# | Polity | Coded Value | Tags | Year(s) | Edit | Desc |
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"The soldiers of the Old and Middle Kingdom wore no armour. In the Old Kingdom they are usually depicted wearing only a belt and a small triangular loincloth, and by the Middle Kingdom their costume was invariably the same short linen kilt as that worn by civilian workmen. [...] From the late Predynastic Period to the Middle Kingdom, Egyptian soldiers’ only bodily protection (apart from the occasional use of a band of webbing across the shoulders and chest) was supplied by long, roughly rectangular shields made of cowhide stretched over a wooden frame."
[1]
[1]: (Shaw 1991: 32) Shaw, Ian. 1991. Egyptian Warfare and Weapons. Princes Risborough: Shire. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/7J8H86XF. |
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"The soldiers of the Old and Middle Kingdom wore no armour. In the Old Kingdom they are usually depicted wearing only a belt and a small triangular loincloth, and by the Middle Kingdom their costume was invariably the same short linen kilt as that worn by civilian workmen. [...] From the late Predynastic Period to the Middle Kingdom, Egyptian soldiers’ only bodily protection (apart from the occasional use of a band of webbing across the shoulders and chest) was supplied by long, roughly rectangular shields made of cowhide stretched over a wooden frame."
[1]
[1]: (Shaw 1991: 32) Shaw, Ian. 1991. Egyptian Warfare and Weapons. Princes Risborough: Shire. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/7J8H86XF. |
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In the New Kingdom mail coats were made out of bronze developed for charioteers. Evidence from a scene from the tomb of Kenamun. Colour of painting suggests bronze used for scales.
[1]
Is Hoffmeier referring to chainmail or coats with scales? Code assumes the latter. "the Egyptians had been using bronze armor since the Eighteenth dynasty, "but it consisted of nothing more elaborate than metal scales sewn onto a leather base."
[2]
[1]: (Hoffmeier 2001) [2]: (Fischer-Bovet 2014, 135-138) Fischer-Bovet (2014) Army and Society in Ptolemaic Egypt. Cambridge University Press |
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"The soldiers of the Old and Middle Kingdom wore no armour. In the Old Kingdom they are usually depicted wearing only a belt and a small triangular loincloth, and by the Middle Kingdom their costume was invariably the same short linen kilt as that worn by civilian workmen. [...] From the late Predynastic Period to the Middle Kingdom, Egyptian soldiers’ only bodily protection (apart from the occasional use of a band of webbing across the shoulders and chest) was supplied by long, roughly rectangular shields made of cowhide stretched over a wooden frame."
[1]
[1]: (Shaw 1991: 32) Shaw, Ian. 1991. Egyptian Warfare and Weapons. Princes Risborough: Shire. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/7J8H86XF. |
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Iron chain mail not introduced until the third century BCE, probably by Celtic peoples.
[1]
"From the late Predynastic Period to the Middle Kingdom, Egyptian soldiers’ only bodily protection (apart from the occasional use of a band of webbing across the shoulders and chest) was supplied by long, roughly rectangular shields made of cowhide stretched over a wooden frame."
[2]
[2]
[1]: (Gabriel 2002, 21) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. [2]: (Shaw 1991: 32) Shaw, Ian. 1991. Egyptian Warfare and Weapons. Princes Risborough: Shire. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/7J8H86XF. |
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"From the late Predynastic Period to the Middle Kingdom, Egyptian soldiers’ only bodily protection (apart from the occasional use of a band of webbing across the shoulders and chest) was supplied by long, roughly rectangular shields made of cowhide stretched over a wooden frame."
[1]
[1]
[1]: (Shaw 1991: 32) Shaw, Ian. 1991. Egyptian Warfare and Weapons. Princes Risborough: Shire. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/7J8H86XF. |
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"the Egyptians had been using bronze armor since the Eighteenth dynasty, "but it consisted of nothing more elaborate than metal scales sewn onto a leather base."
[1]
Bronze scale armor on short-sleeved, knee length shirt made out of linen or leather.
[2]
"Body armour, in the form of small bronze plates riveted to linen or leather jerkins, was introduced by the early New Kingdom".
[3]
[1]: (Fischer-Bovet 2014, 135-138) Fischer-Bovet (2014) Army and Society in Ptolemaic Egypt. Cambridge University Press [2]: (Gnirs 2001) [3]: (Shaw 1991: 42) Shaw, Ian. 1991. Egyptian Warfare and Weapons. Princes Risborough: Shire. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/7J8H86XF. |
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"The soldiers of the Old and Middle Kingdom wore no armour. In the Old Kingdom they are usually depicted wearing only a belt and a small triangular loincloth, and by the Middle Kingdom their costume was invariably the same short linen kilt as that worn by civilian workmen. [...] From the late Predynastic Period to the Middle Kingdom, Egyptian soldiers’ only bodily protection (apart from the occasional use of a band of webbing across the shoulders and chest) was supplied by long, roughly rectangular shields made of cowhide stretched over a wooden frame."
[1]
[1]: (Shaw 1991: 32) Shaw, Ian. 1991. Egyptian Warfare and Weapons. Princes Risborough: Shire. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/7J8H86XF. |
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"The soldiers of the Old and Middle Kingdom wore no armour. In the Old Kingdom they are usually depicted wearing only a belt and a small triangular loincloth, and by the Middle Kingdom their costume was invariably the same short linen kilt as that worn by civilian workmen. [...] From the late Predynastic Period to the Middle Kingdom, Egyptian soldiers’ only bodily protection (apart from the occasional use of a band of webbing across the shoulders and chest) was supplied by long, roughly rectangular shields made of cowhide stretched over a wooden frame."
[1]
Armour not worn during 3rd millennium BCE.
[2]
[1]: (Shaw 1991: 32) Shaw, Ian. 1991. Egyptian Warfare and Weapons. Princes Risborough: Shire. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/7J8H86XF. [2]: (Spalinger 2013, 472) |
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"The soldiers of the Old and Middle Kingdom wore no armour. In the Old Kingdom they are usually depicted wearing only a belt and a small triangular loincloth, and by the Middle Kingdom their costume was invariably the same short linen kilt as that worn by civilian workmen. [...] From the late Predynastic Period to the Middle Kingdom, Egyptian soldiers’ only bodily protection (apart from the occasional use of a band of webbing across the shoulders and chest) was supplied by long, roughly rectangular shields made of cowhide stretched over a wooden frame."
[1]
[1]: (Shaw 1991: 32) Shaw, Ian. 1991. Egyptian Warfare and Weapons. Princes Risborough: Shire. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/7J8H86XF. |
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In the New Kingdom mail coats were made out of bronze developed for charioteers. Evidence from a scene from the tomb of Kenamun. Colour of painting suggests bronze used for scales.
[1]
Is Hoffmeier referring to chainmail or coats with scales? Code assumes the latter. "the Egyptians had been using bronze armor since the Eighteenth dynasty, "but it consisted of nothing more elaborate than metal scales sewn onto a leather base."
[2]
[1]: (Hoffmeier 2001) [2]: (Fischer-Bovet 2014, 135-138) Fischer-Bovet (2014) Army and Society in Ptolemaic Egypt. Cambridge University Press |
||||||
In the New Kingdom mail coats were made out of bronze developed for charioteers. Evidence from a scene from the tomb of Kenamun. Colour of painting suggests bronze used for scales.
[1]
Is Hoffmeier referring to chainmail or coats with scales? Code assumes the latter. "the Egyptians had been using bronze armor since the Eighteenth dynasty, "but it consisted of nothing more elaborate than metal scales sewn onto a leather base."
[2]
[1]: (Hoffmeier 2001) [2]: (Fischer-Bovet 2014, 135-138) Fischer-Bovet (2014) Army and Society in Ptolemaic Egypt. Cambridge University Press |
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"The widespread use of firearms and waning popularity of jousting tournaments caused a steep decline in the production of armor in the seventeenth century. Because the symbolic value of armor outlived its effectiveness in battle, sumptuous examples were still made as diplomatic gifts and appeared in portraits of members of the royal family."
[1]
“Captains and wealthier nobles might have three-quarter armour, consisting of a closed helmet, curiass (breastplate), arm defences, and leg defences that ended at the knees. Those of lesser means made do with a helmet and some form of leather or cotton armour. In time, however, the Spanish began to favour the native-style quilted cotton armour, which was far more comfortable to wear in the humid climate of the New World.”
[2]
[1]: “The Art of Power: Royal Armor and Portraits from Imperial Spain. National Gallery of Art. Web. Accessed May 5, 2017. https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/WHH6KD3N) [2]: (Pemberton 2011, preview) Pemberton, John. 2011. Conquistadors: Searching for El Dorado: The Terrifying Spanish Conquest of the Aztec and Inca Empires. Canary Press eBooks Limited. https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/3SI549GS |
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Iron chain mail was introduced in the third century BCE, probably by the Celtic peoples.
[1]
The French Chronocarto database mentions "Chaîne de suspension" for the later Hallstatt periods. Either way, the technology was not present at this time.
[1]: (Gabriel 2002, 21) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. |
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Chainmail was standard in the 12th century against bladed weapons but in the 15th century was replaced by plate armour which could better deflect missiles and glancing blows.
[1]
[1]: (Nolan 2006, 24) Cathal J Nolan. 2006. The Age of Wars of Religion, 1000-1650: An Encyclopedia of Global Warfare and Civilization. Volume 1 A - K. Greenwood Press. Westport. |
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Why absent in this period rather than earlier one? Perhaps accurate firearms rendered light cavalry (which presumably used chainmail rather than heavier plate) much less effective as the riders attempting to flank could be shot from their horses in mid-gallop. If chainmail doesn’t stop a bullet, might as well not wear it at all. Note: "cavalry as a proportion of armies declined steadily in the century from 1660 to 1760, from around one-third to around one-quarter of the total combatants."
[1]
[1]: (Parrott 2012, 62) David Parrott. Armed Forces. William Doyle. ed. 2012. The Oxford Handbook of the Ancien Régime. Oxford University Press. Oxford. |
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No metals at this time.
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No metals at this time.
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Before the time of ’definite’ knowledge "The earliest armor used in Japan, as elsewhere, was padded or made of scales or rings sewn on cloth. By the 10th century, the earliest time of which we have definite knowledge, it had assumed a characteristic form which it retained until armor was abandoned in the middle of the 19th century."
[1]
[1]: (Stone 1999, 60-61) George Cameron Stone. 1999. Glossary of the Construction, Decoration and Use of Arms and Armor in All Countries and in All Times. Dover Publications, Inc. Mineola. |
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not mentioned in any of the sources that deal with weapons and armor
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’The custom of wearing talismanic war garments was well established by the nineteenth century, and some were worn with other northern appurtenances. ‘Their vest was of red cloth, covered with fetishes and saphies in gold and silver; and embroidered cases of almost every colour, which flapped against their bodies as they moved, intermixed with small brass bells, the horns and tails of animals, shells, and knives; long leopards tails hung down their backs, over a small bow covered with fetishes. They wore loose cotton trowsers [ sic], with immense boots of a dull red leather, coming half way up the thigh, and fastened by small chains to their cartouch or waist belt; these were also ornamented with bells, horses tails, strings of amulets, and innumerable shreds of leather; a small quiver of poisoned arrows hung from their right wrist, and they held a long iron chain between their teeth, with a scrap of Moorish writing affixed to the end of it.’
[1]
[1]: McLeod, M. D. (Malcolm D.) 1981. “Asante”, 147 |
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No metals at this time.
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No archaeological evidence for this. Moreover, the scholarly consensus is that the Jomon were relatively peaceful.
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No archaeological evidence for this. Moreover, the scholarly consensus is that the Jomon were relatively peaceful.
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The lorica hamata was probably in use in the Hasmonean armies; it was almost certainly used by their successor Herod. "By the 2nd century BC the lorica hamata was widespread in the neighboring Seleucid and Ptolemaic armies, which were inspired by the armor worn by the Roman Republican armies."
[1]
[1]: Rocca (2009:21). |
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Although there is no information on the warfare of this period, it is highly unlikely the resources were available for this technology.
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Before the time of ’definite’ knowledge "The earliest armor used in Japan, as elsewhere, was padded or made of scales or rings sewn on cloth. By the 10th century, the earliest time of which we have definite knowledge, it had assumed a characteristic form which it retained until armor was abandoned in the middle of the 19th century."
[1]
[1]: (Stone 1999, 60-61) George Cameron Stone. 1999. Glossary of the Construction, Decoration and Use of Arms and Armor in All Countries and in All Times. Dover Publications, Inc. Mineola. |
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NB: The following refers to a different era and place. Reference for Vedic-period India (mostly Ganges valley but may also be relevant further south) mentions a coat of mail but the description reads more like scaled armor: "No material evidence exists to prove the use of body-armour, helmets and shields by the people of the Indus valley. It has been suggested, however, that domed pieces of copper, each pierced by two holes, were stitched on to a piece of cloth and used as a coat of mail."
[1]
[1]: (Singh 1997, 91) Sarva Daman Singh. 1997 (1965). Ancient Indian Warfare: With Special Reference to the Vedic Period. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Private Limited. Delhi. |
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This technology is not known to have been developed anywhere in the Americas before European colonization.
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"Protection against weapons was still generally made of leather or thick felt, although the later second millennium saw growing use among those who could afford it of body armor made of overlapping copper or bronze platelets sewn onto the leather. It became more common in the first millennium, now made with iron rather than bronze scales."
[1]
[1]: (McIntosh 2005: 190) McIntosh, J. 2005. Ancient Mesopotamia: New Perspective. Santa Barbara: ABC Clio. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/KK2E3KMD. |
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Introduced later.
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"Protection against weapons was still generally made of leather or thick felt, although the later second millennium saw growing use among those who could afford it of body armor made of overlapping copper or bronze platelets sewn onto the leather. It became more common in the first millennium, now made with iron rather than bronze scales."
[1]
[1]: (McIntosh 2005: 190) McIntosh, J. 2005. Ancient Mesopotamia: New Perspective. Santa Barbara: ABC Clio. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/KK2E3KMD. |
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"Protection against weapons was still generally made of leather or thick felt, although the later second millennium saw growing use among those who could afford it of body armor made of overlapping copper or bronze platelets sewn onto the leather. It became more common in the first millennium, now made with iron rather than bronze scales."
[1]
[1]: (McIntosh 2005: 190) McIntosh, J. 2005. Ancient Mesopotamia: New Perspective. Santa Barbara: ABC Clio. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/KK2E3KMD. |
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"Protection against weapons was still generally made of leather or thick felt, although the later second millennium saw growing use among those who could afford it of body armor made of overlapping copper or bronze platelets sewn onto the leather. It became more common in the first millennium, now made with iron rather than bronze scales."
[1]
[1]: (McIntosh 2005: 190) McIntosh, J. 2005. Ancient Mesopotamia: New Perspective. Santa Barbara: ABC Clio. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/KK2E3KMD. |
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"Of the Medes and Persians as a whole, only a few wore armour. Some had body armour of iron scales and wicker targes and only some of the cavalry wore helmets of bronze or iron. As both Greek mercenaries and Assyrians were amongst the best armed in this great force, one may assume that any armour worn by Persians was inspired by one or the other of these militant peoples."
[1]
[1]: (Robinson 1967) Robinson, H. Russell. 1967. Oriental Armour. Walker and Co. New York. |
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Although there is no information on the warfare of this period, it is highly unlikely the resources were available for this technology.
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no mention of this technology in sources for this period
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Technology not yet available.
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Technology not yet available.
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sources do not mention this technology in the region until much later
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Although there is no information on the warfare of this period, it is highly unlikely the resources were available for this technology.
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"There were two types of armor, full body and left arm, both made of quilted cotton."
[1]
[1]: (Hassig 1992: 114) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/E9VHCKDG. |
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Metalworking was not widely used in Mesoamerica, with metal products consisting mainly of small beads and ornaments.
[1]
[2]
[1]: Coe, M. D., Koontz, R. (2013) Mexico: From the Olmecs to the Aztecs (7th ed.) Thames and Hudson, London, p157 [2]: Kowalewski, S. A., Feinman, G. M., Finten, L., Blanton, R. E., Nicholas, L. M. (1989) Monte Albán’s Hinterland, Part II: Prehispanic settlement patterns in Tlacolula, Etla, and Ocotlan, The Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico, Volume II. Memoirs of the Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Number 23. Ann Arbor. |
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Metalworking was not widely used in Mesoamerica, with metal products consisting mainly of small beads and ornaments.
[1]
[2]
[1]: Coe, M. D., Koontz, R. (2013) Mexico: From the Olmecs to the Aztecs (7th ed.) Thames and Hudson, London, p157 [2]: Kowalewski, S. A., Feinman, G. M., Finten, L., Blanton, R. E., Nicholas, L. M. (1989) Monte Albán’s Hinterland, Part II: Prehispanic settlement patterns in Tlacolula, Etla, and Ocotlan, The Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico, Volume II. Memoirs of the Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Number 23. Ann Arbor. |
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"Most of the basic Mesoamerican armaments were in existence at this time [Classic period] - atlatls, darts, and spears, we well as clubs (bladed and unbladed), shields, cotton body armor, and unit standards [...] This military organization and technology was carried forward and elaborated on first by Toltecs and then by Aztecs".
[1]
[1]: (Hassig 1992: 5) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/E9VHCKDG. |
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The first evidence for the introduction of indigenously produced (copper-based) metallurgy in Mesoamerica is c.600 CE for ornamental valuables,
[1]
and the system closest to coinage ever practiced in Mesoamerica was the widespread use of cacao beans and copper axes as media of exchange during the Postclassic.
[2]
[1]: Shugar, Aaron N. and Scott E. Simmons. (2013) Archaeometallurgy in Mesoamerica: Current Approaches and New Perspectives. Boulder: University Press of Colorado, pg. 1-4. [2]: Berdan, Frances F., Marilyn A. Masson, Janine Gasco, and Michael E. Smith. (2003) "An International Economy." In Michael E. Smith and Frances F. Berdan (eds.) The Postclassic Mesoamerican World. Salt Lake City: The University of Utah Press, pg. 102. |
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The first evidence for the introduction of indigenously produced (copper-based) metallurgy in Mesoamerica is c.600 CE for ornamental valuables,
[1]
and the system closest to coinage ever practiced in Mesoamerica was the widespread use of cacao beans and copper axes as media of exchange during the Postclassic.
[2]
[1]: Shugar, Aaron N. and Scott E. Simmons. (2013) Archaeometallurgy in Mesoamerica: Current Approaches and New Perspectives. Boulder: University Press of Colorado, pg. 1-4. [2]: Berdan, Frances F., Marilyn A. Masson, Janine Gasco, and Michael E. Smith. (2003) "An International Economy." In Michael E. Smith and Frances F. Berdan (eds.) The Postclassic Mesoamerican World. Salt Lake City: The University of Utah Press, pg. 102. |
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No archaeological evidence for this. Moreover, the scholarly consensus is that the Jomon were relatively peaceful.
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No archaeological evidence for this. Moreover, the scholarly consensus is that the Jomon were relatively peaceful.
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No archaeological evidence for this. Moreover, the scholarly consensus is that the Jomon were relatively peaceful.
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No archaeological evidence for this. Moreover, the scholarly consensus is that the Jomon were relatively peaceful.
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||||||
Metalworking was not widely used in Mesoamerica, with metal products consisting mainly of small beads and ornaments.
[1]
[2]
[1]: Coe, M. D., Koontz, R. (2013) Mexico: From the Olmecs to the Aztecs (7th ed.) Thames and Hudson, London, p157 [2]: Kowalewski, S. A., Feinman, G. M., Finten, L., Blanton, R. E., Nicholas, L. M. (1989) Monte Albán’s Hinterland, Part II: Prehispanic settlement patterns in Tlacolula, Etla, and Ocotlan, The Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico, Volume II. Memoirs of the Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Number 23. Ann Arbor. |
||||||
Metalworking was not widely used in Mesoamerica, with metal products consisting mainly of small beads and ornaments.
[1]
[2]
[1]: Coe, M. D., Koontz, R. (2013) Mexico: From the Olmecs to the Aztecs (7th ed.) Thames and Hudson, London, p157 [2]: Kowalewski, S. A., Feinman, G. M., Finten, L., Blanton, R. E., Nicholas, L. M. (1989) Monte Albán’s Hinterland, Part II: Prehispanic settlement patterns in Tlacolula, Etla, and Ocotlan, The Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico, Volume II. Memoirs of the Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Number 23. Ann Arbor. |
||||||
Metalworking was not widely used in Mesoamerica, with metal products consisting mainly of small beads and ornaments.
[1]
[2]
[1]: Coe, M. D., Koontz, R. (2013) Mexico: From the Olmecs to the Aztecs (7th ed.) Thames and Hudson, London, p157 [2]: Kowalewski, S. A., Feinman, G. M., Finten, L., Blanton, R. E., Nicholas, L. M. (1989) Monte Albán’s Hinterland, Part II: Prehispanic settlement patterns in Tlacolula, Etla, and Ocotlan, The Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico, Volume II. Memoirs of the Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Number 23. Ann Arbor. |
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First adopted in the region by the Romans, much later.
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In the New Kingdom mail coats were made out of bronze developed for charioteers. Evidence from a scene from the tomb of Kenamun. Colour of painting suggests bronze used for scales.
[1]
Is Hoffmeier referring to chainmail or coats with scales? Code assumes the latter. "the Egyptians had been using bronze armor since the Eighteenth dynasty, "but it consisted of nothing more elaborate than metal scales sewn onto a leather base."
[2]
[1]: (Hoffmeier 2001) [2]: (Fischer-Bovet 2014, 135-138) Fischer-Bovet (2014) Army and Society in Ptolemaic Egypt. Cambridge University Press |
||||||
Metalworking was not widely used in Mesoamerica, with metal products consisting mainly of small beads and ornaments.
[1]
[2]
[1]: Coe, M. D., Koontz, R. (2013) Mexico: From the Olmecs to the Aztecs (7th ed.) Thames and Hudson, London, p157 [2]: Kowalewski, S. A., Feinman, G. M., Finten, L., Blanton, R. E., Nicholas, L. M. (1989) Monte Albán’s Hinterland, Part II: Prehispanic settlement patterns in Tlacolula, Etla, and Ocotlan, The Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico, Volume II. Memoirs of the Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Number 23. Ann Arbor. |
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"There was little armor during the Early Classic, with the primary Teotihuacan innovation being the use of protective helmets of quilted cotton."
[1]
[1]: (Hassig 1992: 48) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/E9VHCKDG. |
||||||
Metalworking was not widely used in Mesoamerica, with metal products consisting mainly of small beads and ornaments.
[1]
[2]
[1]: Coe, M. D., Koontz, R. (2013) Mexico: From the Olmecs to the Aztecs (7th ed.) Thames and Hudson, London, p157 [2]: Kowalewski, S. A., Feinman, G. M., Finten, L., Blanton, R. E., Nicholas, L. M. (1989) Monte Albán’s Hinterland, Part II: Prehispanic settlement patterns in Tlacolula, Etla, and Ocotlan, The Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico, Volume II. Memoirs of the Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Number 23. Ann Arbor. |
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This technology is not known to have been developed anywhere in the Americas before European colonization.
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This technology is not known to have been developed anywhere in the Americas before European colonization.
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This technology is not known to have been developed anywhere in the Americas before European colonization.
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Not mentioned by sources
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||||||
Metalworking was not widely used in Mesoamerica, with metal products consisting mainly of small beads and ornaments.
[1]
[2]
[1]: Coe, M. D., Koontz, R. (2013) Mexico: From the Olmecs to the Aztecs (7th ed.) Thames and Hudson, London, p157 [2]: Kowalewski, S. A., Feinman, G. M., Finten, L., Blanton, R. E., Nicholas, L. M. (1989) Monte Albán’s Hinterland, Part II: Prehispanic settlement patterns in Tlacolula, Etla, and Ocotlan, The Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico, Volume II. Memoirs of the Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Number 23. Ann Arbor. |
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Not mentioned by sources
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Not mentioned by sources.
|
||||||
Metalworking was not widely used in Mesoamerica, with metal products consisting mainly of small beads and ornaments.
[1]
[2]
[1]: Coe, M. D., Koontz, R. (2013) Mexico: From the Olmecs to the Aztecs (7th ed.) Thames and Hudson, London, p157 [2]: Kowalewski, S. A., Feinman, G. M., Finten, L., Blanton, R. E., Nicholas, L. M. (1989) Monte Albán’s Hinterland, Part II: Prehispanic settlement patterns in Tlacolula, Etla, and Ocotlan, The Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico, Volume II. Memoirs of the Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Number 23. Ann Arbor. |
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No discussion in literature of this. In this case it is evidence of absence since this is in line with logical expectations for this late-complexity society.
|
||||||
The ethnographic record contains descriptions of caps and ornamentation rather than physical armor in the conventional sense of the term
|
||||||
Only references to Iroquois armour describe wooden armour, and it is clear that by this period they had stopped wearing armour altogether, because ineffective against firearms. "[T]he introduction of firearms and metal tipped weapons into native warfare forced the Iroquois to reconsider the way they approached combat. They discarded their wooden body armor and shields, which were only marginally effective against metal weapons and afforded no protection whatsoever against French guns. Moreover, continued use of wooden armor became impractical as Iroquois warriors learned to adapt their fighting style to the new weaponry. Shortly after the stunning debut of French firearms in the 1609 revolt of the Mohawks, Champlain recorded that the Iroquois had already learned to ’throw themselves on the ground when they hear the report’ of guns being fired. Wooden armor was too cumbersome for use in evolving Iroquois tactics, which also included hiding behind trees for protection until after the guns had fired. Armor and shields remained present in Iroquois society as teaching and protectice tools in the education of young warriors, but they no longer found a place in Iroquois wars."
[1]
[1]: (Barr 2006, 28) Barr, Daniel P. 2006. Unconquered: The Iroquois League at War in Colonial America. Westport, Conn.: Praeger. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/collectionKey/943RGM7A/itemKey/KA4QX6HF |
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Knights: "The princes of Black Africa who could afford to outfitted themselves in complete or partial armor like that of the knights of the Western Middle Ages."
[1]
"coat of mail and iron breastplate, helmet, boots, javelin ... all of it."
[2]
However, due to climate complete knightly armour not as common as in Europe and in fact Songhai Askia Bano died of suffocation.
[2]
[1]: (Diop 1987, 116) Diop, Cheikh Anta. Salemson, Harold trans. 1987. Precolonial Black Africa. Lawrence Hill Books. Chicago. [2]: (Diop 1987, 117) Diop, Cheikh Anta. Salemson, Harold trans. 1987. Precolonial Black Africa. Lawrence Hill Books. Chicago. |
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"The Illinois made tools and utensils out of many different materials obtained from nature, including wood, bone, antler, shell, and stone."
[1]
[1]: Illinois State Museum, The Illinois, Technology: Tools and Utensils (2000), http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/post/htmls/te_tools.html |
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Knights: "The princes of Black Africa who could afford to outfitted themselves in complete or partial armor like that of the knights of the Western Middle Ages."
[1]
"coat of mail and iron breastplate, helmet, boots, javelin ... all of it."
[2]
However, due to climate complete knightly armour not as common as in Europe and in fact Songhai Askia Bano died of suffocation.
[2]
[1]: (Diop 1987, 116) Diop, Cheikh Anta. Salemson, Harold trans. 1987. Precolonial Black Africa. Lawrence Hill Books. Chicago. [2]: (Diop 1987, 117) Diop, Cheikh Anta. Salemson, Harold trans. 1987. Precolonial Black Africa. Lawrence Hill Books. Chicago. |
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No evidence for weapons or armor, apart from arrowheads, spearheads, daggers and axes, have been found at Pirak. This may in part be due to preservation conditions at the site.
[1]
However, Harappan weapons are "characterised by the absence of shields, helmets and armour".
[2]
[1]: Jarrige, J-F. (1979) Fouilles de Pirak. Paris : Diffusion de Boccard. [2]: Sharma, R. S., ‘Material Background of Vedic Warfare’, Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient, 9 (1966):305. |
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Technology not yet available
|
||||||
Before the time of ’definite’ knowledge "The earliest armor used in Japan, as elsewhere, was padded or made of scales or rings sewn on cloth. By the 10th century, the earliest time of which we have definite knowledge, it had assumed a characteristic form which it retained until armor was abandoned in the middle of the 19th century."
[1]
[1]: (Stone 1999, 60-61) George Cameron Stone. 1999. Glossary of the Construction, Decoration and Use of Arms and Armor in All Countries and in All Times. Dover Publications, Inc. Mineola. |
||||||
Technology not yet available
|
||||||
Technology not yet available
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Technology not yet available
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Technology not yet available
|
||||||
In the New Kingdom mail coats were made out of bronze developed for charioteers. Evidence from a scene from the tomb of Kenamun. Colour of painting suggests bronze used for scales.
[1]
"the Egyptians had been using bronze armor since the Eighteenth dynasty, "but it consisted of nothing more elaborate than metal scales sewn onto a leather base."
[2]
[1]: (Hoffmeier 2001) [2]: (Fischer-Bovet 2014, 135-138) Fischer-Bovet (2014) Army and Society in Ptolemaic Egypt. Cambridge University Press |
||||||
"Mounted warfare in Chinese armies began in the sixth century BCE, while the increasing projectile power of composite bows and especially the crossbow from the fifth century BCE led to the rise of heavy armour."
[1]
[1]: (Günergun and Raina 2010, 65) Günergun, Feza. Raina, Dhruv. 2010. Science between Europe and Asia: Historical Studies on the Transmission, Adoption and Adaptation of Knowledge. Springer Science & Business Media |
||||||
Before the time of ’definite’ knowledge "The earliest armor used in Japan, as elsewhere, was padded or made of scales or rings sewn on cloth. By the 10th century, the earliest time of which we have definite knowledge, it had assumed a characteristic form which it retained until armor was abandoned in the middle of the 19th century."
[1]
[1]: (Stone 1999, 60-61) George Cameron Stone. 1999. Glossary of the Construction, Decoration and Use of Arms and Armor in All Countries and in All Times. Dover Publications, Inc. Mineola. |
||||||
Iron chain mail was introduced in the third century BCE, probably by the Celtic peoples.
[1]
The French Chronocarto database mentions "Chaîne de suspension" for the later Hallstatt periods. Either way, the technology was not present at this time.
[1]: (Gabriel 2002, 21) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. |
||||||
Widespread use of armor seems to have developed alongside rise of large infantry forces only in Warring States period, 5th c. BCE.
[1]
[2]
[1]: (Dien 1981) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/F82EE9ZF. [2]: (Tin-bor Hui 2005) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/CSPZPNV5?. |
||||||
"Mounted warfare in Chinese armies began in the sixth century BCE, while the increasing projectile power of composite bows and especially the crossbow from the fifth century BCE led to the rise of heavy armour."
[1]
In the Western Zhou period protective armour equipment existed in addition to helmets and shields.
[2]
[1]: (Günergun and Raina 2010, 65) Günergun, Feza. Raina, Dhruv. 2010. Science between Europe and Asia: Historical Studies on the Transmission, Adoption and Adaptation of Knowledge. Springer Science & Business Media [2]: (Hong 1992, 89) Hong, Yang. 1992. Weapons in Ancient China. Science Press. |
||||||
No discussion in literature of this. In this case it is evidence of absence since this is in line with logical expectations for this late-complexity society.
|
||||||
The ethnographic record contains descriptions of caps and ornamentation rather than physical armor in the conventional sense of the term
|
||||||
"The early Islamic sources treat the coast of mail as a standard piece of military equipment." Code inferred from Abbasid Caliphate
[1]
which occupied Yemen between 751-868 CE.
[1]: Hugh N Kennedy. 2001. The Armies of the Caliphs: Military and Society in the Early Islamic State. Routledge. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/SGPPFNAZ/q/kennedy |
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-
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-
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||||||
The lorica hamata was probably in use in the Hasmonean armies; it was almost certainly used by their successor Herod. "By the 2nd century BC the lorica hamata was widespread in the neighboring Seleucid and Ptolemaic armies, which were inspired by the armor worn by the Roman Republican armies."
[1]
[1]: Rocca (2009:21). |
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-
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-
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-
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’Kieko’ armour, developed from ’tanko’ iron-plates armour from about the 8th century CE, was used by mounted armours. This lead to ’o-yoroi’ armour "made of hundreds of small iron plates arranged like articulated blinds and was remarkably flexible. Japanese infantry wore ’haramaki’ armor ("body wrap") and later ’tatami’ mail and plate armour that was sewn into a fabric base.
[1]
"The earliest armor used in Japan, as elsewhere, was padded or made of scales or rings sewn on cloth. The armor found in the grove mounds of prior to 400 B.C. is made by riveting together small pieces of iron to make helmets and cuirasses. Some of the latter give quite the effect of plate armor but are built up of small pieces. By the 10th century, the earliest time of which we have definite knowledge, it had assumed a characteristic form which it retained until armor was abandoned in the middle of the 19th century. A Japanese suit, fig. 78, consists of a helmet, kabuto, usually made of a large number of narrow plates riveted together with raised edges at the joints. It has a small peak, maizashi, in front and a wide neck guard, shikoro, made of strips of steel or of scales of leather or steel laced together with heavy silk or leather cords. One or more of these pieces is turned back in front to form ear guards, fukigayeshi. The front is usually decorated with two horn-like pieces, kuwagata, representing the leaves of a water plant; between them is an ornament, maidate, corresponding to the European crest. The face is covered by a steel mask, menpo, to which a laminated neck guard, yodare-kake, is attached. There are five varieties of menpo - covering the entire face - all of the face below the eyes - the forehead and cheeks only - and two for the cheeks and chin only. Of these, the second is much most used. A gorget, nodowa, was sometimes worn but was not considered as a regular part of the suit. The body was enclosed in a corselet, do, made of plates or strips laced together with silk or leather cords. It either opened at the side, do-maru, or at the back haramaki-do. Attached to it were shoulder pieces, watagami, from which it hung. The taces, kusazuri, made of strips laced together, hung from the do. Under these was worn an apron, hai-date, of brocade covered with mail or mixed plate and mail. The legs below the knee were protected by close fitting greaves, sune-ate, of plate; and the feet were covered with bearskin shoes, tsurumaki, or with mail or plate tabi. The arm guards, kote, were brocade sleeves covered with mixed plate and mail. They usually ended in guantlets which covered only the backs of the hands and thumbs. Mail guantlets were rare but were sometimes used. Large guards, sode, were hung on the shoulders. They were either single plates, two hinged together or made up of strops or rows of scales laced together."
[2]
"The Japanese made more varieties of mail than all the rest of the world put together."
[2]
[1]: (Nolan 2006, 26) Cathal J Nolan. 2006. The Age of Wars of Religion, 1000-1650: An Encyclopedia of Global Warfare and Civilization. Volume 1 A - K. Greenwood Press. Westport. [2]: (Stone 1999, 60-61) George Cameron Stone. 1999. Glossary of the Construction, Decoration and Use of Arms and Armor in All Countries and in All Times. Dover Publications, Inc. Mineola. |
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"The dearth of illustrative material for the greater part of six centuries is largely due to the wanton destruction caused by two savage invasions from the east and only such finds as the stucco figures from Kara-shar [Central Asian warrior, eighth to tenth century] tell us that in all this period there had been little change."
[1]
The Sassanid Persians had mail armour.
[2]
[1]: (Robinson 1967) Robinson, H. Russell. 1967. Oriental Armour. Walker and Co. New York. [2]: (Farrokh 2012, 16) Farrokh, Kaveh. 2012. Sassanian Elite Cavalry AD 224-642. Osprey Publishing. |
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[Chainmail was well known in Viking Age Scandinavia although expensive and rare. Should be at least ‘inferred present’ even before 1200.]
|
||||||
Coded present for the Seleucids.
|
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-
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-
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||||||
Sent mailcoats as part of their tribute to the Seljuks.
[1]
"Ghur had long been renowned for its metal deposits and its manufacture of weapons and coats of mail".
[2]
Ghaznavid and Ghurid armies: coats of mail.
[3]
[1]: (Bosworth 2012) Bosworth, Edmund C. 2012. GHURIDS. Encyclopaedia Iranica. http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ghurids [2]: (Jackson 2003, 15-16) Peter Jackson. 2003. The Delhi Sultanate: A Political and Military History. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. [3]: (Wink 1997, 89-90) Andre Wink. 1997. Al-Hind the Making of the Indo-Islamic World. Volume II: The Slave Kings and the Islamic Conquest 11th-13th Centuries. BRILL. Leiden. |
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Coin depicts Vasudeva wearing chainmail.
[1]
Saka warriors who destroyed the Greco-Bactrian city of Ai Khanoum in 145 BCE (and may have used similar military technology to the Kushan nomads) left illustrations in Sogdia (Orlat) depicting chainmail, domed helmets, high-collared metal-plated corselets.
[2]
"Their horses also wear coats of scale or chain armour."
[3]
[1]: (Higham 2009, 82) Higham, C. 2009. Encyclopedia of Ancient Asian Civilizations. Infobase Publishing. [2]: (McLaughlin 2016, 76) Raoul McLaughlin. 2016. The Roman Empire and the Silk Routes: The Ancient World Economy and the Empires of Parthia, Central Asia and Han China. Pen and Sword History. Barnsley. [3]: (McLaughlin 2016, 77) Raoul McLaughlin. 2016. The Roman Empire and the Silk Routes: The Ancient World Economy and the Empires of Parthia, Central Asia and Han China. Pen and Sword History. Barnsley. |
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"Fragments of an iron coat of mail have been discovered in a first-second-century AD grave at Janussan on Bahrain and shields are illustrated on a bronze bowl of the third/second century BC from Mleiha in the Emirates. These meagre remains can be abundantly supplemented by the numerous references in pre-Islamic poetry. The full complement is given as follows: ’We wore helmets and Yemeni leather shields ... and glittering coats of mail having visible folds above the belt (Mu.:’Amr)."
[1]
[1]: (Hoyland 2001, 189) Robert G Hoyland. 2001. Arabia and the Arabs: From the Bronze Age to the Coming of Islam. Routledge. London. |
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"During the seventh and sixth centuries B.C. several nomadic states of northern Iranian tribes came into being in Central Asia. In the west some Saka tribal confederations are mentioned in ancient Greek literature and Old Persian inscriptions, while in the east the Hsien-yün, and later the Yüeh-chih and the Hsiung-nu, tribal confederations are attested by the Chinese sources. ... Lively contacts and easy communications promoted the rise and spread of a fairly uniform nomadic culture in the steppe zone. The same types of horse-harness (bridle, bit, cheek-piece, saddle, trappings), arms (bow, bow-case, arrow and quiver, sword, battle-axe, mail) and garments (trousers, caftan, waist-girdle, boots, pointed cap) were used in the steppe zone from Central Europe to Korea."
[1]
[1]: (Harmatta 1994, 476-477) Harmatta, J. Conclusion. in Harmatta, Janos. Puri, B. N. Etemadi, G. F. eds. 1994. History of Civilizations of Central Asia. Volume II. The development of sedentary and nomadic civilizatins 700 B.C. to A.D. 250. UNESCO Publishing. |
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"By the years around AD 300 ... the appearance of heavy armor for both man and horse"
[1]
"A pictoral representation dated to 357 shows us a fully armored warrior. "The body of the rider is almost completely covered by armor. He wears ... a habergeon with high neck and shoulder guards..."
[2]
[1]: (Graff 2002, 41) [2]: (Graff 2002, 42) |
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Medieval armour was much like that worn by Germanic warriors in 100 CE still consisting of a shield, helmet and coat (usually mail).
[1]
[1]: (Boulton 1995 67-68) Jonathan D Boulton. Armor And Weapons. William W Kibler. Grover A Zinn. Lawrence Earp. John Bell Henneman Jr. 1995. Routledge Revivals: Medieval France (1995): An Encyclopedia. Routledge. Abingdon. |
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Medieval armour was much like that worn by Germanic warriors in 100 CE still consisting of a shield, helmet and coat (usually mail).
[1]
Miles of the 12th century wore a mail haubeck.
[2]
[1]: (Boulton 1995 67-68) Jonathan D Boulton. Armor And Weapons. William W Kibler. Grover A Zinn. Lawrence Earp. John Bell Henneman Jr. 1995. Routledge Revivals: Medieval France (1995): An Encyclopedia. Routledge. Abingdon. [2]: (Nicolle 1991, 6) |
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The few who could afford it used body armour.
[1]
The military retinue of kings and magnates (including clergy) "had the most complete equipment and were virtually professional warriors."
[2]
Wealthy expected to use mail armour.
[3]
David Baker says present.
[4]
[1]: (Hooper and Bennett 1996, 12) Nicholas Hooper. Matthew Bennett. 1996. The Cambridge Illustrated Atlas of Warfare: The Middle Ages, 768-1487. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. [2]: (Hooper and Bennett 1996, 14) Nicholas Hooper. Matthew Bennett. 1996. The Cambridge Illustrated Atlas of Warfare: The Middle Ages, 768-1487. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. [3]: (Butt 2002, 40) John J Butt. 2002. Daily Life in the Age of Charlemagne. Greenwood Publishing Group. Westport. [4]: David Baker. Personal communication to Seshat Databank. |
||||||
The few who could afford it used body armour.
[1]
The military retinue of kings and magnates (including clergy) "had the most complete equipment and were virtually professional warriors."
[2]
Wealthy expected to use mail armour.
[3]
David Baker says present.
[4]
[1]: (Hooper and Bennett 1996, 12) Nicholas Hooper. Matthew Bennett. 1996. The Cambridge Illustrated Atlas of Warfare: The Middle Ages, 768-1487. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. [2]: (Hooper and Bennett 1996, 14) Nicholas Hooper. Matthew Bennett. 1996. The Cambridge Illustrated Atlas of Warfare: The Middle Ages, 768-1487. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. [3]: (Butt 2002, 40) John J Butt. 2002. Daily Life in the Age of Charlemagne. Greenwood Publishing Group. Westport. [4]: David Baker. Personal communication to Seshat Databank. |
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Mail haubeck.
[1]
Hundred Years’ War (1337-1453 CE) reference: typical French knight wore "plate armor for shoulders and limbs topped by a bascinet, a metal helmet with projecting hinged visors and air holes. Instead of the surcoat, they wore a shorter leather jupon, and their warhorses were also armored, with plate covering their heads and mail or leather their flanks."
[2]
[1]: (Nicolle 2000) David Nicolle. 2000. French Armies Of The Hundred Years War. Osprey Publishing. Oxford. [2]: (Wagner 2006, 27-29) John A Wagner. 2006. Encyclopedia of the Hundred Years War. Greenwood Press. Westport. |
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Mail gorgets, mail skirts.
[1]
Hundred Years’ War (1337-1453 CE) reference: typical French knight wore "plate armor for shoulders and limbs topped by a bascinet, a metal helmet with projecting hinged visors and air holes. Instead of the surcoat, they wore a shorter leather jupon, and their warhorses were also armored, with plate covering their heads and mail or leather their flanks."
[2]
[1]: (Potter 2008, 103) [2]: (Wagner 2006, 27-29) John A Wagner. 2006. Encyclopedia of the Hundred Years War. Greenwood Press. Westport. |
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The Borobudur reliefs depict armour but do not specify which kinds.
[1]
Old Mataram was a ’highly Indianized culture’ until it was replaced by an East Javanese one "that increasingly promoted various elements of the island’s older indigenous traditions."
[2]
Indian military terms surviving in Javanese include ’armour, shield, helmet’.
[3]
[1]: (Draeger 1972, 23) D F Draeger. 1972. Weapons and Fighting Arts of Indonesia. Tuttle Publishing. [2]: (Unesco 2005, 233) Unesco. 2005. The Restoration of Borobudur. Unesco. [3]: (Kumara 2007, 161) Sasiprabha Kumara. 2007. Sanskrit Across Cultures. Special Centre for Sanskrit Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University. New Delhi. |
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Based on the fact that the Borobudur reliefs depict armour but do not specify which kinds - these were the types used later.
[1]
Old Mataram was a ’highly Indianized culture’ until it was replaced by an East Javanese one "that increasingly promoted various elements of the island’s older indigenous traditions."
[2]
Indian military terms surviving in Javanese include ’armour, shield, helmet’.
[3]
[1]: (Draeger 1972, 23) [2]: (Unesco 2005, 233) Unesco. 2005. The Restoration of Borobudur. Unesco. [3]: (Kumara 2007, 161) Sasiprabha Kumara. 2007. Sanskrit Across Cultures. Special Centre for Sanskrit Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University. New Delhi. |
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In Ancient India soldiers of the Gupta Empire who could afford to do so and were willing to bear the heat (or for night operations?) wore chain mail.
[1]
"Several Chalukyan epigraphs refer to kavacha or armour. A good number of sculptures at Badami, Aihole and Pattadakal show not only armoured soldiers but also caparisoned horses. Metal armours served as shields against attack by enemies, protecting both men and animal forces."
[2]
Kautilya’s Arthasastra, written after 200 BCE, mentions a coat of mail.
[3]
[1]: (Rowell 2015 89) Rebecca Rowell. 2015. Ancient India. Abdo Publishing. Minneapolis. [2]: (Dikshit 1980, 266) Durga Prasad Dikshit. 1980. Political History of the Chalukyas of Badami. Abhinav Publications. New Delhi. [3]: (Olivelle 2016, 142-143) Patrick Olivelle trans. 2016. King, Governance, and Law in Ancient India: Kautilya’s Arthasastra. Oxford University Press. Oxford. |
||||||
According to Ibn Battuta in 1333 Delhi forces employed heavy-armoured cavalry.
[1]
Elephant armour (bargustawan-i-pil) included chain mail.
[2]
According to Hasan Nizami’s Taj-ul-Maathir (13th CE) chain armor was used in battles against the Hindu Rajputs.
[3]
[1]: (Jackson 2003, 17) Peter Jackson. 2003. The Delhi Sultanate: A Political and Military History. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. [2]: (Bloom and Blair eds. 2009, 137) Johnathan M Bloom. Sheila S Blair. eds. 2009. Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art & Architecture: Three-Volume Set. Volume I. Abarquh To Dawlat Qatar. Oxford University Press. Oxford. [3]: (? 2013, 162) ?. Sirhindi, Abdullah.. Daniel Coetzee. Lee W Eysturlid. eds. 2013. Philosophers of War: The Evolution of History’s Greatest Military Thinkers. The Ancient to Pre-Modern World, 3000 BCE - 1815 CE. Praeger. Santa Barbara. |
||||||
Gupta period soldiers who could afford to do so and were willing to bear the heat (or for night operations?) wore chain mail.
[1]
"The period between the post-Gupta era and the Islamic invasions is generally regarded as a sort of ’quasi Dark Age’ in India ... military historian U. P. Thapliyal asserts that after AD 500, there were no innovations in the theory and practice of warfare."
[2]
Kaushik Roy disagrees with this evaluation I presume with respect to the idea of a lack of new innovation rather than there being a complete shift to new weaponry and armour.
[1]: (Rowell 2015 89) Rebecca Rowell. 2015. Ancient India. Abdo Publishing. Minneapolis. [2]: (Roy 2013, 27) Kaushik Roy. 2013 Military Manpower, Armies and Warfare in South Asia. Routledge. London. |
||||||
"The Guptas imitated the dress, equipment and the techniques of warfare as practised by the Central Asian nomads."
[1]
Chainmail referenced here: "Lively contacts and easy communications promoted the rise and spread of a fairly uniform nomadic culture in the steppe zone. The same types of horse-harness (bridle, bit, cheek-piece, saddle, trappings), arms (bow, bow-case, arrow and quiver, sword, battle-axe, mail) and garments (trousers, caftan, waist-girdle, boots, pointed cap) were used in the steppe zone from Central Europe to Korea."
[2]
[1]: (Roy 2016, 22) Kaushik Roy. 2016. Military Manpower, Armies and Warfare in South Asia. Routledge. Abingdon. [2]: (Harmatta 1994, 476-477) Harmatta, J. Conclusion. in Harmatta, Janos. Puri, B. N. Etemadi, G. F. eds. 1994. History of Civilizations of Central Asia. Volume II. The development of sedentary and nomadic civilizations 700 B.C. to A.D. 250. UNESCO Publishing. |
||||||
Gupta period soldiers who could afford to do so and were willing to bear the heat (or for night operations?) wore chain mail.
[1]
Does this data apply to this period? "military historian U. P. Thapliyal asserts that after AD 500, there were no innovations in the theory and practice of warfare."
[2]
Kaushik Roy disagreed but I don’t think he meant they stopped using previous innovations like chain mail.
[1]: (Rowell 2015 89) Rebecca Rowell. 2015. Ancient India. Abdo Publishing. Minneapolis. [2]: (Roy 2013, 27) Kaushik Roy. 2013 Military Manpower, Armies and Warfare in South Asia. Routledge. London. |
||||||
Gupta period soldiers who could afford to do so and were willing to bear the heat (or for night operations?) wore chain mail.
[1]
Kautilya’s Arthasastra, written after 200 BCE, mentions s metal coat of mail.
[2]
[1]: (Rowell 2015 89) Rebecca Rowell. 2015. Ancient India. Abdo Publishing. Minneapolis. [2]: (Olivelle 2016, 142-143) Patrick Olivelle trans. 2016. King, Governance, and Law in Ancient India: Kautilya’s Arthasastra. Oxford University Press. Oxford. |
||||||
Gupta period soldiers who could afford to do so and were willing to bear the heat (or for night operations?) wore chain mail.
[1]
Does this data apply to this period? "military historian U. P. Thapliyal asserts that after AD 500, there were no innovations in the theory and practice of warfare."
[2]
Kaushik Roy disagreed but I don’t think he meant they stopped using previous innovations like chain mail.
[1]: (Rowell 2015 89) Rebecca Rowell. 2015. Ancient India. Abdo Publishing. Minneapolis. [2]: (Roy 2013, 27) Kaushik Roy. 2013 Military Manpower, Armies and Warfare in South Asia. Routledge. London. |
||||||
Worn by soldiers and animals.
[1]
Coat of mail worn by warrior on elephant.
[2]
Kautilya’s Arthashastra mentions mail armour for horses (Book X, Relating to War).
[1]: Singh, Sarva Daman. Ancient Indian Warfare: With Special Reference to the Vedic Period. Motilal Banarsidass Publ., 1989, p.116. [2]: (Bradford and Bradford 2001, 128) Bradford, Alfred S. Bradford, Pamela, M. 2001. With Arrow, Sword, and Spear: A History of Warfare in the Ancient World. Greenwood Publishing Group. |
||||||
Gupta period soldiers who could afford to do so and were willing to bear the heat (or for night operations?) wore chain mail.
[1]
Kautilya’s Arthasastra, written after 200 BCE, mentions s metal coat of mail.
[2]
[1]: (Rowell 2015 89) Rebecca Rowell. 2015. Ancient India. Abdo Publishing. Minneapolis. [2]: (Olivelle 2016, 142-143) Patrick Olivelle trans. 2016. King, Governance, and Law in Ancient India: Kautilya’s Arthasastra. Oxford University Press. Oxford. |
||||||
In Ancient India soldiers of the Gupta Empire who could afford to do so and were willing to bear the heat (or for night operations?) wore chain mail.
[1]
Ancient Indians used iron for armour cuirasses and breastplates but copper was also used.
[2]
Likely referring to time following the Macedonian invasion. Kautilya’s Arthasastra, written after 200 BCE, mentions a coat of mail.
[3]
[1]: (Rowell 2015 89) Rebecca Rowell. 2015. Ancient India. Abdo Publishing. Minneapolis. [2]: (Singh 1997) Sarva Daman Singh. 1997. Ancient Indian Warfare: With Special Reference to the Vedic Period. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. Delhi. [3]: (Olivelle 2016, 142-143) Patrick Olivelle trans. 2016. King, Governance, and Law in Ancient India: Kautilya’s Arthasastra. Oxford University Press. Oxford. |
||||||
Vakataka "soldiers were provided with armours and helmets."
[1]
Gupta period soldiers who could afford to do so and were willing to bear the heat (or for night operations?) wore chain mail.
[2]
Kautilya’s Arthasastra, written after 200 BCE, mentions a coat of mail.
[3]
[1]: (Majumdar and Altekar 1986, 277) Anant Sadashiv Altekar. The Administrative Organisation. Ramesh Chandra Majumdar. Anant Sadashiv Altekar. 1986. Vakataka - Gupta Age Circa 200-550 A.D. Motilal Banarsidass. Delhi. [2]: (Rowell 2015 89) Rebecca Rowell. 2015. Ancient India. Abdo Publishing. Minneapolis. [3]: (Olivelle 2016, 142-143) Patrick Olivelle trans. 2016. King, Governance, and Law in Ancient India: Kautilya’s Arthasastra. Oxford University Press. Oxford. |
||||||
"In the seventh century the Arab Caliphate overran the Sāssānian Empire and, as far as we can tell, no great changes took place in the Persian equipment then or for a long time afterwards."
[1]
"The early Islamic sources treat the coast of mail as a standard piece of military equipment."
[2]
[1]: (Robinson 1967) Robinson, H. Russell. 1967. Oriental Armour. Walker and Co. New York. [2]: (Kennedy 2001, 168) Kennedy, H. 2001. The Armies of the Caliphs. Routledge. London. |
||||||
"Dean’s collection later came to include several mail shirts with Persian- or Arabic-inscribed rings".
[1]
[1]: (Phyrr 2015, 10) Stuart W Phyrr. 2015. American Collectors and the Formation of the Metropolitan Museum’s Collection of Islamic Arms and Armor. David G Alexander. ed. Islamic Arms and Armor in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Metropolitan Museum of Art. Yale University Press. New Haven. |
||||||
"The Ak Koyunlu were the natural enemies of the Ottomans who, however, unwittingly aided the preservation of samples of their armour and weaponry by capturing the entire Ak Koyunlu baggage train at the battle of Otluk Beli in 1473. This equipment was shifted to the armoury of St. Irene in Istanbul."
[1]
"This mail and plate armour is characteristic of the Ak Koyunlu Turkoman".
[2]
[1]: 1991. Islamic and Indian Art, Oriental Manuscripts and Miniatures. Sotheby’s. page 56. [2]: (Jones ed. 2012, 92-93) Gareth Jones. ed. The Military History Book: The Ultimate Visual Guide to the Weapons that Shaped the World. Dorling Kindersley Limited. London. |
||||||
"In the seventh century the Arab Caliphate overran the Sāssānian Empire and, as far as we can tell, no great changes took place in the Persian equipment then or for a long time afterwards."
[1]
The Sassanids
[2]
used chainmail and so did the Abbasids. "The early Islamic sources treat the coast of mail as a standard piece of military equipment."
[3]
[1]: (Robinson 1967) Robinson, H. Russell. 1967. Oriental Armour. Walker and Co. New York. [2]: (Farrokh 2012, 16) Farrokh, Kaveh. 2012. Sassanian Elite Cavalry AD 224-642. Osprey Publishing. [3]: (Kennedy 2001, 168) Kennedy, H. 2001. The Armies of the Caliphs. Routledge. London. |
||||||
Chain mail was possibly worn by some soldiers in this region by the time of the Seleucid Greek army, based on a description by I Macc. who wrote that the Seleucid phalanx at Beith-Zacharia were ’equipped with coats of mail’.
[1]
[1]: Bar-Kochva, B. 1976. The Seleucid Army: Organization and Tactics in the Great Campaigns. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.p55 |
||||||
Cavalry wore chainmail.
[1]
"The standard turn-out would have included ... a corselet of lamellar, mail or scale for the torso."
[2]
[1]: Josef Wiesehöfer, ‘Parthia, Parthian Empire’, in Simon Hornblower and Antony Spawforth (eds), The Oxford Companion to Classical Civilization (Oxford: OUP, 1998). [2]: (Penrose 2008, 223) Penrose, Jane. 2008. Rome and Her Enemies: An Empire Created and Destroyed by War. Osprey Publishing. |
||||||
Cavalry wore chainmail.
[1]
"The standard turn-out would have included ... a corselet of lamellar, mail or scale for the torso."
[2]
[1]: Josef Wiesehöfer, ‘Parthia, Parthian Empire’, in Simon Hornblower and Antony Spawforth (eds), The Oxford Companion to Classical Civilization (Oxford: OUP, 1998). [2]: (Penrose 2008, 223) Penrose, Jane. 2008. Rome and Her Enemies: An Empire Created and Destroyed by War. Osprey Publishing. |
||||||
Shah Ismail’s Qizilbash soldiers described as wearing chainmail.
[1]
Zereh mail armour.
[2]
[1]: Farrokh, Kaveh. Iran at War, 1500-1988. Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2011., chapter three. [2]: (Khorasani 2014) Moshtagh Khorasani, Manouchehr. 2014. Reproduction of an Early Safavid Armor. https://www.academia.edu/8815598/Moshtagh_Khorasani_Manouchehr_2014_._Reproduction_of_an_Early_Safavid_Armor |
||||||
Mail armour.
[1]
Chainmail: "by the time of the Muslim conquestions it was probably the main form of body armour for both Byzantine and Sassanian soldiers."
[2]
Mail and lamellar armour.
[3]
Chainmail: "by the time of the Muslim conquestions it was probably the main form of body armour for both Byzantine and Sassanian soldiers."
[2]
Mail and lamellar armour.
[3]
at the muster parades of Khusrau I (second Sassanid period) cavalry units required to have "mail, breastplate, helmet, leg guards, arm guards, horse armour, lance, buckler, sword, mace, battle axe, quiver of thirty arrows, bow case with two bows, and two spare bow strings."
[4]
[1]: (Farrokh 2005, 16) Farrokh, Kaveh. 2012. Sassanian Elite Cavalry AD 224-642. Osprey Publishing. [2]: (Kennedy 2001, 168) Kennedy, H. 2001. The Armies of the Caliphs. Routledge. London. [3]: (Robinson 1967) Robinson, H. Russell. 1967. Oriental Armour. Walker and Co. New York. [4]: (Chegini 1996, 58) Chegini, N. N. Political History, Economy and Society. in Litvinsky, B. A. ed. and Iskender-Mochiri, I. ed. 1996. History of Civilizations of Central Asia. Volume III. The crossroads of civilizations: A.D. 250 to 750. pp.40-58. unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0010/001046/104612e.pdf |
||||||
Mail armour.
[1]
Chainmail: "by the time of the Muslim conquestions it was probably the main form of body armour for both Byzantine and Sassanian soldiers."
[2]
Mail and lamellar armour.
[3]
at the muster parades of Khusrau I (second Sassanid period) cavalry units required to have "mail, breastplate, helmet, leg guards, arm guards, horse armour, lance, buckler, sword, mace, battle axe, quiver of thirty arrows, bow case with two bows, and two spare bow strings."
[4]
[1]: (Farrokh 2005, 16) Farrokh, Kaveh. 2012. Sassanian Elite Cavalry AD 224-642. Osprey Publishing. [2]: (Kennedy 2001, 168) Kennedy, H. 2001. The Armies of the Caliphs. Routledge. London. [3]: (Robinson 1967) Robinson, H. Russell. 1967. Oriental Armour. Walker and Co. New York. [4]: (Chegini 1996, 58) Chegini, N. N. Political History, Economy and Society. in Litvinsky, B. A. ed. and Iskender-Mochiri, I. ed. 1996. History of Civilizations of Central Asia. Volume III. The crossroads of civilizations: A.D. 250 to 750. pp.40-58. unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0010/001046/104612e.pdf |
||||||
Chainmail was possibly worn by some soldiers in the army, based on a description by I Macc. who wrote that the Seleucid phalanx at Beith-Zacharia were ’equipped with coats of mail’.
[1]
According to one historian (experted needed to check data applicable to this polity) says iron chain mail not introduced until the third century BCE, probably by Celtic peoples
[2]
which is around about this time.
[1]: Bar-Kochva, B. 1976. The Seleucid Army: Organization and Tactics in the Great Campaigns. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.p55 [2]: (Gabriel 2002, 21) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. |
||||||
[Chainmail was well known in Viking Age Scandinavia although expensive and rare. Should be at least ‘inferred present’ even before 1200.]
|
||||||
[Chainmail was well known in Viking Age Scandinavia although expensive and rare. Should be at least ‘inferred present’ even before 1200.]
|
||||||
On the basis of armour worn by French soldiers of the 12th-13th centuries we would expect helmet and shield, leather and quilted armour as well as metal breastplate, limb protection and chainmail.
[1]
[2]
[1]: Boulton in Kilber, W W. 1995. Medieval France: An Encyclopedia. Psychology Press. [2]: Nicolle, D and McBride, A. 1991. French Medieval Armies 1000-1300. Osprey Publishing Ltd. London. |
||||||
General reference for this time period in Europe: during the 12th century CE the mail hauberk began to cover the wrists and hands.
[1]
General reference for this time period in Europe: armour for horses very common from the late 12 century - early 14th century CE, mail most often used sometimes with plate armour.
[2]
[1]: (Rogers 2007, 31) Clifford J Rogers. 2007. Soldiers’ Lives Through History: The Middle Ages. Greenwood Press. Westport. [2]: (Rogers 2007, 34) Clifford J Rogers. 2007. Soldiers’ Lives Through History: The Middle Ages. Greenwood Press. Westport. |
||||||
"Polybius reports all soldiers wore a bronze pectoral body armour, though lorica hamata (chain mail shirt) was preferred by those soldiers who could afford it."
[1]
"Polybius (6.22-23; 25) describes how the legion in this period was divided into four types of infantry. There were three different groups of heavy infantry: 1,200 hastati (’spearmen’), 1,200 principes (’leading men’) and 600 triarii (’third line men’). They were equipped in broadly similar fashion, with bronze helmets and greaves and either a simple square bronze chest-guard, or more elaborate body armour such as a mail tunic, according to each individual’s wealth and ability to provide his own protection."
[2]
[1]: (Fields 2007, 19) [2]: (Pollard and Berry 2012, 14-15) |
||||||
General reference for medieval warfare: "The most common form of armor available after the fall of Rome was mail. It had been in use for a very long time and continued in use into the early modern period as it was relatively easy to produce and did not require large masses of iron for its manufacture."
[1]
General reference for medieval warfare: "Scale armor, made from small plates of iron riveted to a backing, was common throughout eastern Europe until the seventeenth century but was rare elsewhere in Europe."
[2]
General reference for medieval warfare: "The increasing use of gunpowder weapons as well as changes in tactics and the increasing sizes of armies led to the demise of armor in the seventeeth century."
[3]
Illustrations show chainmail worn from to early 13th century to early 17th century.
[4]
[1]: (Smith 2010, 67) Robert Douglas Smith. Armor, Body. Clifford J. Rogers. ed. 2010. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Medieval Warfare and Military Technology, Volume 1. Oxford University Press. Oxford. [2]: (Smith 2010, 72) Robert Douglas Smith. Armor, Body. Clifford J. Rogers. ed. 2010. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Medieval Warfare and Military Technology, Volume 1. Oxford University Press. Oxford. [3]: (Smith 2010, 73) Robert Douglas Smith. Armor, Body. Clifford J. Rogers. ed. 2010. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Medieval Warfare and Military Technology, Volume 1. Oxford University Press. Oxford. [4]: (Nicolle 1989, Plates A-H) David Nicolle. 1989. The Venetian Empire 1200-1670. Osprey Publishing. Oxford. |
||||||
As we have seen, Indravarman married the daughter of Jayavarman VIII, forced the abdication of that monarch, disposed of the legitimate claimant and began to reign himself, at the end of 1295 or early in 1296. Chou Ta-kuan speaks of him as a soldier and a vigorous young ruler. The only inscription of his reign which gives much information about him speaks as if he reorganized a disunited country. It contains a panegyric in which he congratulates his subjects on replacing an old king by a young one: "If the land, sustained by an ancient king, experienced ordinarily the inconveniences of a superabundance of enemies, now, guarded by a young king, it does not experience the least inconvenience" (392, st. 12). This new king, covered with mail, ventured on the streets, which the old king had not dared to do. Chou Ta-kuan says that, during the year he spent at Angkor, he saw the king set out from the palace four or five times.’
[1]
[1]: (Briggs 1951, p. 251) |
||||||
General reference for medieval warfare: "The most common form of armor available after the fall of Rome was mail. It had been in use for a very long time and continued in use into the early modern period as it was relatively easy to produce and did not require large masses of iron for its manufacture."
[1]
General reference for medieval warfare: "Scale armor, made from small plates of iron riveted to a backing, was common throughout eastern Europe until the seventeenth century but was rare elsewhere in Europe."
[2]
General reference for medieval warfare: "The increasing use of gunpowder weapons as well as changes in tactics and the increasing sizes of armies led to the demise of armor in the seventeeth century."
[3]
Illustrations show chainmail worn from to early 13th century to early 17th century.
