| # | Polity | Coded Value | Tags | Year(s) | Edit | Desc |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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"It is unfortunate that no artifactual evidence is available for the use of the shield during the late third and early second millennia in the Levant. This is no doubt due to the fact that shields, like slings and bows, were constructed from organic materials such as leather, wood, or reeds, as is suggested by Egyptian depictions of Asiatic shields in the tomb of Intef…"
[1]
"It is worth noting that none of the Asiatics depicted in the Middle Kingdom Beni Hasan reliefs carry shields, even though they are shown carrying axes and spears, and no archaeological evidence of the shield has thus far been unearthed in the Levant for either the MB or LB. Therefore, aside from the pictorial evidence noted above concerning small ox-hide shields used by Asiatics at the start of the MB in Egypt, the earliest evidence for the form and construction of the shield in the Levant dates to the LB and is also derived from Egyptian New Kingdom reliefs (Yadin 1963:83f.). These shields are depicted as small, light, and rectangular, and were clearly intended for personal protection in hand-to-hand combat [whereas earlier shields were much larger, and meant to protect against arrows]."
[2]
[1]: Burke (2004:70). [2]: Burke (2004:71). |
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"It is unfortunate that no artifactual evidence is available for the use of the shield during the late third and early second millennia in the Levant. This is no doubt due to the fact that shields, like slings and bows, were constructed from organic materials such as leather, wood, or reeds, as is suggested by Egyptian depictions of Asiatic shields in the tomb of Intef…"
[1]
"It is worth noting that none of the Asiatics depicted in the Middle Kingdom Beni Hasan reliefs carry shields, even though they are shown carrying axes and spears, and no archaeological evidence of the shield has thus far been unearthed in the Levant for either the MB or LB. Therefore, aside from the pictorial evidence noted above concerning small ox-hide shields used by Asiatics at the start of the MB in Egypt, the earliest evidence for the form and construction of the shield in the Levant dates to the LB and is also derived from Egyptian New Kingdom reliefs (Yadin 1963:83f.). These shields are depicted as small, light, and rectangular, and were clearly intended for personal protection in hand-to-hand combat [whereas earlier shields were much larger, and meant to protect against arrows]."
[2]
[1]: Burke (2004:70). [2]: Burke (2004:71). |
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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. Indian military terms surviving in Javanese: "war, weapon, sword, lance, armour, shield, helmet, banner, battle, siege, fortress, soldier, officer, enemy, spy, etc."
[3]
[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. [3]: (Kumara 2007, 161) Sasiprabha Kumara. 2007. Sanskrit Across Cultures. Special Centre for Sanskrit Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University. New Delhi. |
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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. Indian military terms surviving in Javanese: "war, weapon, sword, lance, armour, shield, helmet, banner, battle, siege, fortress, soldier, officer, enemy, spy, etc."
[3]
[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. [3]: (Kumara 2007, 161) Sasiprabha Kumara. 2007. Sanskrit Across Cultures. Special Centre for Sanskrit Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University. New Delhi. |
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Rarely carried from mid-14th century.
[1]
From about 1380 CE shield abandoned.
[2]
Hundred Years’ War (1337-1453 CE) reference: "On horseback, the principal weapon was a 10-foot-long wooden lance carried with a small wedge-shaped shield and sometimes a short, steel-handled battleaxe."
[3]
Academic disagreement Hundred Years’ War (1337-1453 CE) reference: many knights discarded shields in the mid-15th CE but men-at-arms carried a light buckler.
[3]
[1]: (Nicolle 2000, 15) David Nicolle. 2000. French Armies Of The Hundred Years War. Osprey Publishing. Oxford. [2]: (Boulton 1995, 124-127) W W Kibler. G A Zinn. 1995. Medieval France: An Encyclopedia. Routledge. [3]: (Wagner 2006, 27-29) John A Wagner. 2006. Encyclopedia of the Hundred Years War. Greenwood Press. Westport. |
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Rarely carried from mid-14th century.
[1]
From about 1380 CE shield abandoned.
[2]
Hundred Years’ War (1337-1453 CE) reference: "On horseback, the principal weapon was a 10-foot-long wooden lance carried with a small wedge-shaped shield and sometimes a short, steel-handled battleaxe."
[3]
Academic disagreement Hundred Years’ War (1337-1453 CE) reference: many knights discarded shields in the mid-15th CE but men-at-arms carried a light buckler.
[3]
[1]: (Nicolle 2000, 15) David Nicolle. 2000. French Armies Of The Hundred Years War. Osprey Publishing. Oxford. [2]: (Boulton 1995, 124-127) W W Kibler. G A Zinn. 1995. Medieval France: An Encyclopedia. Routledge. [3]: (Wagner 2006, 27-29) John A Wagner. 2006. Encyclopedia of the Hundred Years War. Greenwood Press. Westport. |
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"[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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"[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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we need expert input in order to code this variable
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There are shields and bucklers in the Angkorian period, but there are no references in the literature to shields found in archaeological contexts. RA.
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Not mentioned in the archaeological evidence
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There are shields and bucklers in the Angkorian period, but there are no references in the literature to shields found in archaeological contexts. RA.
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No information in the archaeological evidence for this time
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No information in the archaeological evidence for this time
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"the others(these are presumably the Tihamah tribesmen) were all naked with the exception of a piece of linen worn like a mantle. When they enter into battle they tise a kind of round shield, made up of two pieces of cow hide or ox fastened together. In the centre of the said round shields there are four rods, which keep them straight These shields are painted, so that they appear to those who see them to be the handsomest and best that could be made. They are about as large as the bottom of a tub, and the handle consists of a piece of wood of a size that can be grasped by the hand, fastened by two nails.
[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, pp. 111-113, Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/5867/ |
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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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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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No finds interpreted as armor or protection in fight.
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Used in preceding periods.
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Not mentioned in the literature.
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Not mentioned in the literature.
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Not mentioned in the literature.
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No finds within France until 620-560 BCE. ("Umbo" = shield boss?)
[1]
[1]: (http://www.chronocarto.ens.fr/gcserver/atlas#) |
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Have a reference for its use in southern India.
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Not mentioned by sources in lists of artifacts found at sites in the region dating to this time.
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Not mentioned by sources in lists of artefacts found at sites in the region dating to this time.
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Present in earlier periods.
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Present in earlier periods.
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Present in earlier periods.
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Present in previous and subsequent polities.
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Not mentioned in the archaeological evidence
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Not mentioned in the archaeological evidence
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Not mentioned in the archaeological evidence
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Not mentioned in the archaeological evidence
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Not mentioned in the archaeological evidence
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Not mentioned in the archaeological evidence
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Not mentioned in the archaeological evidence
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Shah Abbas wore a ’target’ when on horseback i.e. a small shield. His soldiers also used shields.
[1]
[1]: Blow, David. Shah Abbas: The Ruthless King Who Became an Iranian Legend. London: I.B. Tauris , 2009, p.55; Farrokh, Kaveh. Iran at War, 1500-1988. Oxford : Osprey Publishing, 2011. chapter three. |
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A conventional shield used by the heavy infantry of the Seleucid army was 45cm in diameter, which was small enough for the soldiers to be able to handle a pike at the same time.
[1]
[1]: Bar-Kochva, B. 1976. The Seleucid Army: Organization and Tactics in the Great Campaigns. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p54. |
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Not mentioned by sources.
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Not mentioned in the archaeological evidence
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Not mentioned in the archaeological evidence
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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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’The permanent guard maintained at the capital was probably better. Relief sculpture portrays guards wearing helmets wrought with elaborate motifs; door guards wearing helmets wrought with elaborate motifs; door guardians carrying ceremonial weapons, their points protected by covers; sentinels carry lances, swords and shields. Ordinary soldiers carried lances in their right hands and shields in their left. The arsenal included sabres, swords, shields, broadswords, daggers, catapults and other contrivances.’
[1]
’For personal defence, there were two kinds of shields: round ones ornamented with vegetal or flower motifs, and long ones ornamented on the top border. The latter could be grouped together to form a kind of rampart. Both were probably of wood and hide, with metal plaques. Although most warriors wore only a kind of short-sleeved jacket (sometimes resembling the quilted ’armour’ in use in Mesoamerica), many were protected by a cylindrical cuirass, often with one or two knives lashed over it for close combat.’
[2]
’This includes a ballista, mounted either on elephant back or on a wheeled vehicle that could be rolled onto the field of battle; it consisted of two opposed bows, worked by two men, and shot arrows with tremendous force. Michel Jacq-Hergoulac’h, the leading authority on Khmer warfare, believes it may have been of Chinese origin. Shield ’ramparts’ mounted on wheels are another innovation of Kayavarman’s VII’s reign.’
[3]
Jacq-Hergoualc’h (2007 [1979]) discusses the royal army and its weapons examining the bas-reliefs of three temples: Angkor Wat, the Bayon, and Banteay Chhmar. The bas-reliefs of Agkor Wat depict the conquests of Suryavarman II (1113-c. 1150 CE), while those at the Bayon and Banteay Chhmar depict the conquests of Jayavarman VII (1181-c. 1218 CE). Thus, the detailed bas-reliefs of these three temples allows the scholar to examine Khmer military history spanning roughly one hundred years. Unfortunately, Jacq-Hergoualc’h does not make explicit (or quantify) the evolutionary changes over this time period. The earlier military technology at Angkor Wat depicts ’the most basic weapons, essentially lances, bows and arrows, and bucklers, sometimes in tandem with breastplates’ (Jacq-Hergoualc’h 2007: 173). As noted by Coe (2003: 186), ’[f]ar more sophisticated armament is to be seen on the Bayon and at Banteay Chhmar, especially among the infantry. This includes the ballista, mounted either on elephant back or on a wheeled vehicle that could be rolled onto the field of battle [...].’ According to Jacq-Hergoualc’h (2007: 35), none of these ’big machines’ are present on the bas-reliefs of Angkor Wat, the construction of which (c. 1113-1145 CE) pre-dates the great battles with the Chams during the reign of Jayavarman VII (beginning in c. 1181 CE). Furthermore, the emphasis on horses diminished and chariots were abandoned in favor of a more developed and elaborate corps of elephants surrounded by infantry.
[1]: (Mabbett and Chandler 1995, p.157) [2]: (Coe 2003, pp. 185-186) [3]: (Coe 2003, p. 186) |
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Listed by Hassig.
[1]
[1]: (Hassig 1992: 139) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/E9VHCKDG. |
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Relative to military technology used in this period, sources only mention the atlatl and spears.
[1]
However, armour made from wood and cloth has been documented for the later periods, so its absence in the archaeological record may be due to preservation bias.
[1]: Marcus and Flannery (1996) Zapotec Civilization: How urban society evolved in Mexico’s Oaxaca Valley. Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People: divergent evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec civilizations. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Academic Press, New York. |
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No information in the archaeological evidence for this time and code has yet to receive an expert check
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No information in the archaeological evidence for this time and code has yet to receive an expert check
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No information in the archaeological evidence for this time
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"Ghur had long been renowned for its metal deposits and its manufacture of weapons and coats of mail".
[1]
Ghaznavid and Ghurid armies: leather-covered or metal shields.
[2]
[1]: (Jackson 2003, 15-16) Peter Jackson. 2003. The Delhi Sultanate: A Political and Military History. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. [2]: (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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According to Robinson (1967) as far as the Persian tradition, "cavalry, it would appear, did not always carry shields, and it is not until Sassanian times that warriors, particularly the heavily armed horsemen, are shown carrying small convex circular shields."
[1]
However, there are depictions of round shields on coins.
[2]
[1]: (Robinson 1967) Robinson, H. Russell. 1967. Oriental Armour. Walker and Co. New York. [2]: The armies of Bactria 70 BC-450 AD, p. 15, 71. |
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As far as the Persian tradition, "cavalry, it would appear, did not always carry shields, and it is not until Sassanian times that warriors, particularly the heavily armed horsemen, are shown carrying small convex circular shields."
[1]
Coded present due to the following in contemporary Chinese sources, which are relevant for gaining insight on the weapons and armor of Steppe Nomads: "Even with strong crossbows that shoot far, and long halberds that hit at a distance, the Hsiung-nu would not be able to ward them off. If the armors are sturdy and the weapons sharp, if the repetition crossbows shot far, and the platoons advance together, the Hsiung-nu will not be able to withstand. If specially trained troops are quick to release (their bows) and the arrows in a single stream hit the target together, then the leather outfit and wooden shields of the Hsiung-nu will not be able to protect them. If they dismount and fight on foot, when swords and halberds clash as [the soldiers] come into close quarters, the Hsiung-nu, who lack infantry training, will not be able to cope."
[2]
[1]: (Robinson 1967) Robinson, H. Russell. 1967. Oriental Armour. Walker and Co. New York. [2]: Nicola Di Cosmo. 2002. Ancient China and Its Enemies: The Rise of Nomadic Power in East Asian History. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge, p. 203 |
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"In sieges, and occasionally in the field, missile troops were drawn up behind men carrying spears or shields, but separate deployment seems to be the norm."
[1]
"A relief from I-nan, possibly late Han, appears to show two cavalry figures with shields, but this was uncommon, perhaps because weapons such as halberds, bows and crossbows required the use of both hands."
[2]
[1]: (Peers 1995, 16) [2]: (Peers 1995, 17) |
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The fourth century Thracian army:“Light cavalry was now likely to have the basic protection of helmet and shield, while heavy cavalry took to wearing iron helmets and composite corselets.”
[1]
[1]: Webber, C. (2003) Odrysian Cavalry, Army, Equipment and Tactics. Bar International Series 1139, pp. 529-554. p537 |
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No information in the archaeological evidence for this time
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not mentioned in literature
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Checked by Peter Peregrine.
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This is possible, but I have found no references to it.
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Checked by Peter Peregrine.
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Checked by Peter Peregrine.
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Checked by Peter Peregrine.
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Checked by Peter Peregrine.
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Checked by Peter Peregrine.
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Inferred from lack of shields in previous and later polities.
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"... a fragment of a leather-covered circular wooden shield has survived, bearing a painting of a mounted warrior. This was found in the ruins of the castle of Mug, east of Samarkand, and with it were many documents dating the destruction of the place to the eighth century - when the Persian prince who held it rebelled against the local Arab ruler."
[1]
[1]: (Robinson 1967) Robinson, H. Russell. 1967. Oriental Armour. Walker and Co. New York. |
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Helmet found at Dayangzhou, Xin’gan, Erligang Culture, possibly Huan-bei period.
[1]
so they almost certainly conceived of the shield, however it might not have been made of metal and preserved? given the wide array of offensive weapons it would be surprising if nothing had evolved to counter them. for example, shields and helmets to absorb the blow of crushing weapons like the mace and battle-axe. we would expect the earliest defenses to not have been made of metal and so unlikely to have been preserved.
[1]: (Thorp 2013, 110) Thorp, Robert L. 2013. China in the Early Bronze Age: Shang Civilization.University of Pennsylvania Press. |
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The following refers to a later period. Helmet found at Dayangzhou, Xin’gan, Erligang Culture, possibly Huan-bei period.
[1]
So they almost certainly conceived of the shield, however it might not have been made of metal and preserved? Given the wide array of offensive weapons it would be surprising if nothing had evolved to counter them. for example, shields and helmets to absorb the blow of crushing weapons like the mace and battle-axe. We would expect the earliest defenses to not have been made of metal and so unlikely to have been preserved.
[1]: (Thorp 2013, 110) Thorp, Robert L. 2013. China in the Early Bronze Age: Shang Civilization.University of Pennsylvania Press. |
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"While we don’t have any surviving Ming Dynasty shield, we do have this Joseon Dynasty sample to draw reference from."
[1]
A unit created to deal with wokou (pirates) used "long weapons, spears and bamboo branches (sometime replaced with metal-branched pole-arms), and shields and close-range weapons."
[2]
[1]: http://greatmingmilitary.blogspot.com/2015/11/101st-post-p2.html [2]: (Lorge 2005, 127) |
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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?. |
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"troops were only minimally protected by armor and carried comparatively small shields."
[1]
Helmet found at Dayangzhou, Xin’gan, Erligang Culture, possibly Huan-bei period.
[2]
so they almost certainly conceived of the shield, however it might not have been made of metal and preserved? Given the wide array of offensive weapons it would be surprising if nothing had evolved to counter them. for example, shields and helmets to absorb the blow of crushing weapons like the mace and battle-axe. we would expect the earliest defenses to not have been made of metal and so unlikely to have been preserved.
[1]: Sawyer, R. 2011. Ancient Chinese Warfare. Basic Books. [2]: (Thorp 2013, 110) Thorp, Robert L. 2013. China in the Early Bronze Age: Shang Civilization.University of Pennsylvania Press. |
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[1]
"Traditional shields" first seen in the Warring States period.
[2]
[1]: (Peers 2013, 31) [2]: (Hong 1992: 220) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/XU9E2WR8. |
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"In sieges, and occasionally in the field, missile troops were drawn up behind men carrying spears or shields, but separate deployment seems to be the norm."
[1]
"A relief from I-nan, possibly late Han, appears to show two cavalry figures with shields, but this was uncommon, perhaps because weapons such as halberds, bows and crossbows required the use of both hands."
[2]
[1]: (Peers 1995, 16) [2]: (Peers 1995, 17) |
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As of 1992: "No complete Western Zhou shield has yet been unearthed, though several pieces of cast bronze shield ornaments have been discovered."
[1]
Standard equipment for Western Zhou soldier included the shield.
[2]
[1]: (Hong 1992, 87) Hong, Yang. 1992. Weapons in Ancient China. Science Press. [2]: (Hong 1992, 88) Hong, Yang. 1992. Weapons in Ancient China. Science Press. |
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Some ethnographers report wooden and leather shields: ’The warriors are armed with shield and lances and lately with large forest knives. The circular shield, carved out of a single piece of soft and light wood, is about half as high as a man; the lance, made out of a thin, hard palm shaft (chonta) provided with a tip made out of bone or iron, is six to seven feet long or more. The troops advance close together, each man in a bent position protected behind his shield; the lance rests in the right hand, held close to the tip. By a slight, regular movement of the right arm the long shaft, held horizontally, is set to swinging vertically in order to give the weapon steadiness and force when it is suddenly thrust forward. Shield pressed to shield, they fight man to man amidst loud war cries; each tries to protect himself; each tries to discover a weakness of the opponent, without overly exposing himself to the stones thrown by the women and children.’
[1]
"Salinas, writing in 1571 (second letter), says that the Indians in the vicinity of Santiago have copper axes, ( ) shields made of tapir skin and of wood, and spear throwers."
[2]
[1]: Reiss, W. (Wilhelm). 1880. “Visit Among The Jivaro Indians.", 13 [2]: Stirling, Matthew Williams. 1938. “Historical And Ethnographical Material On The Jivaro Indians.”, 78-79 |
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"The Guptas imitated the dress, equipment and the techniques of warfare as practised by the Central Asian nomads."
[1]
In Central Asia the 5th-6th CE Hephthalites used shields made of leather.
[2]
[1]: (Roy 2016, 22) Kaushik Roy. 2016. Military Manpower, Armies and Warfare in South Asia. Routledge. Abingdon. [2]: Karasulas, Antony. Mounted archers of the steppe 600 BC-AD 1300. Vol. 120. Osprey Publishing, 2004, p.29. |
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|
The warriors are armed with shield and lances and lately with large forest knives. The circular shield, carved out of a single piece of soft and light wood, is about half as high as a man; the lance, made out of a thin, hard palm shaft (chonta) provided with a tip made out of bone or iron, is six to seven feet long or more. The troops advance close together, each man in a bent position protected behind his shield; the lance rests in the right hand, held close to the tip. By a slight, regular movement of the right arm the long shaft, held horizontally, is set to swinging vertically in order to give the weapon steadiness and force when it is suddenly thrust forward. Shield pressed to shield, they fight man to man amidst loud war cries; each tries to protect himself; each tries to discover a weakness of the opponent, without overly exposing himself to the stones thrown by the women and children.
[1]
[1]: Reiss, W. (Wilhelm). 1880. “Visit Among The Jivaro Indians.", 13 |
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|
Cowhides probably most common material.
[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]
[1]: (Hoffmeier 2001) [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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|
Cowhides probably most common material.
[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]
[1]: (Hoffmeier 2001) [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. |
||||||
|
Cowhides probably most common material.
[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]
[1]: (Hoffmeier 2001) [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. |
||||||
|
Cowhides probably most common material.
[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]
[1]: (Hoffmeier 2001) [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. |
||||||
|
Cowhides probably most common material.
[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]
[1]: (Hoffmeier 2001) [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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|
Infantry carried round or oval shields covered with hide.
[1]
Cowhides probably most common material. Copper and/or Bronze may also have been used for shields.
[2]
"The northern exterior wall of the mortuary temple of Ramesses III (Medinet Habu) is decorated with episodes from the war against the Sea Peoples (c. 1164 BC), including a scene of the official allocation of various types of arms (spears, helmets, bows, quivers, khepesh daggers and shields) to the soldiers."
[3]
[1]: (Brewer and Teeter 1999, 74) [2]: (Hoffmeier 2001) [3]: (Shaw 1991: 43) Shaw, Ian. 1991. Egyptian Warfare and Weapons. Princes Risborough: Shire. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/7J8H86XF. |
||||||
|
Cowhides probably most common material.
[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]
[1]: (Hoffmeier 2001) [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. |
||||||
|
Cowhides probably most common material.
[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]
[1]: (Hoffmeier 2001) [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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|
"As with the rest of the Near East, there is little evidence for warfare in Neolithic Mesopotamia."
[1]
[1]: (Hamblin 2006: 33) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/4WM3RBTD. |
||||||
|
Cowhides probably most common material.
[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]
[1]: (Hoffmeier 2001) [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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|
based on Cairan armour, which was probably the most advanced at the time
[1]
"The Carian equipment may resemble that of the hoplites representated on the Amathus bowl found in a tomb in Cyprus and dated to the time of Psamtek (see Figure 2.1)." Artwork in figure 2.1 shows: shields, throwing spears, cavalry, archers, crested helmets.
[2]
[1]: (Manning 2015, Personal Communication) [2]: (Fischer-Bovet 2014, 20-21) |
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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]
[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) |
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|
The shields are either rectangular or of the figure-of-eight type
[1]
.
[1]: Lorenz J. and I. Schrakamp (2011) Hittite Military and Warfare, pp. 139 [In:] H. Genz and D. P. Mielke (ed.) Insights Into Hittite History And Archaeology, Colloquia Antiqua 2, Leuven, Paris, Walpole MA: PEETERS, pp. 125-151 |
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|
"Until recently, this was an isolated example at such an early date, but a recently obtained radiocarbon date for the wooden shield mould from Kilmahamogue, Co. Antrim, was 3445 ± 70 BP (1950-1540 cal BC).42 Perhaps the only surprising thing about this result is that it is still unique at so early a date. It appears to indicate that shields of organic materials were present in the Early Bronze Age, which need not in itself be surprising; its form - with concentric ribs interrupted by a V-shaped notch - is, however, otherwise only known in the Late Bronze Age (the Herzsprung type)."
[1]
[1]: (Harding 2000, 285) |
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|
"Montgommery and Rohan were enthusiastic proponents of the use of small shields to defend musketeers against pikes.
[1]
Shields not mentioned by Nolan (2006) who covers the 1000-1650 CE period.
[2]
[1]: David Parrott, Richelieu’s Army (2003), p. xiv [2]: (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. |
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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.
[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.
[1]
Rarely carried from mid-14th century.
[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 2000, 15) |
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|
Is a large round shield being carried by cavalry in the period art on this page (the authors used it to demonstrate the presence of the stirrup)?
