Makedonian leather body armour

[Paralus]

I'm with Paul....with the caveat that it would be really nice to have some fourth/early third century graves!!

Would love to see whatever is availble.

[Paullus Scipio]

Paralus wrote:-

I'm with Paul....with the caveat that it would be really nice to have some fourth/early third century graves!!

......exceedingly nice!! D ) D lol:

[Paralus]

[......a positively identified sarissa would be nice too !

Won't happen. The wood never survives unless under the right conditions. All is guess work based on points left behind - even unto the distance apart of points and sauroters.

Didn't anyone still throw people into bogs in Philip's time?

For god's sake Jim! What were they thinking?!

[Paullus Scipio]

Paralus/Michael wrote:-

Won't happen. The wood never survives unless under the right conditions

......true, and I used to think those 'boggy' conditions didn't happen in places like Macedonia .....but if organic material like leather can survive in the graves ( assuming we are talking more than papery fragments)...then why not wood?( wooden parts of aspides sometimes survive)....or a 'shadow' where wood once was..?

...Ever the Optimist! D

[Paralus]

The difference might be in the size of the "lump" of wood. Perhaps even the type. I'd imagine, for instance, that an archaeologist 2,000 years hence would have little difficulty recovering a railway sleeper.

As to Sarissae, I'm not completely convinced that what we think of as sarissa blades are that. I've had the view, for some time now, that the lighter iron points (not those denonstrably dory or hoplite and javelin points) were more likely the thing.

It seems definite that the but spike - at a kilo odd - is what it appears. The thing is, if one were to wield an eighteen foot cornelwood pole - sans iron - holding it with some two thirds or more protruding, it would be no mean task to "operate". Add a heavy blade and balance it with a lighter but spike, what does that add?

It had always struck me that the but spike, as counterweight, would be the heavier.

Know of any Macedonian bogs?

[Paullus Scipio]

On the 'Macedonian Sarissa' thread, "meinpanzer"/Ruben offerred to send out an article by Nick Sekunda summarising current thought on the sarissa - if you e-mail him on;

rubenpostca (at) hotmail (dot) com

and ask nicely, I expect he'll send you it...it raises and discusses many of the points you refer to......I'd pass it on myself, but I think the version I have is incomplete.......


edited by mod: Just replace the letters with the appropriate symbols in the email address; I'm sure poor Ruben doesn't need any more spam than he may already be getting...