[4]
[1]: (Smith 2010, 67) Robert Douglas Smith. Armor, Body. Clifford J. Rogers. ed. 2010. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Medieval Warfare and Military Technology, Volume 1. Oxford University Press. Oxford. [2]: (Smith 2010, 72) Robert Douglas Smith. Armor, Body. Clifford J. Rogers. ed. 2010. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Medieval Warfare and Military Technology, Volume 1. Oxford University Press. Oxford. [3]: (Smith 2010, 73) Robert Douglas Smith. Armor, Body. Clifford J. Rogers. ed. 2010. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Medieval Warfare and Military Technology, Volume 1. Oxford University Press. Oxford. [4]: (Nicolle 1989, Plates A-H) David Nicolle. 1989. The Venetian Empire 1200-1670. Osprey Publishing. Oxford. |
||||||
"The earliest armor used in Japan, as elsewhere, was padded or made of scales or rings sewn on cloth. The armor found in the grove mounds of prior to 400 B.C. is made by riveting together small pieces of iron to make helmets and cuirasses. Some of the latter give quite the effect of plate armor but are built up of small pieces. By the 10th century, the earliest time of which we have definite knowledge, it had assumed a characteristic form which it retained until armor was abandoned in the middle of the 19th century. A Japanese suit, fig. 78, consists of a helmet, kabuto, usually made of a large number of narrow plates riveted together with raised edges at the joints. It has a small peak, maizashi, in front and a wide neck guard, shikoro, made of strips of steel or of scales of leather or steel laced together with heavy silk or leather cords. One or more of these pieces is turned back in front to form ear guards, fukigayeshi. The front is usually decorated with two horn-like pieces, kuwagata, representing the leaves of a water plant; between them is an ornament, maidate, corresponding to the European crest. The face is covered by a steel mask, menpo, to which a laminated neck guard, yodare-kake, is attached. There are five varieties of menpo - covering the entire face - all of the face below the eyes - the forehead and cheeks only - and two for the cheeks and chin only. Of these, the second is much most used. A gorget, nodowa, was sometimes worn but was not considered as a regular part of the suit. The body was enclosed in a corselet, do, made of plates or strips laced together with silk or leather cords. It either opened at the side, do-maru, or at the back haramaki-do. Attached to it were shoulder pieces, watagami, from which it hung. The taces, kusazuri, made of strips laced together, hung from the do. Under these was worn an apron, hai-date, of brocade covered with mail or mixed plate and mail. The legs below the knee were protected by close fitting greaves, sune-ate, of plate; and the feet were covered with bearskin shoes, tsurumaki, or with mail or plate tabi. The arm guards, kote, were brocade sleeves covered with mixed plate and mail. They usually ended in guantlets which covered only the backs of the hands and thumbs. Mail guantlets were rare but were sometimes used. Large guards, sode, were hung on the shoulders. They were either single plates, two hinged together or made up of strops or rows of scales laced together."
[1]
"The Japanese made more varieties of mail than all the rest of the world put together."
[1]
[1]: (Stone 1999, 60-61) George Cameron Stone. 1999. Glossary of the Construction, Decoration and Use of Arms and Armor in All Countries and in All Times. Dover Publications, Inc. Mineola. |
||||||
"The earliest armor used in Japan, as elsewhere, was padded or made of scales or rings sewn on cloth. The armor found in the grove mounds of prior to 400 B.C. is made by riveting together small pieces of iron to make helmets and cuirasses. Some of the latter give quite the effect of plate armor but are built up of small pieces. By the 10th century, the earliest time of which we have definite knowledge, it had assumed a characteristic form which it retained until armor was abandoned in the middle of the 19th century. A Japanese suit, fig. 78, consists of a helmet, kabuto, usually made of a large number of narrow plates riveted together with raised edges at the joints. It has a small peak, maizashi, in front and a wide neck guard, shikoro, made of strips of steel or of scales of leather or steel laced together with heavy silk or leather cords. One or more of these pieces is turned back in front to form ear guards, fukigayeshi. The front is usually decorated with two horn-like pieces, kuwagata, representing the leaves of a water plant; between them is an ornament, maidate, corresponding to the European crest. The face is covered by a steel mask, menpo, to which a laminated neck guard, yodare-kake, is attached. There are five varieties of menpo - covering the entire face - all of the face below the eyes - the forehead and cheeks only - and two for the cheeks and chin only. Of these, the second is much most used. A gorget, nodowa, was sometimes worn but was not considered as a regular part of the suit. The body was enclosed in a corselet, do, made of plates or strips laced together with silk or leather cords. It either opened at the side, do-maru, or at the back haramaki-do. Attached to it were shoulder pieces, watagami, from which it hung. The taces, kusazuri, made of strips laced together, hung from the do. Under these was worn an apron, hai-date, of brocade covered with mail or mixed plate and mail. The legs below the knee were protected by close fitting greaves, sune-ate, of plate; and the feet were covered with bearskin shoes, tsurumaki, or with mail or plate tabi. The arm guards, kote, were brocade sleeves covered with mixed plate and mail. They usually ended in guantlets which covered only the backs of the hands and thumbs. Mail guantlets were rare but were sometimes used. Large guards, sode, were hung on the shoulders. They were either single plates, two hinged together or made up of strops or rows of scales laced together."
[1]
"The Japanese made more varieties of mail than all the rest of the world put together."
[1]
[1]: (Stone 1999, 60-61) George Cameron Stone. 1999. Glossary of the Construction, Decoration and Use of Arms and Armor in All Countries and in All Times. Dover Publications, Inc. Mineola. |
||||||
As we have seen, Indravarman married the daughter of Jayavarman VIII, forced the abdication of that monarch, disposed of the legitimate claimant and began to reign himself, at the end of 1295 or early in 1296. Chou Ta-kuan speaks of him as a soldier and a vigorous young ruler. The only inscription of his reign which gives much information about him speaks as if he reorganized a disunited country. It contains a panegyric in which he congratulates his subjects on replacing an old king by a young one: "If the land, sustained by an ancient king, experienced ordinarily the inconveniences of a superabundance of enemies, now, guarded by a young king, it does not experience the least inconvenience" (392, st. 12). This new king, covered with mail, ventured on the streets, which the old king had not dared to do. Chou Ta-kuan says that, during the year he spent at Angkor, he saw the king set out from the palace four or five times.’
[1]
[1]: (Briggs 1951, p. 251) |
||||||
Budluk cuisse, cebe hauberk, cevsen lamellar cuirass, cebe cevsen "which was perhaps an early form of mail-and-split cuirass." zirh mail hauberk and zirh kulah mail coif.
[1]
Illustration of "West Anatolian infantryman, first half 14th C." shows chainmail.
[2]
[1]: (Nicolle 1983, 23) [2]: (Nicolle 1983, Plate A) |
||||||
"The earliest armor used in Japan, as elsewhere, was padded or made of scales or rings sewn on cloth. The armor found in the grove mounds of prior to 400 B.C. is made by riveting together small pieces of iron to make helmets and cuirasses. Some of the latter give quite the effect of plate armor but are built up of small pieces. By the 10th century, the earliest time of which we have definite knowledge, it had assumed a characteristic form which it retained until armor was abandoned in the middle of the 19th century. A Japanese suit, fig. 78, consists of a helmet, kabuto, usually made of a large number of narrow plates riveted together with raised edges at the joints. It has a small peak, maizashi, in front and a wide neck guard, shikoro, made of strips of steel or of scales of leather or steel laced together with heavy silk or leather cords. One or more of these pieces is turned back in front to form ear guards, fukigayeshi. The front is usually decorated with two horn-like pieces, kuwagata, representing the leaves of a water plant; between them is an ornament, maidate, corresponding to the European crest. The face is covered by a steel mask, menpo, to which a laminated neck guard, yodare-kake, is attached. There are five varieties of menpo - covering the entire face - all of the face below the eyes - the forehead and cheeks only - and two for the cheeks and chin only. Of these, the second is much most used. A gorget, nodowa, was sometimes worn but was not considered as a regular part of the suit. The body was enclosed in a corselet, do, made of plates or strips laced together with silk or leather cords. It either opened at the side, do-maru, or at the back haramaki-do. Attached to it were shoulder pieces, watagami, from which it hung. The taces, kusazuri, made of strips laced together, hung from the do. Under these was worn an apron, hai-date, of brocade covered with mail or mixed plate and mail. The legs below the knee were protected by close fitting greaves, sune-ate, of plate; and the feet were covered with bearskin shoes, tsurumaki, or with mail or plate tabi. The arm guards, kote, were brocade sleeves covered with mixed plate and mail. They usually ended in guantlets which covered only the backs of the hands and thumbs. Mail guantlets were rare but were sometimes used. Large guards, sode, were hung on the shoulders. They were either single plates, two hinged together or made up of strops or rows of scales laced together."
[1]
"The Japanese made more varieties of mail than all the rest of the world put together."
[1]
[1]: (Stone 1999, 60-61) George Cameron Stone. 1999. Glossary of the Construction, Decoration and Use of Arms and Armor in All Countries and in All Times. Dover Publications, Inc. Mineola. |
||||||
"No reliable tradition of the manufacture or systematic repair of mail seems to be preserved in West Africa, and it can be assumed that the whole supply came from outside the region."
[1]
Imported by Kanem during the 13th CE (Dunama Dibalemi) and by Mali in the 14th CE (Mansa Musa). According to tradition quilted and mail armour was first introduced by Sarki Kanajeji (c.1390-1410)."
[1]
[1]: (Smith 1989, 79) Robert Sydney Smith. 1989. Warfare & Diplomacy in Pre-colonial West Africa. Second Edition. The University of Wisconsin Press. Madison. |
||||||
"The earliest armor used in Japan, as elsewhere, was padded or made of scales or rings sewn on cloth. The armor found in the grove mounds of prior to 400 B.C. is made by riveting together small pieces of iron to make helmets and cuirasses. Some of the latter give quite the effect of plate armor but are built up of small pieces. By the 10th century, the earliest time of which we have definite knowledge, it had assumed a characteristic form which it retained until armor was abandoned in the middle of the 19th century. A Japanese suit, fig. 78, consists of a helmet, kabuto, usually made of a large number of narrow plates riveted together with raised edges at the joints. It has a small peak, maizashi, in front and a wide neck guard, shikoro, made of strips of steel or of scales of leather or steel laced together with heavy silk or leather cords. One or more of these pieces is turned back in front to form ear guards, fukigayeshi. The front is usually decorated with two horn-like pieces, kuwagata, representing the leaves of a water plant; between them is an ornament, maidate, corresponding to the European crest. The face is covered by a steel mask, menpo, to which a laminated neck guard, yodare-kake, is attached. There are five varieties of menpo - covering the entire face - all of the face below the eyes - the forehead and cheeks only - and two for the cheeks and chin only. Of these, the second is much most used. A gorget, nodowa, was sometimes worn but was not considered as a regular part of the suit. The body was enclosed in a corselet, do, made of plates or strips laced together with silk or leather cords. It either opened at the side, do-maru, or at the back haramaki-do. Attached to it were shoulder pieces, watagami, from which it hung. The taces, kusazuri, made of strips laced together, hung from the do. Under these was worn an apron, hai-date, of brocade covered with mail or mixed plate and mail. The legs below the knee were protected by close fitting greaves, sune-ate, of plate; and the feet were covered with bearskin shoes, tsurumaki, or with mail or plate tabi. The arm guards, kote, were brocade sleeves covered with mixed plate and mail. They usually ended in guantlets which covered only the backs of the hands and thumbs. Mail guantlets were rare but were sometimes used. Large guards, sode, were hung on the shoulders. They were either single plates, two hinged together or made up of strops or rows of scales laced together."
[1]
"The Japanese made more varieties of mail than all the rest of the world put together."
[1]
[1]: (Stone 1999, 60-61) George Cameron Stone. 1999. Glossary of the Construction, Decoration and Use of Arms and Armor in All Countries and in All Times. Dover Publications, Inc. Mineola. |
||||||
"The earliest armor used in Japan, as elsewhere, was padded or made of scales or rings sewn on cloth. The armor found in the grove mounds of prior to 400 B.C. is made by riveting together small pieces of iron to make helmets and cuirasses. Some of the latter give quite the effect of plate armor but are built up of small pieces. By the 10th century, the earliest time of which we have definite knowledge, it had assumed a characteristic form which it retained until armor was abandoned in the middle of the 19th century. A Japanese suit, fig. 78, consists of a helmet, kabuto, usually made of a large number of narrow plates riveted together with raised edges at the joints. It has a small peak, maizashi, in front and a wide neck guard, shikoro, made of strips of steel or of scales of leather or steel laced together with heavy silk or leather cords. One or more of these pieces is turned back in front to form ear guards, fukigayeshi. The front is usually decorated with two horn-like pieces, kuwagata, representing the leaves of a water plant; between them is an ornament, maidate, corresponding to the European crest. The face is covered by a steel mask, menpo, to which a laminated neck guard, yodare-kake, is attached. There are five varieties of menpo - covering the entire face - all of the face below the eyes - the forehead and cheeks only - and two for the cheeks and chin only. Of these, the second is much most used. A gorget, nodowa, was sometimes worn but was not considered as a regular part of the suit. The body was enclosed in a corselet, do, made of plates or strips laced together with silk or leather cords. It either opened at the side, do-maru, or at the back haramaki-do. Attached to it were shoulder pieces, watagami, from which it hung. The taces, kusazuri, made of strips laced together, hung from the do. Under these was worn an apron, hai-date, of brocade covered with mail or mixed plate and mail. The legs below the knee were protected by close fitting greaves, sune-ate, of plate; and the feet were covered with bearskin shoes, tsurumaki, or with mail or plate tabi. The arm guards, kote, were brocade sleeves covered with mixed plate and mail. They usually ended in guantlets which covered only the backs of the hands and thumbs. Mail guantlets were rare but were sometimes used. Large guards, sode, were hung on the shoulders. They were either single plates, two hinged together or made up of strops or rows of scales laced together."