[1]
Poor men used as infantry carried shield and spear.
[2]
[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, 13) Nicholas Hooper. Matthew Bennett. 1996. The Cambridge Illustrated Atlas of Warfare: The Middle Ages, 768-1487. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. |
||||||
|
Is a large round shield being carried by cavalry in the period art on this page (the authors used it to demonstrate the presence of the stirrup)?
[1]
Poor men used as infantry carried shield and spear.
[2]
[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, 13) Nicholas Hooper. Matthew Bennett. 1996. The Cambridge Illustrated Atlas of Warfare: The Middle Ages, 768-1487. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. |
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|
No finds within France until 620-560 BCE. ("Umbo" = shield boss?)
[1]
Organic/metal armour, shields, helmets.
[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 finds within France until 620-560 BCE. ("Umbo" = shield boss?)
[1]
"Miniature bronze cult wagon from the Halstatt period, 7th century BC"
[2]
- in this sculpture the warriors are holding shields.
[1]: (http://www.chronocarto.ens.fr/gcserver/atlas#) [2]: (Allen 2007, 25) |
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|
No finds within France until 620-560 BCE. ("Umbo" = shield boss?)
[1]
6th century scabbard illustration shows Hallstatt warriors with spears and shields
[2]
Organic/metal armour, shields, helmets.
[3]
[1]: (http://www.chronocarto.ens.fr/gcserver/atlas#) [2]: (Allen 2007, 22) [3]: (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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|
Rarely carried from mid-14th century.
[1]
From about 1380 CE shield abandoned.
[2]
Present.
[3]
Why does Potter say present? Hundred Years’ War (1337-1453 CE) reference: "On horseback, the principal weapon was a 10-foot-long wooden lance carried with a small wedge-shaped shield and sometimes a short, steel-handled battleaxe."
[4]
Academic disagreement. Hundred Years’ War (1337-1453 CE) reference: many knights discarded shields in the mid-15th CE but men-at-arms carried a light buckler.
[4]
[1]: (Nicolle 2000, 15) David Nicolle. 2000. French Armies Of The Hundred Years War. Osprey Publishing. Oxford. [2]: (Boulton 1995, 124-127) W W Kibler. G A Zinn. 1995. Medieval France: An Encyclopedia. Routledge. [3]: (Potter 2008, 93) [4]: (Wagner 2006, 27-29) John A Wagner. 2006. Encyclopedia of the Hundred Years War. Greenwood Press. Westport. |
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|
"Ansa the king appeared in full state, accompanied by a large retinue. Before him went his men sounding trumpets and horns, carrying tinkling bells, and playing various kinds of drums, as well as other instruments, which were quite new to the Portuguese. His Gyasi men, that is, bodyguard, were armed with spears, javelins, shields, bows and arrows; on their heads they wore a sort of helmet made of skins thickly studded with shark’s teeth, the same kind of helmets one sees whenever a town company turns out in fighting attire, and as they came with their lord and master, they sang their popular martial airs. The subordinate rulers wore chains of gold and other ornaments, and each of them was attended by two pages, one carrying his master’s shield and arms, and the other a little round stool for him to sit on."
[1]
"Their targets be made of such pits as their cloth is made of, and very closely wrought, and they be in form four square and very great, and somewhat longer than they be broad, so that kneeling down, they make their targets to cover their whole body. Their bows be short and of a pretty strength, as much as a man is able to draw with one of his fingers, and the string is of the bark of a tree, made flat, and almost a quarter of an inch broad. As for their arrows, I have not yet seen any of them, for they had wrapped them up close, and because I was busy I could not stand about it, to have them open them. Their gold also they work very well."
[2]
[1]: Sarbah, John Mensah 1968. “Fanti National Constitution: A Short Treatise On The Constitution And Government Of The Fanti, Asanti, And Other Akan Tribes Of West Africa Together With A Brief Account Of The Discovery Of The Gold Coast By Portuguese Navigators, A Short Narration Of Early English Voyages, And A Study Of The Rise Of British Gold Coast Jurisdiction, Etc., Etc.”, 57 [2]: Sarbah, John Mensah 1968. “Fanti National Constitution: A Short Treatise On The Constitution And Government Of The Fanti, Asanti, And Other Akan Tribes Of West Africa Together With A Brief Account Of The Discovery Of The Gold Coast By Portuguese Navigators, A Short Narration Of Early English Voyages, And A Study Of The Rise Of British Gold Coast Jurisdiction, Etc., Etc.”, 67 |
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|
"Hunting scenes often featured shields and helmets, Molloy found"EXTERNAL_INLINE_LINK: http://www.livescience.com/26275-peaceful-minoans-surprisingly-warlike.html
|
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|
Indian military terms surviving in Javanese include ’shield’.
[1]
The ruling class were Hindu Indians and their contemporaries in the Indian Chalukyan Kingdom had shields.
[2]
[1]: (Kumara 2007, 161) Sasiprabha Kumara. 2007. Sanskrit Across Cultures. Special Centre for Sanskrit Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University. New Delhi. [2]: (Sreenivasa Murthy and Ramakrishnan 1975, 93) H V Sreenivasa Murthy and R Ramakrishnan. 1975. A History of Karnataka. Vivek Prakashan. |
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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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|
Coded present based on this
[1]
source but no quote/description provided. "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."
[2]
Indian military terms surviving in Javanese include ’armour, shield, helmet’.
[3]
The Borobudur reliefs depicted armour but do not specify which kinds.
[4]
[1]: (Gaukroger 2009, 134) [2]: (Powell 2002, 325) John Powell. 2002. Weapons & Warfare: Ancient and medieval weapons and warfare (to 1500). Salem Press. [3]: (Kumara 2007, 161) Sasiprabha Kumara. 2007. Sanskrit Across Cultures. Special Centre for Sanskrit Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University. New Delhi. [4]: (Draeger 1972, 23) D F Draeger. 1972. Weapons and Fighting Arts of Indonesia. Tuttle Publishing. |
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|
Borobudur and Prambanan temples contain murals showing the weaponry of early times - swords, bows and arrows, spears, shields, armour, clubs, knives, halberds. The Plaosan temple group 3 miles from Prambanan depicts stone carved gate guards armed with clubs and swords.
[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]
In southern India at this time the Rashtrakuta dynasty used the shield.
[4]
Their Chalukya predecessors also had shields.
[5]
[1]: (Draeger 1972, 23, 27) [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. [4]: (Ramachandra Murthy 1994, 116) N S Ramachandra Murthy. 1994. Military Administration of the Rashtrakutas in the Telugu Country. B R Gopal. ed. The Rashtrakutas of Malkhed. [5]: (Sreenivasa Murthy and Ramakrishnan 1975, 93) H V Sreenivasa Murthy and R Ramakrishnan. 1975. A History of Karnataka. Vivek Prakashan. |
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|
Military equipment depicted on the Bhilsa Topes statues include the infantry and cavalry shield.
[1]
The Bhilsa topes are Buddhist monuments from central India thought to date to c100 BCE. The oblong shield is known from later period illustrations in hill caves in Orissa (eastern India 200 BCE - 474 CE).
[2]
Cave 16 at Ajanta c400 CE shows warriors with an ornamental shield.
[3]
[1]: (Egerton 2002, 12) Wilbraham Egerton. 2002 (1880). Indian and Oriental Arms and Armour. Dover Publications, Inc. Mineola. [2]: (Egerton 2002, 13-14) Wilbraham Egerton. 2002 (1880). Indian and Oriental Arms and Armour. Dover Publications, Inc. Mineola. [3]: (Egerton 2002, 14) Wilbraham Egerton. 2002 (1880). Indian and Oriental Arms and Armour. Dover Publications, Inc. Mineola. |
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|
Kautilya’s Arthasastra, written after 200 BCE, mentions a leather shield.
[1]
The preceding Rashtrakutas employed the shield.
[2]
[1]: (Olivelle 2016, 142-143) Patrick Olivelle trans. 2016. King, Governance, and Law in Ancient India: Kautilya’s Arthasastra. Oxford University Press. Oxford. [2]: N.S. Ramachandra Murthy, Military Administration of the Rashtrakutas in the Telugu Country, in B.R. Gopal, The Rashtrakutas of Malkhed (1994), p. 116 |
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|
A military historian states that the Mauryans carried shields made of raw oxhide stretched over a wood or wicker frame
[1]
- do Mauryan specialists agree? Kautilya’s Arthasastra, written after 200 BCE, mentions "dense structures made of the skin, hooves, and horns/tusks of the river dolphin, rhinocerous, Dhenuka, and cattle" used as armor and a leather shield.
[2]
[1]: (Gabriel 2002, 219) Gabriel, Richard A. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Greenwood Publishing Group. [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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|
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): "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. And a few pictographs of the Indus script may represent men holding shields."
[1]
By the time of Kautilya’s Arthasastra, written after 200 BCE, there is mention of "dense structures made of the skin, hooves, and horns/tusks of the river dolphin, rhinocerous, Dhenuka, and cattle" used as armor and a leather shield.
[2]
[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. [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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|
‘The walls and ceiling are hung with the family’s possessions - baskets, tools, cooking and eating utensils - and two or three bamboo poles suspended from ropes serve as racks to hold the family’s spare clothes and blankets when these are not in use. Pots containing threshed rice and other staples line one wall to the front, and pots of brewing rice beer stand at the back. Several low stools may be arranged around the wall, pushed out of the way when not in use. At least one old headhunting mil’am (sword) is stuck into the back wall of every house, and one or more shields may lean against the wall below the sword.’
[1]
‘The Garos have two kinds of shield. The sepi is made entirely of wood, or of flat lengths of wood bound together and covered with very thin strips of cane or bamboo, while the danil is made of bearskin or cowhide stretched on a wooden frame. Both kinds are of the same shape and size. They are about 3 feet long by 18 inches broad, roughly oblong, but with slightly concave sides, and with a gentle curve backwards over the hand. They are fitted with handles made of cane.’
[2]
[1]: Marak, Llewellyn R. 1995. “Arts, Architecture And Wood Carving”, 138 [2]: Playfair, Alan 1909. “Garos”, 32 |
||||||
|
‘The walls and ceiling are hung with the family’s possessions - baskets, tools, cooking and eating utensils - and two or three bamboo poles suspended from ropes serve as racks to hold the family’s spare clothes and blankets when these are not in use. Pots containing threshed rice and other staples line one wall to the front, and pots of brewing rice beer stand at the back. Several low stools may be arranged around the wall, pushed out of the way when not in use. At least one old headhunting mil’am (sword) is stuck into the back wall of every house, and one or more shields may lean against the wall below the sword.’
[1]
‘The Garos have two kinds of shield. The sepi is made entirely of wood, or of flat lengths of wood bound together and covered with very thin strips of cane or bamboo, while the danil is made of bearskin or cowhide stretched on a wooden frame. Both kinds are of the same shape and size. They are about 3 feet long by 18 inches broad, roughly oblong, but with slightly concave sides, and with a gentle curve backwards over the hand. They are fitted with handles made of cane.’
[2]
[1]: Marak, Llewellyn R. 1995. “Arts, Architecture And Wood Carving”, 138 [2]: Playfair, Alan 1909. “Garos”, 32 |
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|
Reference for northern India in the 7th century CE: According to Hiuen Tsang (quoted here) the Harsha infantry had a ’big shield’.
[1]
The foot soldiers of the Pala Empire after 750 CE - the core of which was located in the southern reaches of the Ganges Basin to the east of this polity and at its height possessed territory all the way to Afghanistan - used spears, swords, and shields.
[2]
Under chapter 9 "The Rajput Administration": "Foot soldiers carried swords and shields. Armour was in use."
[3]
"Further details about military dress and equipment can be had from the Kathakosaprakarana, Yasastilaka champu and the Tilakamanjari."
