Origin of the lorica squamata

[Alanus]

I'm getting confused. Which article talks about a physical example of third millenium scale armour?

Hello Dan,

As mentioned previously, one of the articles (fifth down from the top in the Novosibum list) shows overlapping hide armor. We then go to c.2,000 BC, the chariot technology and weapons used with it. Frankly, the difference between the late 3rd millennium and early 2nd is December, 31, 2,001 BC. (by the Gregorian calender). :wink:

To me, whatever had been invented previously then advanced dramatically with steppe chariot warfare, even if used only by the chieftains. The differentiation between scale, splint, lamellar, and plate armor, was dictated by the size of original materials, potential scales being the smallest. And I see no reason why it wasn't used within this earliest context. No, we don't have illustrations of Neolithic or Caeleolitic scale, but the Novosibum articles do show the variations in the steppe Bronze Age, the early chariot years.

The transition to the chariot and then horseback riding obviously spurred advances in armor, perhaps due to the invention of new weapons-- in particular the throwing javelin and larger contus-- larger and heavier weapons that spawned likewise heavier armor:

[attachment=1645]contushead002.JPG[/attachment]
Early Bronze Age chariot weapons; several flint javelin heads, and a large socketed bronze contus head.

And then we look at steppe armor from the same time-period, both splint and scale:

[attachment=1646]sibir_30.jpg[/attachment]

[attachment=1647]sibir_35.jpg[/attachment]

I can't believe that this technology suddenly sprang forth without a precedence of hide, bone, and hoove armor made during the previous millennium. There's no proof, not in the Novosibum articles, but logic and (by that time) a 2,000 year-old horse economy would dictate it, and we see it in the overlapping leather armor of the previous millennium.

Even as it stands, this scale armor predates that of other cultures. And circa 2,000-1,800 BC armor, like any other innovation, had a heritage, a foundation in the past. mile: