03-15-2007, 11:43 AM
I would say that both method´s (rings and bowls) are possible - in combination. 
A bowl dished out of a massive piece of wood or (better) cross-glued layers of thin planks and steam-bowed "tires" for the shield body and shoulder rim, assembled together and shaped to the aspis we know.
The historic correct (or plausible) method of the assembling could be glueing, binding (sewing) or wood-nailing or - i guess - a combination of a few methods.
Dish out the whole aspis from an massive (big) piece of wood needs a (big) piece of wood and a lot of blades. It´s not the question if an lathe was part of the production process! For a phalanx you´ll need a huge number of (big) pieces of wood, a huge number of blades and a huge number of lathes! And a lot of time!
The Coating:
Wood without coating is (tactical) not enough. I would like to plead for a glued textile coating (Linnen) - it was common in this era. The facing then with hardned leather or rawhide (or for the absolute "social elite": bronze), but 2 layers of glued (and painted) linnen are enough.
This construction method makes a very solid shield, able to guard the bearer and crush into the enemy´s frontline.
A massive deep bowl will crack rather!
A bowl dished out of a massive piece of wood or (better) cross-glued layers of thin planks and steam-bowed "tires" for the shield body and shoulder rim, assembled together and shaped to the aspis we know.
The historic correct (or plausible) method of the assembling could be glueing, binding (sewing) or wood-nailing or - i guess - a combination of a few methods.
Dish out the whole aspis from an massive (big) piece of wood needs a (big) piece of wood and a lot of blades. It´s not the question if an lathe was part of the production process! For a phalanx you´ll need a huge number of (big) pieces of wood, a huge number of blades and a huge number of lathes! And a lot of time!
The Coating:
Wood without coating is (tactical) not enough. I would like to plead for a glued textile coating (Linnen) - it was common in this era. The facing then with hardned leather or rawhide (or for the absolute "social elite": bronze), but 2 layers of glued (and painted) linnen are enough.
This construction method makes a very solid shield, able to guard the bearer and crush into the enemy´s frontline.
A massive deep bowl will crack rather!