[1]
"The Japanese made more varieties of mail than all the rest of the world put together."
[1]
[1]: (Stone 1999, 60-61) George Cameron Stone. 1999. Glossary of the Construction, Decoration and Use of Arms and Armor in All Countries and in All Times. Dover Publications, Inc. Mineola. |
||||||
Present in preceding and succeeding polities.
|
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As we have seen, Indravarman married the daughter of Jayavarman VIII, forced the abdication of that monarch, disposed of the legitimate claimant and began to reign himself, at the end of 1295 or early in 1296. Chou Ta-kuan speaks of him as a soldier and a vigorous young ruler. The only inscription of his reign which gives much information about him speaks as if he reorganized a disunited country. It contains a panegyric in which he congratulates his subjects on replacing an old king by a young one: "If the land, sustained by an ancient king, experienced ordinarily the inconveniences of a superabundance of enemies, now, guarded by a young king, it does not experience the least inconvenience" (392, st. 12). This new king, covered with mail, ventured on the streets, which the old king had not dared to do. Chou Ta-kuan says that, during the year he spent at Angkor, he saw the king set out from the palace four or five times.’
[1]
[1]: (Briggs 1951, p. 251) |
||||||
As we have seen, Indravarman married the daughter of Jayavarman VIII, forced the abdication of that monarch, disposed of the legitimate claimant and began to reign himself, at the end of 1295 or early in 1296. Chou Ta-kuan speaks of him as a soldier and a vigorous young ruler. The only inscription of his reign which gives much information about him speaks as if he reorganized a disunited country. It contains a panegyric in which he congratulates his subjects on replacing an old king by a young one: "If the land, sustained by an ancient king, experienced ordinarily the inconveniences of a superabundance of enemies, now, guarded by a young king, it does not experience the least inconvenience" (392, st. 12). This new king, covered with mail, ventured on the streets, which the old king had not dared to do. Chou Ta-kuan says that, during the year he spent at Angkor, he saw the king set out from the palace four or five times.’
[1]
[1]: (Briggs 1951, p. 251) |
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[1]
1000-1650 CE period: "Mail was common in North Africa among the Berbers and Moors."
[2]
[1]: M. García-Arenal, Ahmad Al-Mansur: The beginnings of modern Morocco (2009), p. 56 [2]: (Nolan 2006, 27) Cathal J Nolan. 2006. The Age of Wars of Religion, 1000-1650: An Encyclopedia of Global Warfare and Civilization. Volume 1 A - K. Greenwood Press. Westport. |
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Knights: "The princes of Black Africa who could afford to outfitted themselves in complete or partial armor like that of the knights of the Western Middle Ages."
[1]
"coat of mail and iron breastplate, helmet, boots, javelin ... all of it."
[2]
However, due to climate complete knightly armour not as common as in Europe and in fact Songhai Askia Bano died of suffocation.
[2]
[1]: (Diop 1987, 116) Diop, Cheikh Anta. Salemson, Harold trans. 1987. Precolonial Black Africa. Lawrence Hill Books. Chicago. [2]: (Diop 1987, 117) Diop, Cheikh Anta. Salemson, Harold trans. 1987. Precolonial Black Africa. Lawrence Hill Books. Chicago. |
||||||
"No reliable tradition of the manufacture or systematic repair of mail seems to be preserved in West Africa, and it can be assumed that the whole supply came from outside the region."
[1]
Imported by Kanem during the 13th CE (Dunama Dibalemi) and by Mali in the 14th CE (Mansa Musa). According to tradition quilted and mail armour was first introduced by Sarki Kanajeji (c.1390-1410)."
[1]
[1]: (Smith 1989, 79) Robert Sydney Smith. 1989. Warfare & Diplomacy in Pre-colonial West Africa. Second Edition. The University of Wisconsin Press. Madison. |
||||||
chainmail
[1]
Knights: "The princes of Black Africa who could afford to outfitted themselves in complete or partial armor like that of the knights of the Western Middle Ages."
[2]
"coat of mail and iron breastplate, helmet, boots, javelin ... all of it."
[3]
However, due to climate complete knightly armour not as common as in Europe and in fact Songhai Askia Bano died of suffocation.
[3]
[1]: (Conrad 2010, 70) [2]: (Diop 1987, 116) Diop, Cheikh Anta. Salemson, Harold trans. 1987. Precolonial Black Africa. Lawrence Hill Books. Chicago. [3]: (Diop 1987, 117) Diop, Cheikh Anta. Salemson, Harold trans. 1987. Precolonial Black Africa. Lawrence Hill Books. Chicago. |
||||||
"During the seventh and sixth centuries B.C. several nomadic states of northern Iranian tribes came into being in Central Asia. In the west some Saka tribal confederations are mentioned in ancient Greek literature and Old Persian inscriptions, while in the east the Hsien-yün, and later the Yüeh-chih and the Hsiung-nu, tribal confederations are attested by the Chinese sources. ... Lively contacts and easy communications promoted the rise and spread of a fairly uniform nomadic culture in the steppe zone. The same types of horse-harness (bridle, bit, cheek-piece, saddle, trappings), arms (bow, bow-case, arrow and quiver, sword, battle-axe, mail) and garments (trousers, caftan, waist-girdle, boots, pointed cap) were used in the steppe zone from Central Europe to Korea."
[1]
[1]: (Harmatta 1994, 476-477) Harmatta, J. Conclusion. in Harmatta, Janos. Puri, B. N. Etemadi, G. F. eds. 1994. History of Civilizations of Central Asia. Volume II. The development of sedentary and nomadic civilizatins 700 B.C. to A.D. 250. UNESCO Publishing. |
||||||
"During the seventh and sixth centuries B.C. several nomadic states of northern Iranian tribes came into being in Central Asia. In the west some Saka tribal confederations are mentioned in ancient Greek literature and Old Persian inscriptions, while in the east the Hsien-yün, and later the Yüeh-chih and the Hsiung-nu, tribal confederations are attested by the Chinese sources. ... Lively contacts and easy communications promoted the rise and spread of a fairly uniform nomadic culture in the steppe zone. The same types of horse-harness (bridle, bit, cheek-piece, saddle, trappings), arms (bow, bow-case, arrow and quiver, sword, battle-axe, mail) and garments (trousers, caftan, waist-girdle, boots, pointed cap) were used in the steppe zone from Central Europe to Korea."
[1]
[1]: (Harmatta 1994, 476-477) Harmatta, J. Conclusion. in Harmatta, Janos. Puri, B. N. Etemadi, G. F. eds. 1994. History of Civilizations of Central Asia. Volume II. The development of sedentary and nomadic civilizatins 700 B.C. to A.D. 250. UNESCO Publishing. |
||||||
"During the seventh and sixth centuries B.C. several nomadic states of northern Iranian tribes came into being in Central Asia. In the west some Saka tribal confederations are mentioned in ancient Greek literature and Old Persian inscriptions, while in the east the Hsien-yün, and later the Yüeh-chih and the Hsiung-nu, tribal confederations are attested by the Chinese sources. ... Lively contacts and easy communications promoted the rise and spread of a fairly uniform nomadic culture in the steppe zone. The same types of horse-harness (bridle, bit, cheek-piece, saddle, trappings), arms (bow, bow-case, arrow and quiver, sword, battle-axe, mail) and garments (trousers, caftan, waist-girdle, boots, pointed cap) were used in the steppe zone from Central Europe to Korea."
[1]
[1]: (Harmatta 1994, 476-477) Harmatta, J. Conclusion. in Harmatta, Janos. Puri, B. N. Etemadi, G. F. eds. 1994. History of Civilizations of Central Asia. Volume II. The development of sedentary and nomadic civilizatins 700 B.C. to A.D. 250. UNESCO Publishing. |
||||||
"During the seventh and sixth centuries B.C. several nomadic states of northern Iranian tribes came into being in Central Asia. In the west some Saka tribal confederations are mentioned in ancient Greek literature and Old Persian inscriptions, while in the east the Hsien-yün, and later the Yüeh-chih and the Hsiung-nu, tribal confederations are attested by the Chinese sources. ... Lively contacts and easy communications promoted the rise and spread of a fairly uniform nomadic culture in the steppe zone. The same types of horse-harness (bridle, bit, cheek-piece, saddle, trappings), arms (bow, bow-case, arrow and quiver, sword, battle-axe, mail) and garments (trousers, caftan, waist-girdle, boots, pointed cap) were used in the steppe zone from Central Europe to Korea."
[1]
[1]: (Harmatta 1994, 476-477) Harmatta, J. Conclusion. in Harmatta, Janos. Puri, B. N. Etemadi, G. F. eds. 1994. History of Civilizations of Central Asia. Volume II. The development of sedentary and nomadic civilizatins 700 B.C. to A.D. 250. UNESCO Publishing. |
||||||
Knights: "The princes of Black Africa who could afford to outfitted themselves in complete or partial armor like that of the knights of the Western Middle Ages."
[1]
"coat of mail and iron breastplate, helmet, boots, javelin ... all of it."
[2]
However, due to climate complete knightly armour not as common as in Europe and in fact Songhai Askia Bano died of suffocation.
[2]
[1]: (Diop 1987, 116) Diop, Cheikh Anta. Salemson, Harold trans. 1987. Precolonial Black Africa. Lawrence Hill Books. Chicago. [2]: (Diop 1987, 117) Diop, Cheikh Anta. Salemson, Harold trans. 1987. Precolonial Black Africa. Lawrence Hill Books. Chicago. |
||||||
Knights: "The princes of Black Africa who could afford to outfitted themselves in complete or partial armor like that of the knights of the Western Middle Ages."
[1]
"coat of mail and iron breastplate, helmet, boots, javelin ... all of it."
[2]
However, due to climate complete knightly armour not as common as in Europe and in fact Songhai Askia Bano died of suffocation.
[2]
[1]: (Diop 1987, 116) Diop, Cheikh Anta. Salemson, Harold trans. 1987. Precolonial Black Africa. Lawrence Hill Books. Chicago. [2]: (Diop 1987, 117) Diop, Cheikh Anta. Salemson, Harold trans. 1987. Precolonial Black Africa. Lawrence Hill Books. Chicago. |
||||||
"The early Islamic sources treat the coast of mail as a standard piece of military equipment."
[1]
However in 704 CE use was not common. "When Qutayba b. Muslim was appointed governor of Khurasan ... it was said that there were only 350 coats of mail (dir’an) in the entire province, which is not very many for a military force of some 50,000 men."
[1]
Chain-mail.
[2]
[1]: (Kennedy 2001, 168) Kennedy, H. 2001. The Armies of the Caliphs. Routledge. London. [2]: (Gabriel 2007, 31) Richard A Gabriel. 2007. Muhammad: Islam’s First Great General. University of Oklahoma Press. Norman. |
||||||
Mail hauberk.
[1]
"in 991 AD Egypt’s heavy cavalry was described as wearing hauberks and helmets and riding armoured horses. Half a century later all the elite cavalry appearing on parade were so protected although, of course, one may assume that the remainder were not so well equipped."
[2]
"While the styles of weapons varied according to region and time period, the warriors of the Crusader era generally employed many of the same types of weapons used during the first Islamic centuries - coasts of mail, helmets, shields, swords, spears, lances, knives, iron maces, lassos, bows, arrows, and naft (or Greek fire)."
[3]
[1]: (Nicolle 1996, 76) [2]: (Nicolle 1982, 19) Nicolle, D. 1982. The Armies of Islam, 7th-11th Centuries. Osprey Publishing. [3]: (Lindsay 2005, 78) Lindsay, James E. 2005. Daily Life in The Medieval Islamic World. Hackett Publishing Company, Inc. Indianapolis. |
||||||
Preiser-Kapeller says present.
[1]
"Thematic cavalry were armed with mail, lamellar, or quilted armour, according to individual wealth and status"
[2]
"Infantry wore quilted or lamellar body-armour, or mail, although those that could afford the more expensive mail or lamellar equipment may also have possessed horses and been classed among the mounted troops: the evidence suggests that, on the whole, the foot soldiers were less well outfitted than in the late Roman period."
[2]
[1]: (Johannes Preiser-Kapeller 2015) Institute for Medieval Research, Division of Byzantine Research, Austrian Academy of Sciences) [2]: (Haldon 2008, 476) Jeffreys E, Haldon J and Cormack R eds. 2008. The Oxford Handbook of Byzantine Studies. Oxford University Press. Oxford. |
||||||
Preiser-Kapeller says present.
