Yakut.” Anthropological Papers, 171 |
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The Fatimid arsenals contained "the full range of medieval military technology such as mail, scale armor, horse armor, helmets, shields, pikes, lances, spears, javelins, swords, two-handed maces, slings, bows, and crossbows.
[1]
[1]: (Hamblin 2005, 749) Shillington, K. ed. 2005. Encyclopedia of African History: A - G.. 1. Taylor & Francis. |
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During the Principate there was lorica segmentata, as depicted on Trajan’s Column. "Strips of iron held together and articulated with leather straps and copper alloy fittings"
[1]
By this time lorica segmentata had disappeared.
[2]
[1]: (Pollard and Berry 2012, 44) [2]: (Pollard and Berry 2012, 221) |
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Even when the Seljuks adopted new military organisation mounted archers remained central to their forces. The ghulam slave soldiers “fought and were equipped in much the same manner as the ghulams and mamluks” elsewhere in Middle east.
[1]
At its best equipment was similar to that used in Iran "with perhaps some Byzantine or even Western European influence.”
[1]
General reference for this time period in Europe: cuirasses.
[2]
[1]: Nicolle, David. Arms and Armour of the Crusading Era, 1050-1350: Islam, Eastern Europe and Asia. Rev. and updated ed. London : Mechanicsburg, Pa: Greenhill Books ; Stackpole Books, 1999. p.208 [2]: (Rogers 2007, 31) Clifford J Rogers. 2007. Soldiers’ Lives Through History: The Middle Ages. Greenwood Press. Westport. |
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"The Illinois made tools and utensils out of many different materials obtained from nature, including wood, bone, antler, shell, and stone."
[1]
[1]: Illinois State Museum, The Illinois, Technology: Tools and Utensils (2000), http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/post/htmls/te_tools.html |
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Only references to Iroquois armour describe wooden armour, and it is clear that by this period they had stopped wearing armour altogether, because ineffective against firearms. "[T]he introduction of firearms and metal tipped weapons into native warfare forced the Iroquois to reconsider the way they approached combat. They discarded their wooden body armor and shields, which were only marginally effective against metal weapons and afforded no protection whatsoever against French guns. Moreover, continued use of wooden armor became impractical as Iroquois warriors learned to adapt their fighting style to the new weaponry. Shortly after the stunning debut of French firearms in the 1609 revolt of the Mohawks, Champlain recorded that the Iroquois had already learned to ’throw themselves on the ground when they hear the report’ of guns being fired. Wooden armor was too cumbersome for use in evolving Iroquois tactics, which also included hiding behind trees for protection until after the guns had fired. Armor and shields remained present in Iroquois society as teaching and protectice tools in the education of young warriors, but they no longer found a place in Iroquois wars."
[1]
[1]: (Barr 2006, 28) Barr, Daniel P. 2006. Unconquered: The Iroquois League at War in Colonial America. Westport, Conn.: Praeger. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/collectionKey/943RGM7A/itemKey/KA4QX6HF |
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"In 1393 we hear of Persian soldiers dressed in mail (zirih baktah), with helmets and cuirasses of velvet-covered iron plates - a form of brigandine is suggested".
[1]
"In the late-fourteenth- and early-fifteenth-century miniatures, plate armour for the limbs makes its reappearance in the form of tubular vambraces, consisting of two hinged plates tapered towards the wrist, the lower one extended into a point to protect the elbow."
[1]
[1]: (Robinson 1967) Robinson, H. Russell. 1967. Oriental Armour. Walker and Co. New York. |
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Safavid and Mughal cavalry armour of the period included mail, cuirass (four breast-pieces, back and side plates), arm guards, circular shield, helmet.
[1]
[1]: (Roy 2014, 47) Kaushik Roy. 2014. Military Transition in Early Modern Asia, 1400-1750: Cavalry, Guns, Government and Ships. Bloomsbury Academic. London. |
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"The dearth of illustrative material for the greater part of six centuries is largely due to the wanton destruction caused by two savage invasions from the east and only such finds as the stucco figures from Kara-shar [Central Asian warrior, eighth to tenth century] tell us that in all this period there had been little change."
[1]
[1]: (Robinson 1967) Robinson, H. Russell. 1967. Oriental Armour. Walker and Co. New York. |
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"In the seventh century the Arab Caliphate overran the Sāssānian Empire and, as far as we can tell, no great changes took place in the Persian equipment then or for a long time afterwards. The invader came under the influence of the remarkable Persian culture and no doubt, in due course, took advantage of the superior craftsmen now at his disposal for the making of his own equipment."
[1]
Breastplates present but no suit of plate armour.
[1]: (Robinson 1967) Robinson, H. Russell. 1967. Oriental Armour. Walker and Co. New York. |
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"In 1393 we hear of Persian soldiers dressed in mail (zirih baktah), with helmets and cuirasses of velvet-covered iron plates - a form of brigandine is suggested".
[1]
"In the late-fourteenth- and early-fifteenth-century miniatures, plate armour for the limbs makes its reappearance in the form of tubular vambraces, consisting of two hinged plates tapered towards the wrist, the lower one extended into a point to protect the elbow."
[1]
[1]: (Robinson 1967) Robinson, H. Russell. 1967. Oriental Armour. Walker and Co. New York. |
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