[3]
[1]: (Sen 1999, 257) Sailendra Nath Sen. 1999. Ancient Indian History and Civilization. Second Edition. New Age International (P) Limited, Publishers. New Delhi. [2]: (Lomazoff and Ralby 2013) Amanda Lomazoff. Aaron Ralby. 2013. The Atlas of Military History. Simon and Schuster. San Diego. [3]: (Bakshi, Gajrani and Singh eds 2005, 394) S R Bakshi. S Gajrani. Hari Singh. eds. 2005. Early Aryans to Swaraj. Volume 3: Indian Education and Rajputs. Sarup & Sons. New Delhi. |
||||||
|
The shields are either rectangular or of the figure-of-eight type
[1]
.
[1]: Lorenz J. and I. Schrakamp (2011) Hittite Military and Warfare, pp. 139 [In:] H. Genz and D. P. Mielke (ed.) Insights Into Hittite History And Archaeology, Colloquia Antiqua 2, Leuven, Paris, Walpole MA: PEETERS, pp. 125-151 |
||||||
|
Reference for northern India in the 7th century CE: According to Hiuen Tsang (quoted here) the Harsha infantry had a ’big shield’.
[1]
The foot soldiers of the Pala Empire after 750 CE - the core of which was located in the southern reaches of the Ganges Basin to the east of this polity and at its height possessed territory all the way to Afghanistan - used spears, swords, and shields.
[2]
[1]: (Sen 1999, 257) Sailendra Nath Sen. 1999. Ancient Indian History and Civilization. Second Edition. New Age International (P) Limited, Publishers. New Delhi. [2]: (Lomazoff and Ralby 2013) Amanda Lomazoff. Aaron Ralby. 2013. The Atlas of Military History. Simon and Schuster. San Diego. |
||||||
|
No information in the archaeological evidence for this time
|
||||||
|
Shields: "In the Sisupalavadha, we find soldiers armed with swords and shields".
[1]
Clay plaques from Paharpur (c8th CE) show male and female infantry with a shield".
[1]
[1]: (Mishra 1977, 146) Shyam Manohar Mishra. 1977. Yaśovarman of Kanauj: A Study of Political History, Social, and Cultural Life of Northern India During the Reign of Yaśovarman. Abhinav Publications. |
||||||
|
Reference for northern India in the 7th century CE: According to Hiuen Tsang (quoted here) the Harsha infantry had a ’big shield’.
[1]
The foot soldiers of the Pala Empire after 750 CE - the core of which was located in the southern reaches of the Ganges Basin to the east of this polity and at its height possessed territory all the way to Afghanistan - used spears, swords, and shields.
[2]
[1]: (Sen 1999, 257) Sailendra Nath Sen. 1999. Ancient Indian History and Civilization. Second Edition. New Age International (P) Limited, Publishers. New Delhi. [2]: (Lomazoff and Ralby 2013) Amanda Lomazoff. Aaron Ralby. 2013. The Atlas of Military History. Simon and Schuster. San Diego. |
||||||
|
Referring to Vedic texts: "The use of shields and protective armour is throughout in evidence."
[1]
[1]: (Singh 1965: 116) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/QW5EBAAU. |
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|
Kautilya’s Arthasastra, written after 200 BCE, mentions a leather shield.
[1]
"The popular weapons of warfare seem to be the sword, the trident or spear, the javelin, the battleaxe, the shield, etc."
[2]
[1]: (Olivelle 2016, 142-143) Patrick Olivelle trans. 2016. King, Governance, and Law in Ancient India: Kautilya’s Arthasastra. Oxford University Press. Oxford. [2]: N.S. Ramachandra Murthy, Military Administration of the Rashtrakutas in the Telugu Country, in B.R. Gopal, The Rashtrakutas of Malkhed (1994), p. 116 |
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|
A military historian suggests the Maurayans carried shields made of raw oxhide stretched over a wood or wicker frame
[1]
- do Mauryan specialists agree? The Satavahanas were likely no less advanced in terms of their military technology. Kautilya’s Arthasastra, written after 200 BCE, mentions a leather shield.
[2]
Satavahana infantry used circular shields.
[3]
[1]: (Gabriel 2002, 219) Gabriel, Richard A. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Greenwood Publishing Group. [2]: (Olivelle 2016, 142-143) Patrick Olivelle trans. 2016. King, Governance, and Law in Ancient India: Kautilya’s Arthasastra. Oxford University Press. Oxford. [3]: (Roy 2013, 20) Kaushik Roy. 2013 Military Manpower, Armies and Warfare in South Asia. Routledge. London. |
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|
Inferred from use in Mauryan Empire. The Sunga Dynasty was in effect the continuation of the Mauryan Empire as it was established in a coup by the Mauryan general Pushyamitra Sunga (Roy 2015, 19).
[1]
According to one military historian (this data needs to be confirmed by a polity specialist): Mauryan infantry used a long narrow shield of raw oxhide over a wooden or wicker frame.
[2]
[1]: (Roy 2015: 19) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/35K9MMUW. [2]: (Gabriel 2002, 219) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies Of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. |
||||||
|
A military historian states that the Maurayans carried shields made of raw oxhide stretched over a wood or wicker frame
[1]
- do Maurayan specialists agree? Vakataka "soldiers were provided with armours and helmets."
[2]
Kautilya’s Arthasastra, written after 200 BCE, mentions a leather shield.
[3]
[1]: (Gabriel 2002, 219) Gabriel, Richard A. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Greenwood Publishing Group. [2]: (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. [3]: (Olivelle 2016, 142-143) Patrick Olivelle trans. 2016. King, Governance, and Law in Ancient India: Kautilya’s Arthasastra. Oxford University Press. Oxford. |
||||||
|
"The Muhammadan soldiers carried ’shields, javelins and Turkish bows with many bombs and spears and fire missiles."
[1]
According to Nikitin, in south India infantry had ’a shield in one hand and a sword in the other’.
[2]
According to Nuniz, soldiers of Vijayanagar ’were all armed each after his own fashion, the archers and musketeers with their quilted tunics, and shield-men with swords and poignards in their girdles. Their shields are so large that there is no need for armour to protect the body, which is completely covered. Their horses were in full clothing. The men wore doublets, and had weapons in their hands. And on their heads were headpieces after the manner of their doublets, quilted with cotton.’
[2]
[1]: (Ramayanna 1986, p. 126) [2]: (Eraly 2015) Abraham Eraly. 2015. The Age of Wrath: A History of the Delhi Sultanate. Penguin. |
||||||
|
Present in earlier periods.
|
||||||
|
"We have no evidence for warfare. In contrast with later periods, ’Ubaid seals show no depictions of weapons, prisoners, or combat scenes".
[1]
[1]: (Stein 1994: 39) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/V94SXJRJ. |
||||||
|
"The shields are either rectangular or of the figure-of-eight type
[1]
also presence in previous polity
[1]: Lorenz J. and I. Schrakamp (2011) Hittite Military and Warfare, pp. 139 [In:] H. Genz and D. P. Mielke (ed.) Insights Into Hittite History And Archaeology, Colloquia Antiqua 2, Leuven, Paris, Walpole MA: PEETERS, pp. 125-151 |
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|
"From ancient times the peoples of Persia favoured a light, tough shield made of withies or cane. As remarked on at the beginning of this chapter, Herodotus describes the soldiers of Xerxes who carry targes of wicker. Large and deeply convex shields built up of concentric rings of cane or withies are carried by the Sacae (Scythian) guards in the reliefs from the great staircase of the Achaemenid, from the Palace of Persepolis, now in the Berlin Museum. All but the caps of these guards are in the Persian fashion. The large shields are not those of nomadic horsemen, but are a foot soldier’s defence."
[1]
According to one military historian (data needs to be checked by an expert for this polity) Persian heavy cavalry carried an oval shield.
[2]
According to one military historian (data needs to be checked by an expert for this polity) front ranks of the phalanx carried a tall wicker shield.
[3]
[1]: (Robinson 1967) Robinson, H. Russell. 1967. Oriental Armour. Walker and Co. New York. [2]: (Gabriel 2002, 162) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. [3]: (Gabriel 2002, 163) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. |
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|
"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 type of shield was characteristic of the cavalry of the Ak Koyunlu. It had a high steel boss and, in battle, was generally strapped to the wearer’s left arm."
[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. |
||||||
|
Last reference to shields present is during Ur III c2000 BCE.
[1]
Next reference for shields is the Archaemenids: "From ancient times the peoples of Persia favoured a light, tough shield made of withies or cane. As remarked on at the beginning of this chapter, Herodotus describes the soldiers of Xerxes who carry targes of wicker. Large and deeply convex shields built up of concentric rings of cane or withies are carried by the Sacae (Scythian) guards in the reliefs from the great staircase of the Achaemenid, from the Palace of Persepolis, now in the Berlin Museum. All but the caps of these guards are in the Persian fashion. The large shields are not those of nomadic horsemen, but are a foot soldier’s defence."
[2]
Likely to be inferred present but will leave this one for an expert to confirm.
[1]: (Rutkowski 2007 24)Rutkowski, Ł. 2007. Problematyka militarna w Państwie Ur III. In: D. Szeląg (ed.), Historia i kultura państwa III dynastii z Ur. Warszawa: Instytut Archeologii Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego, 17-28. [2]: (Robinson 1967) Robinson, H. Russell. 1967. Oriental Armour. Walker and Co. New York. |
||||||
|
Last reference to shields present is during Ur III c2000 BCE.
[1]
Next reference for shields is the Archaemenids: "From ancient times the peoples of Persia favoured a light, tough shield made of withies or cane. As remarked on at the beginning of this chapter, Herodotus describes the soldiers of Xerxes who carry targes of wicker. Large and deeply convex shields built up of concentric rings of cane or withies are carried by the Sacae (Scythian) guards in the reliefs from the great staircase of the Achaemenid, from the Palace of Persepolis, now in the Berlin Museum. All but the caps of these guards are in the Persian fashion. The large shields are not those of nomadic horsemen, but are a foot soldier’s defence."
[2]
Likely to be inferred present but will leave this one for an expert to confirm.
[1]: (Rutkowski 2007 24)Rutkowski, Ł. 2007. Problematyka militarna w Państwie Ur III. In: D. Szeląg (ed.), Historia i kultura państwa III dynastii z Ur. Warszawa: Instytut Archeologii Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego, 17-28. [2]: (Robinson 1967) Robinson, H. Russell. 1967. Oriental Armour. Walker and Co. New York. |
||||||
|
Last reference to shields present is during Ur III c2000 BCE.
[1]
Next reference for shields is the Archaemenids: "From ancient times the peoples of Persia favoured a light, tough shield made of withies or cane. As remarked on at the beginning of this chapter, Herodotus describes the soldiers of Xerxes who carry targes of wicker. Large and deeply convex shields built up of concentric rings of cane or withies are carried by the Sacae (Scythian) guards in the reliefs from the great staircase of the Achaemenid, from the Palace of Persepolis, now in the Berlin Museum. All but the caps of these guards are in the Persian fashion. The large shields are not those of nomadic horsemen, but are a foot soldier’s defence."
[2]
Likely to be inferred present but will leave this one for an expert to confirm.
[1]: (Rutkowski 2007 24)Rutkowski, Ł. 2007. Problematyka militarna w Państwie Ur III. In: D. Szeląg (ed.), Historia i kultura państwa III dynastii z Ur. Warszawa: Instytut Archeologii Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego, 17-28. [2]: (Robinson 1967) Robinson, H. Russell. 1967. Oriental Armour. Walker and Co. New York. |
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|
[1]
According to Livy, the military citizen army of Servius Tullius (579-534 BCE) was divided into classes. Servian class I used Greek style hoplite equipment together with a round shield called a clipeus. Classes I and II used oval shield called a scrutum.
[2]
"Legionaries carried a distinctively Roman shield, a long (4 Roman feet, c 1.17 m) oval type called a scutum, of laminated wood and canvas with an iron rim and boss."
[3]
"Hoplite panoplies have been discovered in the so-called Tomb of the Warrior at Vulci, dating to c. 530 B.C., as well as in a tomb at Lanuvium in Latium dating to the early fifth century" (citing Torelli 1989 and Drummond).
[4]
[1]: (Dupuy and Dupuy 2007) [2]: (Fields 2007, 5) [3]: (Pollard and Berry 2012, 15) [4]: (Forsythe 2006, 114) Forsythe, Gary. 2006. A Critical History of Early Rome: From Prehistory to the First Punic War. University of California Press. |
||||||
|
Last reference to shields present is during Ur III c2000 BCE.
[1]
Next reference for shields is the Archaemenids: "From ancient times the peoples of Persia favoured a light, tough shield made of withies or cane. As remarked on at the beginning of this chapter, Herodotus describes the soldiers of Xerxes who carry targes of wicker. Large and deeply convex shields built up of concentric rings of cane or withies are carried by the Sacae (Scythian) guards in the reliefs from the great staircase of the Achaemenid, from the Palace of Persepolis, now in the Berlin Museum. All but the caps of these guards are in the Persian fashion. The large shields are not those of nomadic horsemen, but are a foot soldier’s defence."
[2]
Likely to be inferred present but will leave this one for an expert to confirm.
[1]: (Rutkowski 2007 24)Rutkowski, Ł. 2007. Problematyka militarna w Państwie Ur III. In: D. Szeląg (ed.), Historia i kultura państwa III dynastii z Ur. Warszawa: Instytut Archeologii Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego, 17-28. [2]: (Robinson 1967) Robinson, H. Russell. 1967. Oriental Armour. Walker and Co. New York. |
||||||
|
Last reference to shields present is during Ur III c2000 BCE.
[1]
Next reference for shields is the Archaemenids: "From ancient times the peoples of Persia favoured a light, tough shield made of withies or cane. As remarked on at the beginning of this chapter, Herodotus describes the soldiers of Xerxes who carry targes of wicker. Large and deeply convex shields built up of concentric rings of cane or withies are carried by the Sacae (Scythian) guards in the reliefs from the great staircase of the Achaemenid, from the Palace of Persepolis, now in the Berlin Museum. All but the caps of these guards are in the Persian fashion. The large shields are not those of nomadic horsemen, but are a foot soldier’s defence."
[2]
Likely to be inferred present but will leave this one for an expert to confirm.
[1]: (Rutkowski 2007 24)Rutkowski, Ł. 2007. Problematyka militarna w Państwie Ur III. In: D. Szeląg (ed.), Historia i kultura państwa III dynastii z Ur. Warszawa: Instytut Archeologii Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego, 17-28. [2]: (Robinson 1967) Robinson, H. Russell. 1967. Oriental Armour. Walker and Co. New York. |
||||||
|
Last reference to shields present is during Ur III c2000 BCE.
[1]
Next reference for shields is the Archaemenids: "From ancient times the peoples of Persia favoured a light, tough shield made of withies or cane. As remarked on at the beginning of this chapter, Herodotus describes the soldiers of Xerxes who carry targes of wicker. Large and deeply convex shields built up of concentric rings of cane or withies are carried by the Sacae (Scythian) guards in the reliefs from the great staircase of the Achaemenid, from the Palace of Persepolis, now in the Berlin Museum. All but the caps of these guards are in the Persian fashion. The large shields are not those of nomadic horsemen, but are a foot soldier’s defence."
[2]
[1]: (Rutkowski 2007 24)Rutkowski, Ł. 2007. Problematyka militarna w Państwie Ur III. In: D. Szeląg (ed.), Historia i kultura państwa III dynastii z Ur. Warszawa: Instytut Archeologii Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego, 17-28. [2]: (Robinson 1967) Robinson, H. Russell. 1967. Oriental Armour. Walker and Co. New York. |
||||||
|
Last reference to shields present is during Ur III c2000 BCE.
[1]
Next reference for shields is the Archaemenids: "From ancient times the peoples of Persia favoured a light, tough shield made of withies or cane. As remarked on at the beginning of this chapter, Herodotus describes the soldiers of Xerxes who carry targes of wicker. Large and deeply convex shields built up of concentric rings of cane or withies are carried by the Sacae (Scythian) guards in the reliefs from the great staircase of the Achaemenid, from the Palace of Persepolis, now in the Berlin Museum. All but the caps of these guards are in the Persian fashion. The large shields are not those of nomadic horsemen, but are a foot soldier’s defence."
[2]
Likely to be inferred present but will leave this one for an expert to confirm.
[1]: (Rutkowski 2007 24)Rutkowski, Ł. 2007. Problematyka militarna w Państwie Ur III. In: D. Szeląg (ed.), Historia i kultura państwa III dynastii z Ur. Warszawa: Instytut Archeologii Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego, 17-28. [2]: (Robinson 1967) Robinson, H. Russell. 1967. Oriental Armour. Walker and Co. New York. |
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|
Cassius Dio [c. CE 155 - 235] in Roman History: "The Parthians make no use of a shield".
[1]
Present at Carrhae. Light cavalry probably had a small oval shield.
[2]
[1]: Ted Kaizer, ‘The Parthian and Early Sasanian Empires c.247 BC - AD 300’, in Thomas Harrison (ed.), The Great Empires of the Ancient World (London: Thames & Hudson, 2009), p.186 [2]: (Debevoise 1938, 86) Debevoise, Neilson C. 1938. A Political History of Parthia. University of Chicago Press Chicago. https://oi.uchicago.edu/sites/oi.uchicago.edu/files/uploads/shared/docs/political_history_parthia.pdf |
||||||
|
Cassius Dio [c. CE 155 - 235] in Roman History: "The Parthians make no use of a shield".
[1]
Present at Carrhae. Light cavalry probably had a small oval shield.
[2]
[1]: Ted Kaizer, ‘The Parthian and Early Sasanian Empires c.247 BC - AD 300’, in Thomas Harrison (ed.), The Great Empires of the Ancient World (London: Thames & Hudson, 2009), p.186 [2]: (Debevoise 1938, 86) Debevoise, Neilson C. 1938. A Political History of Parthia. University of Chicago Press Chicago. https://oi.uchicago.edu/sites/oi.uchicago.edu/files/uploads/shared/docs/political_history_parthia.pdf |
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|
Mostly used by heavy infantry and foot archers. One-piece leather hide, later wicker-work and rawhide. Paighan siege workers used large shields made of goat wool. Sasanian cavalry did not use large shields. In the later Sasanian Empire a small buckler shield was sometimes worn on the left forearm.
[1]
"The cavalry do not appear to have used shields in the Early Sasanian period."
[2]
[1]: (Farrokh 2005, 3-27) Farrokh, Kevah. 2005. Sassanian Elite Cavalry AD 224-642. Osprey Publishing. [2]: (Chegini 1996, 59) 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 |
||||||
|
"Legionaries of this period continued to use the elongated oval scutum shield."
[1]
A relief from the Altar of Domitius Ahenobarbus depicts Republican legionaries with scutum shields.
[1]
"Legionaries carried a distinctively Roman shield, a long (4 Roman feet, c 1.17 m) oval type called a scutum, of laminated wood and canvas with an iron rim and boss."
[2]
[1]: (Pollard and Berry 2012, 21) [2]: (Pollard and Berry 2012, 15) |
||||||
|
Mostly used by heavy infantry and foot archers. One-piece leather hide, later wicker-work and rawhide. Paighan siege workers used large shields made of goat wool. Sasanian cavalry did not use large shields. In the later Sasanian Empire a small buckler shield was sometimes worn on the left forearm.
[1]
"During the reign of the first King Khosrow, or Chosroes (531-79), a cavalryman’s equipment consisted of body armor, breastplate, helmet, greaves and arm shields".
[2]
"The cavalry do not appear to have used shields in the Early Sasanian period."
[3]
[1]: (Farrokh 2005, 3-27) Farrokh, Kevah. 2005. Sassanian Elite Cavalry AD 224-642. Osprey Publishing. [2]: (Mitterauer 2010, 106) Mitterauer, M. 2010. Why Europe?: The Medieval Origins of Its Special Path. University of Chicago Press. [3]: (Chegini 1996, 59) 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 |
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|
Shields.
[1]
[2]
"Many of the early Persian miniatures, particularly those under Mongol influence of the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries, seldom illustrate shields. When they do the shields would seem to be of stout hide - small, circular, and convex, with applied metal bosses."
[2]
[1]: Nicolle, David. Arms and Armour of the Crusading Era, 1050-1350: Islam, Eastern Europe and Asia. Rev. and updated ed. London : Mechanicsburg, Pa: Greenhill Books ; Stackpole Books, 1999. p.221. [2]: (Robinson 1967) Robinson, H. Russell. 1967. Oriental Armour. Walker and Co. New York. |
||||||
|
Last reference to shields present is during Ur III c2000 BCE.
[1]
Next reference for shields is the Archaemenids: "From ancient times the peoples of Persia favoured a light, tough shield made of withies or cane. As remarked on at the beginning of this chapter, Herodotus describes the soldiers of Xerxes who carry targes of wicker. Large and deeply convex shields built up of concentric rings of cane or withies are carried by the Sacae (Scythian) guards in the reliefs from the great staircase of the Achaemenid, from the Palace of Persepolis, now in the Berlin Museum. All but the caps of these guards are in the Persian fashion. The large shields are not those of nomadic horsemen, but are a foot soldier’s defence."
[2]
Likely to be inferred present but will leave this one for an expert to confirm.
[1]: (Rutkowski 2007 24)Rutkowski, Ł. 2007. Problematyka militarna w Państwie Ur III. In: D. Szeląg (ed.), Historia i kultura państwa III dynastii z Ur. Warszawa: Instytut Archeologii Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego, 17-28. [2]: (Robinson 1967) Robinson, H. Russell. 1967. Oriental Armour. Walker and Co. New York. |
||||||
|
Last reference to shields present is during Ur III c2000 BCE.
[1]
Next reference for shields is the Archaemenids: "From ancient times the peoples of Persia favoured a light, tough shield made of withies or cane. As remarked on at the beginning of this chapter, Herodotus describes the soldiers of Xerxes who carry targes of wicker. Large and deeply convex shields built up of concentric rings of cane or withies are carried by the Sacae (Scythian) guards in the reliefs from the great staircase of the Achaemenid, from the Palace of Persepolis, now in the Berlin Museum. All but the caps of these guards are in the Persian fashion. The large shields are not those of nomadic horsemen, but are a foot soldier’s defence."
[2]
Likely to be inferred present but will leave this one for an expert to confirm.
[1]: (Rutkowski 2007 24)Rutkowski, Ł. 2007. Problematyka militarna w Państwie Ur III. In: D. Szeląg (ed.), Historia i kultura państwa III dynastii z Ur. Warszawa: Instytut Archeologii Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego, 17-28. [2]: (Robinson 1967) Robinson, H. Russell. 1967. Oriental Armour. Walker and Co. New York. |
||||||
|
Last reference to shields present is during Ur III c2000 BCE.
[1]
Next reference for shields is the Archaemenids: "From ancient times the peoples of Persia favoured a light, tough shield made of withies or cane. As remarked on at the beginning of this chapter, Herodotus describes the soldiers of Xerxes who carry targes of wicker. Large and deeply convex shields built up of concentric rings of cane or withies are carried by the Sacae (Scythian) guards in the reliefs from the great staircase of the Achaemenid, from the Palace of Persepolis, now in the Berlin Museum. All but the caps of these guards are in the Persian fashion. The large shields are not those of nomadic horsemen, but are a foot soldier’s defence."
[2]
Likely to be inferred present but will leave this one for an expert to confirm.
[1]: (Rutkowski 2007 24)Rutkowski, Ł. 2007. Problematyka militarna w Państwie Ur III. In: D. Szeląg (ed.), Historia i kultura państwa III dynastii z Ur. Warszawa: Instytut Archeologii Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego, 17-28. [2]: (Robinson 1967) Robinson, H. Russell. 1967. Oriental Armour. Walker and Co. New York. |
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|
Reference to the use of shields, helmets, greaves, breastplates dates to the Bronze Age.
[1]
[1]: (Guilaine 2008: 204-05) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/LZB53FDH. |
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|
Found buried in the richest grave at Castel di Decima
[1]
. "Miniature weapons and armour (swords, daggers, spears, shields, pectorals also occur in central Italy in the Early Iron age, for example in a few tombs in the Latial cemetery of Osteria dell’Osa"
[2]
[1]: G. Forsythe, A Critical History of Early Rome (2006), pp. 53-58 [2]: Osgood, Monks, Toms, Bronze Age Warfare (2000), p.104 |
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|
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. |
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|
General reference for this time period in Europe: shields were often leather covered wood (pine or linden) or leather-canvas-wood. Smaller for cavalry, all shields gradually decreased in size across the period. By the fifteenth century men-at-arms often did not use the shield.
[1]
[1]: (Rogers 2007, 32) Clifford J Rogers. 2007. Soldiers’ Lives Through History: The Middle Ages. Greenwood Press. Westport. |
||||||
|
General reference for this time period in Europe: shields were often leather covered wood (pine or linden) or leather-canvas-wood. Smaller for cavalry, all shields gradually decreased in size across the period. By the fifteenth century men-at-arms often did not use the shield.
[1]
[1]: (Rogers 2007, 32) Clifford J Rogers. 2007. Soldiers’ Lives Through History: The Middle Ages. Greenwood Press. Westport. |
||||||
|
Hastati and principes carried an oval scrutum (shield).
[1]
Scutum find in Kasr-el-Harit provides example. It was 1.2m length, 0.6m width, oval and made out of three layers of birch plywood. Shield was covered with canvas and calfskin, reinforced at edges, bronze or iron.
[2]
Cavalry used a "Greek-style" lance and shield.
[3]
[1]: (Fields 2007, 19) [2]: (http://www.classicsunveiled.com/romel/html/romefood.html) [3]: (Pollard and Berry 2012, 15) |
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|
General reference for medieval warfare: During the Late Middle Ages (c1000-1500 CE) reknowned production centres of military equipment in Italy included: "Aquileia (helmets), Benevento (spear-heads), Brescia and Milan (swords), Otranto (helmets), Pavia (helmets, spears, swords), and Sardinia (helmets, shields, coats of mail)".
[1]
Illustration shows "Venetian knight, early 13th C." with a sword and shield.
[2]
Illustration shows "Dalmatian urban militiaman, mid-13th C." with a spear and shield.
[2]
Illustration shows "Dalmatian soldier, mid-13th C." with a shield, sword and helmet.
[2]
Illustration shows a late 14th century cavalryman with a shield and plate armour for the lower legs and arms.
[3]
Illustration shows "Venetian infantryman, late 14th C." with a spear, sword, helmet, shield, guantlets, and plate armour for lower legs.
[3]
Illustration shows "Venetian knight, c.1600" with a sword, full plate armour and shield.
[4]
[1]: (Gaier 2010, 75) Claude Gaier. Arms Industry and Trade. Clifford J. Rogers. ed. 2010. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Medieval Warfare and Military Technology, Volume 1. Oxford University Press. Oxford. [2]: (Nicolle 1989, Plate A) David Nicolle. 1989. The Venetian Empire 1200-1670. Osprey Publishing. Oxford. [3]: (Nicolle 1989, Plate C) David Nicolle. 1989. The Venetian Empire 1200-1670. Osprey Publishing. Oxford. [4]: (Nicolle 1989, Plate G) David Nicolle. 1989. The Venetian Empire 1200-1670. Osprey Publishing. Oxford. |
||||||
|
General reference for medieval warfare: During the Late Middle Ages (c1000-1500 CE) reknowned production centres of military equipment in Italy included: "Aquileia (helmets), Benevento (spear-heads), Brescia and Milan (swords), Otranto (helmets), Pavia (helmets, spears, swords), and Sardinia (helmets, shields, coats of mail)".
[1]
Illustration shows "Venetian infantryman, late 14th C." with a spear, sword, helmet, shield, guantlets, and plate armour for lower legs.
[2]
Illustration shows "Venetian knight, c.1600" with a sword, full plate armour and shield.
[3]
[1]: (Gaier 2010, 75) Claude Gaier. Arms Industry and Trade. Clifford J. Rogers. ed. 2010. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Medieval Warfare and Military Technology, Volume 1. Oxford University Press. Oxford. [2]: (Nicolle 1989, Plate C) David Nicolle. 1989. The Venetian Empire 1200-1670. Osprey Publishing. Oxford. [3]: (Nicolle 1989, Plate G) David Nicolle. 1989. The Venetian Empire 1200-1670. Osprey Publishing. Oxford. |
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|
’Chinese dynastic histories include descriptions that indicate shields were in use by the third century in Japan...From the Nara period to the early medieval period, military shields were standing wooden barriers about eye-level in height and roughly the width of human shoulders... They were attached to poles, or feet, which were hinged so that the support could be collapsed and stored or transported flat. Approximately one and a half meters tall and less than half a meter wide, mostly such shields were made of several planks joined vertically. Although shields could withstand more force if each was made from a single board, this was the exception rather than the rule. Protective substances such as lacquer could also prolong the life of such standing shields; however, by the end of the Kamakura period, decoration usually consisted solely of a family crest.’
[1]
[1]: Deal, William E. 2005. Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan. Oxford University Press.p.172. |
||||||
|
’Shields were commonly used in nearly all military contexts in Japan, beginning with prehistory. Chinese dynastic histories include descriptions that indicate shields were in use by the third century in Japan...From the Nara period to the early medieval period, military shields were standing wooden barriers about eye-level in height and roughly the width of human shoulders... They were attached to poles, or feet, which were hinged so that the support could be collapsed and stored or transported flat. Approximately one and a half meters tall and less than half a meter wide, mostly such shields were made of several planks joined vertically. Although shields could withstand more force if each was made from a single board, this was the exception rather than the rule. Protective substances such as lacquer could also prolong the life of such standing shields.’
[1]
[1]: Deal, William E. 2005. Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan. Oxford University Press.p.172. |
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|
No archaeological evidence for this. Moreover, the scholarly consensus is that the Jomon were relatively peaceful.
|
||||||
|
No archaeological evidence for this. Moreover, the scholarly consensus is that the Jomon were relatively peaceful.
|
||||||
|
No archaeological evidence for this. Moreover, the scholarly consensus is that the Jomon were relatively peaceful.
|
||||||
|
’Shields were commonly used in nearly all military contexts in Japan, beginning with prehistory’
[1]
According to one military historian, warriors of the Land of Wa (Japan) mentioned by early Han annals used shields
[2]
- do polity/region specialists consider these early Han annals a reliable source?
[1]: Deal, William E. 2005. Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan. Oxford University Press.p.172. [2]: (Gabriel 2002, 316) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. |
||||||
|
’Shields were commonly used in nearly all military contexts in Japan, beginning with prehistory. Chinese dynastic histories include descriptions that indicate shields were in use by the third century in Japan...From the Nara period to the early medieval period, military shields were standing wooden barriers about eye-level in height and roughly the width of human shoulders... They were attached to poles, or feet, which were hinged so that the support could be collapsed and stored or transported flat. Approximately one and a half meters tall and less than half a meter wide, mostly such shields were made of several planks joined vertically. Although shields could withstand more force if each was made from a single board, this was the exception rather than the rule. Protective substances such as lacquer could also prolong the life of such standing shields.’
[1]
[1]: Deal, William E. 2005. Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan. Oxford University Press.p.172. |
||||||
|
Chinese dynastic histories include descriptions that indicate shields were in use by the third century in Japan...From the Nara period to the early medieval period, military shields were standing wooden barriers about eye-level in height and roughly the width of human shoulders... They were attached to poles, or feet, which were hinged so that the support could be collapsed and stored or transported flat. Approximately one and a half meters tall and less than half a meter wide, mostly such shields were made of several planks joined vertically. Although shields could withstand more force if each was made from a single board, this was the exception rather than the rule. Protective substances such as lacquer could also prolong the life of such standing shields; however, by the end of the Kamakura period, decoration usually consisted solely of a family crest.’
[1]
[1]: Deal, William E. 2005. Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan. Oxford University Press.p.172. |
||||||
|
’Shields were commonly used in nearly all military contexts in Japan, beginning with prehistory’.
[1]
According to a military historian,wWarriors of the Land of Was (Japan) mentioned by early Han annals used shields.
[2]
- are these early Han annals considered a reliable source by polity/region specialists?
[1]: Deal, William E. 2005. Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan. Oxford University Press.p.172. [2]: (Gabriel 2002, 316) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. |
||||||
|
"Many of the early Persian miniatures, particularly those under Mongol influence of the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries, seldom illustrate shields. When they do the shields would seem to be of stout hide—small, circular, and convex, with applied metal bosses."
[1]
[1]: (Robinson 1967) Robinson, H. Russell. 1967. Oriental Armour. Walker and Co. New York. |
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|
’The permanent guard maintained at the capital was probably better. Relief sculpture portrays guards wearing helmets wrought with elaborate motifs; door guards wearing helmets wrought with elaborate motifs; door guardians carrying ceremonial weapons, their points protected by covers; sentinels carry lances, swords and shields. Ordinary soldiers carried lances in their right hands and shields in their left. The arsenal included sabres, swords, shields, broadswords, daggers, catapults and other contrivances.’
[1]
’For personal defence, there were two kinds of shields: round ones ornamented with vegetal or flower motifs, and long ones ornamented on the top border. The latter could be grouped together to form a kind of rampart. Both were probably of wood and hide, with metal plaques. Although most warriors wore only a kind of short-sleeved jacket (sometimes resembling the quilted ’armour’ in use in Mesoamerica), many were protected by a cylindrical cuirass, often with one or two knives lashed over it for close combat.’
[2]
’This includes a ballista, mounted either on elephant back or on a wheeled vehicle that could be rolled onto the field of battle; it consisted of two opposed bows, worked by two men, and shot arrows with tremendous force. Michel Jacq-Hergoulac’h, the leading authority on Khmer warfare, believes it may have been of Chinese origin. Shield ’ramparts’ mounted on wheels are another innovation of Kayavarman’s VII’s reign.’
[3]
[1]: (Mabbett and Chandler 1995, p.157) [2]: (Coe 2003, pp. 185-186) [3]: (Coe 2003, p. 186) |
||||||
|
’The permanent guard maintained at the capital was probably better. Relief sculpture portrays guards wearing helmets wrought with elaborate motifs; door guards wearing helmets wrought with elaborate motifs; door guardians carrying ceremonial weapons, their points protected by covers; sentinels carry lances, swords and shields. Ordinary soldiers carried lances in their right hands and shields in their left. The arsenal included sabres, swords, shields, broadswords, daggers, catapults and other contrivances.’
[1]
’For personal defence, there were two kinds of shields: round ones ornamented with vegetal or flower motifs, and long ones ornamented on the top border. The latter could be grouped together to form a kind of rampart. Both were probably of wood and hide, with metal plaques. Although most warriors wore only a kind of short-sleeved jacket (sometimes resembling the quilted ’armour’ in use in Mesoamerica), many were protected by a cylindrical cuirass, often with one or two knives lashed over it for close combat.’
[2]
’This includes a ballista, mounted either on elephant back or on a wheeled vehicle that could be rolled onto the field of battle; it consisted of two opposed bows, worked by two men, and shot arrows with tremendous force. Michel Jacq-Hergoulac’h, the leading authority on Khmer warfare, believes it may have been of Chinese origin. Shield ’ramparts’ mounted on wheels are another innovation of Kayavarman’s VII’s reign.’
