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Building a boat-hull Boeotian
#1
As a result of discussions on Roman Army Talk (and the Greek board) I decided to build a "boat-hull" shield to try some "new" construction techniques. After some consideration, I elected to build a Boeotian vice an aspis, as I believe that the aspis developed from the Boeotian.
I recognize that many people disagree, and I accept that. certainly, I think we can all agree that the evidence is so patchy that it is unlikely we'll ever agree, achieve consensus, or find the "truth."
However, sometimes a good reconstruction can either support an hypothesis or destroy it, or provide data points towards a new hypothesis.

So first, my assumptions. These may not be facts, but they are the core data towards this reconstruction.

1) The Boeotian is descended from the "Diplon" shield and was, at some point, merely a piece of hide stretched over a frame.

2) The frame of the Dyplon/Boeotian was at least in basic form similar to that of the Masai and Zulu shields that I have handled--with an upper and lower rim or edge bound to a central core or spine (I call it the "keel".)

3) That the main facing of this style of shield is not bronze, but rawhide. I believe that I can support this in a number of ways--quotes from the Iliad, for instance. But this is an essential assumption, and if you don't accept that rawhide was, at least possibly, the facing on many shields from 700 BC to at least 450 BC, then nothing about this reconstruction will interest you.

3A Digression--why rawhide? Most importantly, rawhide can be stretched and formed to three dimensional shapes--like the bowl of an aspis and the front face of a Boeotian. It then dries hard--and light. It has been used by many OTHER societies as a shield facing--and some early shields from Olympia have "shield furniture" and even bronze rims, but were clearly NOT fully faced in bronze. Also, see below about Alcibiades's shield.

My theory also had to answer several questions.

A) If shields were hard, thick, and durable, how come there are numerous literary references to men being wounded THROUGH their shields? These seem to exist from Homer to Thucydides.

B) if shields were solid wood, why are there suggestions in literary sources that a shield can be beaten in, or collapse?

C) (Perhaps most important) If shields were heavy--and we usually interpret the aspis as a heavy shield--why is it almost NEVER shown in vase art "on the shoulder", whereas it is often shown extended at the full reach of the arm? is this an artistic convention? Or were the aspis and the late Boeotian relatively light?

And finally, although I chose to look for ways to make my Boeotian light, it had to be capable fo having a man sit on it--as men are often displayed sitting on their shields in 6th C. art. And I think that I should close these assumptions and suppositions by saying that I'm trying to recreate a shield of roughly 550 BC, and that I'm pretty sure that shield design and manufacture changed--very profoundly--after about 450 BC into a heavier and more rigid shield.

I immediately faced some design constraints. i had a period illustration of a shield that seemd to show that the outer rim was lashed or bound or laced--which went well, I thought, with my rawhide idea. I also saw that there were cross braces ont he inside of many Boeotians--often shown as dimensionless lines, as cord or rope. this suggested to me that the inside of a Boeotian was "under tension" which made sense to me as the owner of a Boeotian covered in rawhide would want to keep tension on the outer surface at all time--so that damp would not deform his shield. i use rawhide in the field in my other period--I know how a damp morning can affect it.

Finally, I knew from Aristophanes that shield makers were, at some period, also lyre makers. I had just read an article on how lyres were made in the 6th C. BC and knew that several lyre arms had been discovered intact, and that the arms were steam-bent, as least according to the archaeologists, and when the University of PA did a lyre reconstruction the steam-bent the arms. In addition, lyre construction involved a lot of wooden pegging and glue.
So one of my assumptions (#4 I believe) was that steam bent, glue, and pegging should all be important technologies in shield building.
Close examination of the aspides available to us (the Vatican, the one at Basel, etc.) strongly suggest that the face of the aspis--and this is a fairly fully developed aspis--was composed of strips of wood--willow, in fact--laid side by side and reinforced with a bronze band on the back. Someone (it may have been Paul Bardunias) christened this approach the "boat hull" aspis.
Finally, examination of coins and statuary suggested that the Boeotian had a "keel" or heavy wood mid-rib, based on the shape of the best preserved coins.

I'll try to illustrate my building techniques as well as some of the contemporary vase-paintings that influenced it. I wish to admit up front that I used bronze nails to attack the pine strapping on the face--no fastener would, in fact, be required to hold the strips in place because the rawhide does all the work once it's on--but I had no rawhide when I reached that stage and I needed it to be stable. Aside from that corner that I cut, all the rest of the construction is dowled, mitred, and chiseled, and in as many cases as possible I used techniques that are at least speculated to have existed--but I didn't hesitate to use a power tool to remove wood, where a hand tool would only have done the same in a great deal more time!

Here's my initial design diagram for my steam bender.

[Image: 4001365936_c8714db73e_o.jpg]

Here's his finished product.

[Image: 4015361448_30dce029ab_b.jpg]
Qui plus fait, miex vault.
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Messages In This Thread
Building a boat-hull Boeotian - by Kineas - 10-25-2009, 09:41 PM
Re: Building a boat-hull Boeotian - by Kineas - 10-25-2009, 09:46 PM
Re: Building a boat-hull Boeotian - by Kineas - 10-25-2009, 09:48 PM
Re: Building a boat-hull Boeotian - by Kineas - 10-25-2009, 09:53 PM
Re: Building a boat-hull Boeotian - by Kineas - 10-25-2009, 09:55 PM
Re: Building a boat-hull Boeotian - by Kineas - 10-25-2009, 09:57 PM
Re: Building a boat-hull Boeotian - by Kineas - 10-27-2009, 10:42 PM
Re: Building a boat-hull Boeotian - by Kineas - 10-27-2009, 10:45 PM
Re: Building a boat-hull Boeotian - by Kineas - 10-27-2009, 10:47 PM
Re: Building a boat-hull Boeotian - by Kineas - 10-27-2009, 10:54 PM
Re: Building a boat-hull Boeotian - by Magnus - 10-28-2009, 12:19 AM
Re: Building a boat-hull Boeotian - by Kineas - 10-28-2009, 01:14 PM
Re: Building a boat-hull Boeotian - by Kineas - 10-28-2009, 01:18 PM
Re: Building a boat-hull Boeotian - by Kineas - 10-28-2009, 01:20 PM
Re: Building a boat-hull Boeotian - by Kineas - 10-29-2009, 02:14 PM
Re: Building a boat-hull Boeotian - by Kineas - 10-29-2009, 04:46 PM
Re: Building a boat-hull Boeotian - by Kineas - 10-29-2009, 09:49 PM
Re: Building a boat-hull Boeotian - by Kineas - 10-29-2009, 11:57 PM
Re: Building a boat-hull Boeotian - by Kineas - 10-31-2009, 12:53 AM
Re: Building a boat-hull Boeotian - by Kineas - 10-31-2009, 12:55 AM
Re: Building a boat-hull Boeotian - by Kineas - 11-07-2009, 12:09 AM
Re: Building a boat-hull Boeotian - by Kineas - 11-07-2009, 12:12 AM
Re: Building a boat-hull Boeotian - by Kineas - 11-12-2009, 08:04 PM
Re: Building a boat-hull Boeotian - by Astiryu1 - 11-24-2009, 02:26 AM
Re: Building a boat-hull Boeotian - by Kineas - 12-13-2009, 09:29 PM
Re: Building a boat-hull Boeotian - by Kineas - 06-12-2010, 02:08 PM
Building a boat-hull Boeotian - by Diomed - 06-04-2014, 09:59 AM

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