Those coupling-sleeves again...

[Sean Manning]

Yes, Medieval Warfare used artists who copy bad reenactment kit rather than medieval art and artifacts. Maybe the relaunched Medieval World will hire artists who do better research? They have some knowledgeable authors.

[Condottiero Magno]

Yes, Medieval Warfare used artists who copy bad reenactment kit rather than medieval art and artifacts.  Maybe the relaunched Medieval World will hire artists who do better research?  They have some knowledgeable authors.

When it was good, you had this centerfold from volume VIII issue 1, but when it was bad, the illustrations were a mishmash of equipment from different eras. One thing Ancient Warfare is better at is with analysis in the articles: something like the operation of the pike phalanx in the last issue, was rare sight in Medieval Warfare, with  information usually presented at a superficial level. A change in editorship resulted in a reluctance to talk about the details of warfare in a magazine that was supposed to focus on the subject! Medieval World is the result and I'm not that impressed with the two issues and might not renew the membership that was rolled over from a reluctant renewal of Medieval Warfare. I got into an argument with some rando on the Medieval World Facebook page over the use of Kyiv instead of Kiev: he claimed it's political, I begged to differ.

[Creon01]

It's great to see a lengthy discussion here on a Greek subject! Let me throw my two cents in. Many of us assume when we see what was dug up that if it looks like a weapon or a piece of military kit...that's what it is and we work hard to understand its function. The so-called "coupling sleeve" is a good example of this. We also need to consider the context of the find and strive to understand how the Greeks and Macedonians buried their dead at the time these objects were included with the body, especially their elites. Are these simply prestigious "grave goods?" Grave goods are often either semi or fully functional or obviously not functional, but a votive of a real thing. Many are small, like those tiny Corinthian helmets, while others are full sized or even over sized. These objects are often not ceremonial, rather they were designed and produced only to be buried with the deceased and held no known purpose in any other ceremony. This does not mean a metal tube was used or not used as a means to connect two shafts of wood, only that this example should be considered in the context of the find. If the other objects found with it are in pristine condition we should wonder why. We should not draw too many conclusions from a single find with little or no corroboration in either text or artistic depictions from the era. We should also ask if the object actually makes any practical sense to accomplish that task we assign to it.

[Sean Manning]

There are a lot of cool objects buried in back rooms of museums and in site reports. It would be nice for people to share some of those, rather than go over and over this one object from one tomb! I think something like the Museum of London books on medieval archaeology would be more useful than yet another book which goes over "How long were sarisae?" and "did classical Greek hoplites push as a file?"