[3]
[1]: (Mabbett and Chandler 1995, p.157) [2]: (Coe 2003, pp. 185-186) [3]: (Coe 2003, p. 186) |
||||||
|
’The permanent guard maintained at the capital was probably better. Relief sculpture portrays guards wearing helmets wrought with elaborate motifs; door guards wearing helmets wrought with elaborate motifs; door guardians carrying ceremonial weapons, their points protected by covers; sentinels carry lances, swords and shields. Ordinary soldiers carried lances in their right hands and shields in their left. The arsenal included sabres, swords, shields, broadswords, daggers, catapults and other contrivances.’
[1]
’For personal defence, there were two kinds of shields: round ones ornamented with vegetal or flower motifs, and long ones ornamented on the top border. The latter could be grouped together to form a kind of rampart. Both were probably of wood and hide, with metal plaques. Although most warriors wore only a kind of short-sleeved jacket (sometimes resembling the quilted ’armour’ in use in Mesoamerica), many were protected by a cylindrical cuirass, often with one or two knives lashed over it for close combat.’
[2]
’This includes a ballista, mounted either on elephant back or on a wheeled vehicle that could be rolled onto the field of battle; it consisted of two opposed bows, worked by two men, and shot arrows with tremendous force. Michel Jacq-Hergoulac’h, the leading authority on Khmer warfare, believes it may have been of Chinese origin. Shield ’ramparts’ mounted on wheels are another innovation of Kayavarman’s VII’s reign.’
[3]
[1]: (Mabbett and Chandler 1995, p.157) [2]: (Coe 2003, pp. 185-186) [3]: (Coe 2003, p. 186) |
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|
There are shields and bucklers in the Angkorian period, but there are no references in the literature to shields found in archaeological contexts.
|
||||||
|
Judging from contemporary texts from Mesopotamia chariot warriors typically required the leather shield and Vedic sources also mention a shield in reference to the equipment of charioteer gods.
[1]
[1]: (Kuz’mina 2007, 136-137) Elena Efimovna Kuzʹmina. 2007. The Origin of the Indo-Iranians. J P Mallory ed. BRILL. Leiden. |
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|
Rare, but present. "Le antiche figurazioni e i reperti archaeologici suggeriscono inoltre la presenza di soldati di fanteria dotati di lance, pugnali, asce e mazze, ma scarsamente protetti da armi difensive, quali elmi, corazze e scudi, che compaiono raramente nei repertori figurati; risulta, infine, la presenza di corpi di arcieri."
[1]
TRANSLATION: "Ancient iconography and archaeological findings suggest that the infantry was armed with spears, daggers, axes, and clubs, but was only rarely clad in defensive gear such as helmets, armour and shields; finally, armies also included archers’ corps."
[1]: Bartoloni, P. 1988. L’esercito, la marina e la guerra. In Moscati, S. (ed) I Fenici pp. 132-138. Milano: Bompiani. |
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|
"Armour was apparently little used in the Western Sudan, though the Mossi cavalry for protective purposes assumed as much clothing as possible and provided leather and copper shields for the vulnerable parts of their mounts."
[1]
Reference for pre-colonial West Africa: at least until the introduction of firearms cavalry and infantry used shields.
[2]
[1]: (Smith 1989, 78) Robert Sydney Smith. 1989. Warfare & Diplomacy in Pre-colonial West Africa. Second Edition. The University of Wisconsin Press. Madison. [2]: (Smith 1989, 79) Robert Sydney Smith. 1989. Warfare & Diplomacy in Pre-colonial West Africa. Second Edition. The University of Wisconsin Press. Madison. |
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|
"Armour was apparently little used in the Western Sudan, though the Mossi cavalry for protective purposes assumed as much clothing as possible and provided leather and copper shields for the vulnerable parts of their mounts."
[1]
Reference for pre-colonial West Africa: at least until the introduction of firearms cavalry and infantry used shields.
[2]
[1]: (Smith 1989, 78) Robert Sydney Smith. 1989. Warfare & Diplomacy in Pre-colonial West Africa. Second Edition. The University of Wisconsin Press. Madison. [2]: (Smith 1989, 79) Robert Sydney Smith. 1989. Warfare & Diplomacy in Pre-colonial West Africa. Second Edition. The University of Wisconsin Press. Madison. |
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|
The Sudanese knight also wore an iron helmet, which made a loud clinking noise. "Le chevalier soudanais portait aussi un bouclier de fer dont le cliquetis faisait un vacarme impressionant."
[1]
Cavalry and footsoldiers had shields.
[2]
[1]: (Niane 1975, 123) [2]: (Diop 1987, 117-118) Diop, Cheikh Anta. Salemson, Harold trans. 1987. Precolonial Black Africa. Lawrence Hill Books. Chicago. |
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|
The last Yuan emperor Toghon Temur returned to Mongolia and established the capital of his new Mongol state ("which extended from Manchuria to Kyrgystan") at Karakorum. At that time the MilTech codes would be the same as for the preceding Yuan China. Over the next decades the state lost territory and there was civil war at the start of the 15th century although in 1409 CE they still managed to rout a very large invading Ming army. The Ming attacked again but the Mongols were not conquered. Under an Oirat noble called Esen (1440-1455 CE) they invaded China in 1449 CE with 20,000 cavalry and captured the Ming emperor. In 1451 CE Esen overthrew the Mongol Khan but he wasn’t a direct descendent of Genghis Khan and was killed during a 1455 CE rebellion. His rule was followed by minor Khans who ruled a Mongolia in which the Khalkhas were one of three ’left-flank’ tumens (in addition to Chahars and Uriangqais). The state also had ’right-flank’ tumens (Ordos, Tumeds, Yunshebus) and the Oirats of western Mongolia. "These 6 tumens were major administrative units, often called ulus tumens (princedoms), comprising the 40 lesser tumens of the military-administrative type inherited from the Yuan period, each of which was reputedly composed of 10,000 cavalry troops ..."
[1]
The narrative suggests at least for 1400 CE and 1500 CE the army was cavalry based and in continuity with the preceding Yuan. The Yuan Dynasty is coded present for this armour.
[1]: (Ishjamts 2003, 208-211) N Ishjamts. 2003. The Mongols. Chahryar Adle. Irfan Habib. Karl M Baipakov. eds. History Of Civilizations Of Central Asia. Volume V. Development in contrast: from the sixteenth to the mid-nineteenth century. UNESCO Publishing. Paris. |
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|
Preiser-Kapeller says present.
[1]
c900 CE cavalry had a round, medium-sized shield.
[2]
[1]: (Johannes Preiser-Kapeller 2015) Institute for Medieval Research, Division of Byzantine Research, Austrian Academy of Sciences) [2]: (O’Rourke 2010, 10) O’Rourke, M. 2010. The Land Forces of the Roman (Byzantine) Empire in the 10th Century. Canberra. |
||||||
|
Sources
[1]
only mention very little archaeological evidence for military technology for this period, and this does not include armour. However, armour made from wood and cloth have been documented for the later periods, so their absence in the archaeological record may be due to preservation bias.
[1]: Marcus and Flannery (1996) Zapotec Civilization: How urban society evolved in Mexico’s Oaxaca Valley. Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People: divergent evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec civilizations. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Academic Press, New York. |
||||||
|
Sources
[1]
only mention very little archaeological evidence for military technology for this period, and this does not include armour. However, armour made from wood and cloth have been documented for the later periods, so their absence in the archaeological record may be due to preservation bias.
[1]: Marcus and Flannery (1996) Zapotec Civilization: How urban society evolved in Mexico’s Oaxaca Valley. Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People: divergent evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec civilizations. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Academic Press, New York. |
||||||
|
Sources
[1]
only mention very little archaeological evidence for military technology for this period, and this does not include armour. However, armour made from wood and cloth have been documented for the later periods, so their absence in the archaeological record may be due to preservation bias.
[1]: Marcus and Flannery (1996) Zapotec Civilization: How urban society evolved in Mexico’s Oaxaca Valley. Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People: divergent evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec civilizations. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Academic Press, New York. |
||||||
|
Sources
[1]
only mention very little archaeological evidence for military technology for this period, and this does not include armour. However, armour made from wood and cloth have been documented for the later periods, so their absence in the archaeological record may be due to preservation bias.
[1]: Marcus and Flannery (1996) Zapotec Civilization: How urban society evolved in Mexico’s Oaxaca Valley. Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People: divergent evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec civilizations. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Academic Press, New York. |
||||||
|
Sources
[1]
only mention very little archaeological evidence for military technology for this period, and this does not include armour. However, armour made from wood and cloth have been documented for the later periods, so their absence in the archaeological record may be due to preservation bias.
[1]: Marcus and Flannery (1996) Zapotec Civilization: How urban society evolved in Mexico’s Oaxaca Valley. Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People: divergent evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec civilizations. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Academic Press, New York. |
||||||
|
"Little is known about warfare in Mesoamerica before the Middle Formative [...] warfare was relatively unorganized, conducted by small groups armed with unspecialized tool-weapons".
[1]
[1]: (Hassig 1992: 12-13) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/E9VHCKDG. |
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|
"Teotihuacan warriors therefore carried shields, but no other offensive weapons."
[1]
[1]: (Hassig 1992: 47) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/E9VHCKDG. |
||||||
|
"Little is known about warfare in Mesoamerica before the Middle Formative [...] warfare was relatively unorganized, conducted by small groups armed with unspecialized tool-weapons".
[1]
[1]: (Hassig 1992: 12-13) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/E9VHCKDG. |
||||||
|
"In reaction to slings, shields were widely adopted in the Late Formative, especially rectangular ones that protected most of the body [...] The protection afforded the trunk and the limbs".
[1]
[1]: (Hassig 1992: 31) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/E9VHCKDG. |
||||||
|
"Little is known about warfare in Mesoamerica before the Middle Formative [...] warfare was relatively unorganized, conducted by small groups armed with unspecialized tool-weapons".
[1]
[1]: (Hassig 1992: 12-13) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/E9VHCKDG. |
||||||
|
"In reaction to slings, shields were widely adopted in the Late Formative, especially rectangular ones that protected most of the body [...] The protection afforded the trunk and the limbs".
[1]
[1]: (Hassig 1992: 31) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/E9VHCKDG. |
||||||
|
"Little is known about warfare in Mesoamerica before the Middle Formative [...] warfare was relatively unorganized, conducted by small groups armed with unspecialized tool-weapons".
[1]
[1]: (Hassig 1992: 12-13) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/E9VHCKDG. |
||||||
|
"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. |
||||||
|
Preiser-Kapeller says present.
[1]
Shields.
[2]
Varangian guard carried a round shield.
[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. |
||||||
|
Sources
[1]
only mention very little archaeological evidence for military technology for this period, and this does not include armour. However, armour made from wood and cloth have been documented for the later periods, so their absence in the archaeological record may be due to preservation bias.
[1]: Marcus and Flannery (1996) Zapotec Civilization: How urban society evolved in Mexico’s Oaxaca Valley. Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People: divergent evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec civilizations. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Academic Press, New York. |
||||||
|
Relative to military technology used in this period, sources only mention the atlatl and spears.
[1]
However, armour made from wood and cloth has been documented for the later periods, so its absence in the archaeological record may be due to preservation bias.
[1]: Marcus and Flannery (1996) Zapotec Civilization: How urban society evolved in Mexico’s Oaxaca Valley. Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People: divergent evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec civilizations. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Academic Press, New York. |
||||||
|
"Toltecs [were] bearing spearthrowers and back shields".
[1]
[1]: (Evans 2004: 402) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/EWW3Q2TA. |
||||||
|
The Peruvian Moche civilization (end c700 CE) had small round shields attached to forearm, as demonstrated by the Moche warrior pot in the British Museum.
