making an aspis

[Giannis K. Hoplite]

I think it is worth mentionning here the experiment of Christian Cameron with a hypothetical reconstruction of an early archaic shield, like those in the Chigi vase.
In fact it was not purely hypothetical, since Chris based his reconstruction on surviving speciments of timber finds, but the end result was a trully resistant shield.
It was not constructed like the later vatican shield at all, he used thin ash planks which he bent in shape in three layers, creating an effect on the inside like the Chigi vase. The planks were sitting under tention within a solid rim and covered on the outside with hide.
Christian did some tests with his shield which weighs no more than 7 kilos. He shot it with a composite bow of -i think- 70lb (Christian correct me if i'm wrong) and the arrow failed to penetrate. The reason was that the planks are tentioned and not only they absorbed the power, but they actually turned the arrow back!
Craig saw that shield at Marathon and together with Christian they are about to make more experiments with Christian making the wooden core and Craig making full bronze covers.
This shield however is a 7th and early 6th century shield and after the early archaic period we no longer see the intricate pattern on the inside of the shields in artwork. Other surviving speciments including the Vatican shield, that date to the 5th and 4th centuries indicated that the later shields were made with paraller planks like Craig's shields.
Khairete
Giannis