Linothorax vs Quilted linen vs spolas

[Dan Howard]

I'm definitely not sure, but it doesn't look to me like the finds were in good enough shape to preserve leather, and all the "lining" portions appear to me to be simple discolouration. At any rate, we can't tell for sure, so we should count this out as evidence for leather-backed scale for now.

Even if it is leather backed scale, how can this possibly be classed as leather armour? As I said earlier, if attaching metal plates to some leather can be called "leather armour" then so can the lorica segmentata, coat of plates, brigandine, etc. It is fairly evident that the metal plates perform the active role while the backing is simply to hold the structure together. It is metal armour regardless of whether the foundation is made of textiles or leather.