Cutting tests with sword and pugio / experiment

[Dan Howard]

If you can quantify the amount of energy delivered to the various targets then the data might be able to be used for additional tests against armour. Similar to Williams' The Knight and the Blast Furnace

[Sean Manning]

If you can quantify the amount of energy delivered to the various targets then the data might be able to be used for additional tests against armour. Similar to Williams' The Knight and the Blast Furnace

The difficulty there is that its hard to measure the energy of hand weapons because the wielder can continuously apply force, and its hard to measure the impact area of a cut or crushing blow (since penetration is proportional to energy and inversely proportional to impact area). Nor can you use the "E = (m * v[sup]2[/sup]) / 2" method because v varies for different parts of the weapon and m is greater than weapon mass but less than (weapon mass plus wielder mass).

Special weapons with sensors, like Horsfall et al. used, are one good approach; Gabriel and Metz show a bad one (but with the equipment available in the 1980s I don't know if there was any better option). So it seems like measuring energy would make a good second experiment, but is probably separate from seeing what edged weapons do to flesh and bone, and would need the advice of an engineer or physicist. I agree that it would be a worthwhile experiment, and know that its easier to suggest difficulties than design a methodology to avoid them. I wish viel Glück den Freunden der Alten Geschichte der Universität Augsburg und legioni XIII Geminae and hope that my comments have been useful.