[1]
"The mid-tenth-century heavy cavalryman is described in several sources, in particular the Praecepta militaria ascribed to the emperor Nikephoros II Phokas, and was protected by a lamellar klibaniony with splinted arm-guards, sleeves, and gauntlets, the latter from coarse silk or quilted cotton. From the waist to the knee he wore thick felt coverings, reinforced with mail; over the klibanion was worn a sleeveless quilted or padded coat (the epilorikon); and to protect the head and neck an iron helmet with mail or quilting attached and wrapped around the face. The lower leg was protected by splinted greaves of bronze."
[2]
[1]: (Preiser-Kapeller 2015) Institute for Medieval Research, Division of Byzantine Research, Austrian Academy of Sciences) [2]: (Haldon 2008, 476-477) Jeffreys E, Haldon J and Cormack R eds. 2008. The Oxford Handbook of Byzantine Studies. Oxford University Press. Oxford. |
||||||
Preiser-Kapeller says present.
[1]
"light cavalry and infantry continued to be armed, like their Seljuk or Saracen enemies, with the traditional combination of lamellar corselets or mail, quilted fabrics or boiled leather, felt and cotton headgear"
[2]
Varangian guard wore a mail hauberk.
[1]: (Preiser-Kapeller 2015) Institute for Medieval Research, Division of Byzantine Research, Austrian Academy of Sciences) [2]: (Haldon 2008, 477) Jeffreys E, Haldon J and Cormack R eds. 2008. The Oxford Handbook of Byzantine Studies. Oxford University Press. Oxford. |
||||||
“Thracian troops of the Thracian client-kingdom were equipped “in the Roman style”, which may have meant that they wore Roman mail shirts and helmets, and carried Roman shields. They continued to use these when they became Thracian auxiliaries in Roman service.”
[1]
Gabriel (2002) says iron chain mail not introduced until the third century BCE, probably by Celtic peoples.
[2]
That’s close to this time.
[1]: Webber, C. (2003) Odrysian Cavalry, Army, Equipment and Tactics. Bar International Series 1139, pp. 529-554. p540 [2]: (Gabriel 2002, 21) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. |
||||||
Shaykh Abd al-Malik stated after fighting with the Mamluks Shaykh Abd al-Malik " I fought on the day of al-Mazhaf wearing a coat of mail, underneath which was an oil cloth. The bullets and arrows hit me, they pierced the coat of mail and when they attained the oil cloth they were smothered because of the wax. When the fighting was over I put off the coat of mail, I took out the oil cloth and shook it and then bullets and arrows, eighteen all told tumbled out of it"!
[1]
[1]: Porter, Venetia Ann (1992) The history and monuments of the Tahirid dynasty of the Yemen 858-923/1454-1517, Durham theses, Durham University, p. 127, Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/5867/ |
||||||
Lamellar coats "remained popular in Persia, particularly in the north and east, for a very long time, while the alternative - mail - still persisted, it would seem, in central and southern areas."
[1]
"In 1393 we hear of Persian soldiers dressed in mail (zirih baktah)".
[1]
[1]: (Robinson 1967) Robinson, H. Russell. 1967. Oriental Armour. Walker and Co. New York. |
||||||
Safavid and Mughal cavalry armour of the period included mail, cuirass (four breast-pieces, back and side plates), arm guards, circular shield, helmet.
[1]
[1]: (Roy 2014, 47) Kaushik Roy. 2014. Military Transition in Early Modern Asia, 1400-1750: Cavalry, Guns, Government and Ships. Bloomsbury Academic. London. |
||||||
"The dearth of illustrative material for the greater part of six centuries is largely due to the wanton destruction caused by two savage invasions from the east and only such finds as the stucco figures from Kara-shar [Central Asian warrior, eighth to tenth century] tell us that in all this period there had been little change."
[1]
The Sassanid Persians had mail armour.
[2]
[1]: (Robinson 1967) Robinson, H. Russell. 1967. Oriental Armour. Walker and Co. New York. [2]: (Farrokh 2012, 16) Farrokh, Kaveh. 2012. Sassanian Elite Cavalry AD 224-642. Osprey Publishing. |
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"In the seventh century the Arab Caliphate overran the Sāssānian Empire and, as far as we can tell, no great changes took place in the Persian equipment then or for a long time afterwards. The invader came under the influence of the remarkable Persian culture and no doubt, in due course, took advantage of the superior craftsmen now at his disposal for the making of his own equipment."
[1]
The Sassanids wore mail.
[2]
[1]: (Robinson 1967) Robinson, H. Russell. 1967. Oriental Armour. Walker and Co. New York. [2]: (Mitterauer 2010, 106) Mitterauer, M. 2010. Why Europe?: The Medieval Origins of Its Special Path. University of Chicago Press. |
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"The richer soldiers had helmets, single-edged sabres and coats of mail for themselves and their horses."
[1]
Lamellar coats "remained popular in Persia, particularly in the north and east, for a very long time, while the alternative - mail - still persisted, it would seem, in central and southern areas."
[2]
"In 1393 we hear of Persian soldiers dressed in mail (zirih baktah)".
[2]
[1]: (Marozzi 2004, 100) Marozzi, J. 2004. Tamerlane. HarperCollinsPublishers. London. [2]: (Robinson 1967) Robinson, H. Russell. 1967. Oriental Armour. Walker and Co. New York. |
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"Fragments of an iron coat of mail have been discovered in a first-second-century AD grave at Janussan on Bahrain and shields are illustrated on a bronze bowl of the third/second century BC from Mleiha in the Emirates. These meagre remains can be abundantly supplemented by the numerous references in pre-Islamic poetry. The full complement is given as follows: ’We wore helmets and Yemeni leather shields ... and glittering coats of mail having visible folds above the belt (Mu.:’Amr)."
[1]
[1]: (Hoyland 2001, 189) Robert G Hoyland. 2001. Arabia and the Arabs: From the Bronze Age to the Coming of Islam. Routledge. London. |
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Ayyubid infantry with "mail hauberks of various sizes."
[1]
Code inferred from Ayyubid Sultanate
[2]
which occupied Yemen between 1175-1128 CE.
[1]: (Nicolle 1986, 19) Nicolle, D. 1986. Saladin and the Saracens. Osprey Publishing Ltd. Oxford. [2]: D Nicolle. 1986. Saladin and the Saracens. Osprey Publishing Ltd. Oxford. |
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Code inferred from Abbasid Caliphate
[1]
which occupied Yemen between 751-868 CE. The Sulayhids used African mercenaries
[2]
and Central Sudanic Bornu horseback warriors often wore quilted armour and chainmail and a iron cap-helmet.
[3]
[1]: Hugh N Kennedy. 2001. The Armies of the Caliphs: Military and Society in the Early Islamic State. Routledge. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/SGPPFNAZ/q/kennedy [2]: (Stookey 1978, 66) Robert W Stookey. 1978. Yemen: The Politics of the Yemen Arab Republic. Westview Press. Boulder. [3]: Jacquelin A Blair. Nicholas Roumas. Fernando Martell advised by Jeffrey L Forgeng. 2011. The Progression of Arms and Armor from Ancient Greece to the European Renaissance across Eurasia and Africa. Worcester Polytechnic Institute. |
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In Ancient India soldiers of the Gupta Empire who could afford to do so and were willing to bear the heat (or for night operations?) wore chain mail.
[1]
] Kautilya’s Arthasastra, written after 200 BCE, mentions a metal coat of mail.
[2]
[1]: (Rowell 2015 89) Rebecca Rowell. 2015. Ancient India. Abdo Publishing. Minneapolis. [2]: (Olivelle 2016, 142-143) Patrick Olivelle trans. 2016. King, Governance, and Law in Ancient India: Kautilya’s Arthasastra. Oxford University Press. Oxford. |
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"After the formation of the Majapahit Dynasty, however, weapons and warfare underwent significant changes. The military dress completely evolved from the Indian to the East Javanese fashion."
[1]
Indian military terms surviving in Javanese include ’armour, shield, helmet’.
[2]
The Borobudur reliefs depicted armour but do not specify which kinds.
[3]
[1]: (Powell 2002, 325) John Powell. 2002. Weapons & Warfare: Ancient and medieval weapons and warfare (to 1500). Salem Press. [2]: (Kumara 2007, 161) Sasiprabha Kumara. 2007. Sanskrit Across Cultures. Special Centre for Sanskrit Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University. New Delhi. [3]: (Draeger 1972, 23) D F Draeger. 1972. Weapons and Fighting Arts of Indonesia. Tuttle Publishing. |
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According to the Chinese Nan chou i wu chih (A Record of Strange Things in the Southern Regions) written about 222-228 CE a volcanic country called ’Ge-ying’ (thought to be western Java) traded with the Malay Peninsula and imported horses from India. They were used by warriors.
[1]
It is likely they had some basic armour. Metallurgy was introduced after the third century BCE
[2]
so in addition to imported items, they may have had the ability to smith their own armour.
[1]: (Miksic and Goh 2017, 215) John Norman Miksic. Geok Yian Goh. Routledge. 2017. Ancient Southeast Asia. London. p. 215 [2]: (Bellwood 2004, 36) Bellwood, Peter. The origins and dispersals of agricultural communities in Southeast Asia. Glover, Ian. Bellwood, Peter. eds. 2004. Southeast Asia: From Prehistory to History. RoutledgeCurzon. London. |
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"The basic equipment of the Celtic warrior was spear and shield. To this could be added a sword, a helmet and a mailshirt."
[1]
Iron chain mail was introduced in the third century BCE, probably by the Celtic peoples.
[2]
[1]: (Allen 2007, 115) [2]: (Gabriel 2002, 21) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. |
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"Chaîne de suspension" present. Is this chainmail?
[1]
Organic chain mail suits appear in iron age.
[2]
Iron chain mail was introduced in the third century BCE, probably by the Celtic peoples.
[3]
[1]: (http://www.chronocarto.ens.fr/gcserver/atlas#) [2]: (Koch ed. 2006, 1469) John T. Koch ed. Celtic Culture. A historical Encyclopedia. Volume I. A-Celti. ABC-CLIO. Santa Barbara. [3]: (Gabriel 2002, 21) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. |
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Armoured coats in illustrations all appear to be made up of small plates. However, it could have been used for special situations
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||||||
"Chaîne de suspension" present. Is this chainmail?
[1]
Iron chain mail was introduced in the third century BCE, probably by the Celtic peoples.
[2]
[1]: (http://www.chronocarto.ens.fr/gcserver/atlas#) [2]: (Gabriel 2002, 21) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. |
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we need expert input in order to code this variable
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we need expert input in order to code this variable
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Judging from contemporary texts from Mesopotamia chariot warriors (currently not confirmed by archaeology) typically required "leather coats of mail (sometimes with bronze) for horses".
[1]
I don’t believe that chain mail is referred to here.
[1]: (Kuz’mina 2007, 136) Elena Efimovna Kuzʹmina. 2007. The Origin of the Indo-Iranians. J P Mallory ed. BRILL. Leiden. |
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"During the seventh and sixth centuries B.C. several nomadic states of northern Iranian tribes came into being in Central Asia. In the west some Saka tribal confederations are mentioned in ancient Greek literature and Old Persian inscriptions, while in the east the Hsien-yün, and later the Yüeh-chih and the Hsiung-nu, tribal confederations are attested by the Chinese sources. ... Lively contacts and easy communications promoted the rise and spread of a fairly uniform nomadic culture in the steppe zone. The same types of horse-harness (bridle, bit, cheek-piece, saddle, trappings), arms (bow, bow-case, arrow and quiver, sword, battle-axe, mail) and garments (trousers, caftan, waist-girdle, boots, pointed cap) were used in the steppe zone from Central Europe to Korea."
[1]
[1]: (Harmatta 1994, 476-477) Harmatta, J. Conclusion. in Harmatta, Janos. Puri, B. N. Etemadi, G. F. eds. 1994. History of Civilizations of Central Asia. Volume II. The development of sedentary and nomadic civilizatins 700 B.C. to A.D. 250. UNESCO Publishing. |
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No references in the literature.
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Mail was later a typical armour of steppe zone nomadic culture but the from date is not specified (probably after this polity as it was invented in Europe?): "Lively contacts and easy communications promoted the rise and spread of a fairly uniform nomadic culture in the steppe zone. The same types of horse-harness (bridle, bit, cheek-piece, saddle, trappings), arms (bow, bow-case, arrow and quiver, sword, battle-axe, mail) and garments (trousers, caftan, waist-girdle, boots, pointed cap) were used in the steppe zone from Central Europe to Korea."
[1]
[1]: (Harmatta 1994, 476-477) Harmatta, J. Conclusion. in Harmatta, Janos. Puri, B. N. Etemadi, G. F. eds. 1994. History of Civilizations of Central Asia. Volume II. The development of sedentary and nomadic civilizatins 700 B.C. to A.D. 250. UNESCO Publishing. |
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No references identified in the literature. RA.
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"Chaîne de suspension" present. Is this chainmail?
[1]
Organic chain mail suits appear in iron age.
[2]
[1]: (http://www.chronocarto.ens.fr/gcserver/atlas#) [2]: (Koch ed. 2006, 1469) John T. Koch ed. Celtic Culture. A historical Encyclopedia. Volume I. A-Celti. ABC-CLIO. Santa Barbara. |
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No references in the literature. RA.
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