[1]
Not the same archaeological sub-tradition
[1]: (British Museum. Link to photo: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a3/Moche_warrior_pot_at_the_British_Museum.jpg) |
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|
Warriors protected their bodies with wooden shields: ’The Shield. The shield (beha or pere) is made of light wood, about ½ inch thick, strongly bound with narrow strips of cane to prevent splitting. The handle is a loop of stout rattan which passes through the wood. The shape of the shield-square cut above and pointed below-caused early observers to refer to it very appropriately as ‘Gothic’. It sometimes bears a device-in no manner heraldic but purely decorative-made by interlacing black strands among the yellow cane binding strips; and when this is well done the effect may be artistic and even dainty (Plate XIX)... Shields are used very adroitly in turning or intercepting missiles, and a broken spear-point buried in the wood is regarded as a trophy. Despite the fact that their serious use is over they are still very commonly kept in readiness-at least by the Aiga-and they always make a fracas possible. Like most other men the Orokaiva has no stomach for the plain spear, and he enjoys his inter-tribal brawl much more when he has a beha in his hand.’
[1]
[1]: Williams, F. E. (Francis Edgar), and Hubert Murray. 1930. “Orokaiva Society.”, 84 |
||||||
|
The Shield. The shield (beha or pere) is made of light wood, about ½ inch thick, strongly bound with narrow strips of cane to prevent splitting. The handle is a loop of stout rattan which passes through the wood. The shape of the shield-square cut above and pointed below-caused early observers to refer to it very appropriately as ‘Gothic’. It sometimes bears a device-in no manner heraldic but purely decorative-made by interlacing black strands among the yellow cane binding strips; and when this is well done the effect may be artistic and even dainty (Plate XIX)... Shields are used very adroitly in turning or intercepting missiles, and a broken spear-point buried in the wood is regarded as a trophy. Despite the fact that their serious use is over they are still very commonly kept in readiness-at least by the Aiga-and they always make a fracas possible. Like most other men the Orokaiva has no stomach for the plain spear, and he enjoys his inter-tribal brawl much more when he has a beha in his hand.
[1]
[1]: Williams, F. E. (Francis Edgar), and Hubert Murray. 1930. “Orokaiva Society.”, 84 |
||||||
|
Shields used by Greek soldiers.
[1]
Yuezhi (Kushan) find at Tillya-Tepe: "decorative gold clasp depicted a Greek infantryman in a cuirass breastplate carrying a spear and an oval shield."
[2]
[1]: Sekunda, Nick, and Nicholas Sekunda. The Ancient Greeks. Vol. 7. Osprey Publishing Company, 1986. [2]: (McLaughlin 2016, 78) 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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|
Inferred, based on presence in the contemporary Pontic kingdom.
[1]
[2]
[1]: McGing, B. C. (1986) The foreign policy of Mithridates VI Eupator, King of Pontus. Leiden: Brill. [2]: Erciyas, D. B. (2006) Wealth, Aristocracy and Royal Propaganda under the Hellenistic Kingdom of the Mithradatids. Colloquia Pontica: Brill, Leiden, Boston. |
||||||
|
The shields are either rectangular or of the figure-of-eight type
[1]
.
[1]: Lorenz J. and I. Schrakamp (2011) Hittite Military and Warfare, pp. 139 [In:] H. Genz and D. P. Mielke (ed.) Insights Into Hittite History And Archaeology, Colloquia Antiqua 2, Leuven, Paris, Walpole MA: PEETERS, pp. 125-151 |
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|
If "the first archaeologically recognizable, large post-Indus urban settlements are not earlier than the fifth century BC ... solidly visible states ... appear in a sudden profusion in the late first millennium B.C."
[1]
- who was king Stabrobates of India who used war elephants against a queen of Assyria (considered Shammuramat?) in the 9th century BCE?
[2]
One could infer king Stabrobates, if not based there himself, must have subdued and controlled the Kachi Plain region in order to invade Mesopotamia from ’India’. (Another source says Assyria invaded India and were driven out of Pakistan and India).
[3]
Diodorus Siculus says this too, queen Semiramis was based in Bactra (Bactria?).
[4]
If king Stabrobates’s polity controlled the Kachi Plain then we must code the according to the military technology he possessed. This would have included armour. Note: one military historian estimates that the Assyrian army had a strategic range of 2000 km
[5]
which places the Indus region in reach of their forces.
[1]: (Ahmed 2014, 64) Mukhtar Ahmed. 2014. Ancient Pakistan - An Archaeological History: Volume V: The End of the Harappan Civilization, and the Aftermath. Foursome Group. [2]: (Mayor 2014, 289) Adrienne Mayor. Animals in Warfare. Gordon Lindsay Campbell. ed. 2014. The Oxford Handbook of Animals in Classical Thought and Life. Oxford University Press. Oxford. [3]: (Kistler 2007, 18) John M Kistler. 2007. War Elephants. University of Nebraska Press. Lincoln. [4]: Diodorus Siculus. Delphi Complete Works of Diodorus Siculus. Delphi Classics. [5]: (Gabriel 2002, 9) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. |
||||||
|
Widely available for soldiers.
[1]
According to the Cach-nama "the common weapons of the Indian soldiers in early medieval India were ’swords, shields, javelins, spears, and daggers.’ Other sources indicate that they also carried lances, maces and lassos."
[2]
[1]: Kennedy, the Armies of the Caliphs pp. 168-178 [2]: (Eraly 2015) Abraham Eraly. 2015. The Age of Wrath: A History of the Delhi Sultanate. Penguin. |
||||||
|
Not mentioned in Cork’s (2005, 2006) reviews of evidence that the Harappans engaged in warfare.
[1]
[2]
There may be a very tentative link between the presence of rhinoceroses at Nausharo and the use of rhinoceros hides to create shields, but this is based on inference from ethnographic analogy and more evidence is needed to confirm that rhinoceros hide was used in this way
[3]
.
[1]: (Cork 2005) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/ECMD5V2D/q/cork. [2]: (Cork 2006) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/IQQCEMPC/q/cork. [3]: Possehl, G. L. (1999) Indus Age Beginnings. Oxford and IBH Publishing: New Delhi, Calcutta. p204 |
||||||
|
Not mentioned in Cork’s (2005, 2006) reviews of evidence that the Harappans engaged in warfare.
[1]
[2]
There may be a very tentative link between the presence of rhinoceroses at Nausharo and the use of rhinoceros hides to create shields, but this is based on inference from ethnographic analogy and more evidence is needed to confirm that rhinoceros hide was used in this way
[3]
.
[1]: (Cork 2005) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/ECMD5V2D/q/cork. [2]: (Cork 2006) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/IQQCEMPC/q/cork. [3]: Possehl, G. L. (1999) Indus Age Beginnings. Oxford and IBH Publishing: New Delhi, Calcutta. p204 |
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"Among them the older and more skillful ones were called batyr -- knight, khosun -- warrior, and bargan (byargyan’) -- good shot, and roamed through the taiga not far from the settlements, hunting and fishing. Many of them had coats of mail (kuyakh) made from plates of iron and bone sewn over a leather caftan. In most cases these wanderers were mounted, but there were some who went on foot. Their weapons consisted of a light, bent, birch bow (okh), 5. a quiver (kikhek) filled with arrows (aya), a knife, and a war spear (batyya). Near the home they often used a light hunger’s spear (batas), while many also used short swords (bolat) and small bone shields in the shape of a shovel, used for warding off arrows."
[1]
[1]: Sieroszewski, Wacław. 1993. “Yakut: An Experiment In Ethnographic Research.", 716 |
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"Among them the older and more skillful ones were called batyr -- knight, khosun -- warrior, and bargan (byargyan’) -- good shot, and roamed through the taiga not far from the settlements, hunting and fishing. Many of them had coats of mail (kuyakh) made from plates of iron and bone sewn over a leather caftan. In most cases these wanderers were mounted, but there were some who went on foot. Their weapons consisted of a light, bent, birch bow (okh), 5. a quiver (kikhek) filled with arrows (aya), a knife, and a war spear (batyya). Near the home they often used a light hunger’s spear (batas), while many also used short swords (bolat) and small bone shields in the shape of a shovel, used for warding off arrows."
[1]
[1]: Sieroszewski, Wacław. 1993. “Yakut: An Experiment In Ethnographic Research.", 716 |
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Shields "were commonplace among the Burmese, Siamese, Javanese [...] and almost every other Southeast Asian society for which we have evidence throughout the early modern period"
[1]
"In the 1680s, Siamese levies made use of leather shields."
[2]
[1]: (Charney 2004, p. 39) [2]: (Charney 2004, p. 40) |
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Huge leather lamt, a Berber shield that originated in southern Morocco/Western Sahara.
[1]
The Fatimid arsenals contained shields.
[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]: (Hamblin 2005, 749) Shillington, K. ed. 2005. Encyclopedia of African History: A - G.. 1. Taylor & Francis. [3]: (Lindsay 2005, 78) Lindsay, James E. 2005. Daily Life in The Medieval Islamic World. Hackett Publishing Company, Inc. Indianapolis. |
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"To protect themselves in battle, warriors carried large, arrow-proof shields made of bison hide."
[1]
.
[1]: Illinois State Museum, The Illinois, Technology: Weapons (2000), http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/post/htmls/te_houses.html |
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"[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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The Iroquois carried shields made of wood, bark, or leather.
[1]
[2]
[1]: (Otterbein 1964: 57) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/KJNNGAQX. [2]: (Engelbrecht 2003: 159) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/FJ3EAI76. |
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Some expert disagreement on whether an object commonly held by "warriors" in North Yemeni rock-art from the Late Neolithic and Bronze Age should be interpreted as a shield or a bow.
[1]
[1]: (Jung 1991: 57) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/JP9KX5BK. |
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"Many of the early Persian miniatures, particularly those under Mongol influence of the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries, seldom illustrate shields. When they do the shields would seem to be of stout hide - small, circular, and convex, with applied metal bosses. By the late fourteenth century many more shields are represented and often clearly depict concentric rings of cane woven with silk thread into a light but firm convex defence, usually fitted with a central steel boss. Several colours of silk thread were used and remarkable geometric patterns produced. They were lined with fabric and had a leather cushion behind the central boss, over which was braced a plaited leather grip, the ends of which were secured to four iron rings riveted through to four ornamental washers."
[1]
[1]: (Robinson 1967) Robinson, H. Russell. 1967. Oriental Armour. Walker and Co. New York. |
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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. |
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Probably present for the Andronovo charioteers but by the 12th century BCE "mounted horsemen armed with bows and arrows replaced chariot drivers"
[1]
so we need to know what armour (if any) they wore. Tazabagyab culture is considered to have had its origin in Andronovo culture.
[2]
Andronovo culture (2000-900 BCE, Alakul phase 2100-1400 BCE, Fedorovo phase 1400-1200 BCE, Alekseyevka phase 1200-1000 BCE). Tazabagyab culture (15th - 11th), Suyarganskaya culture (11th - 9th), Amirabad culture (9th - 8th).
[1]: (Kuz’mina 2007, 138) Elena Efimovna Kuzʹmina. 2007. The Origin of the Indo-Iranians. J P Mallory ed. BRILL. Leiden. [2]: (Mallory 1997, 20-21) J P Mallory. Andronovo culture. J P Mallory. D Q Adams. eds. 1997. Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture. Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers. Chicago. |
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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]
"... a fragment of a leather-covered circular wooden shield has survived, bearing a painting of a mounted warrior. This was found in the ruins of the castle of Mug, east of Samarkand, and with it were many documents dating the destruction of the place to the eighth century - when the Persian prince who held it rebelled against the local Arab ruler."
[1]
"Many of the early Persian miniatures, particularly those under Mongol influence of the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries, seldom illustrate shields. When they do the shields would seem to be of stout hide—small, circular, and convex, with applied metal bosses."
[1]
[1]: (Robinson 1967) Robinson, H. Russell. 1967. Oriental Armour. Walker and Co. New York. |
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"The Tatar foot-soldier carried a bow, an axe, a dagger, a sabre and a small round shield, wooden with an iron rim"
[1]
"Many of the early Persian miniatures, particularly those under Mongol influence of the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries, seldom illustrate shields. When they do the shields would seem to be of stout hide - small, circular, and convex, with applied metal bosses. By the late fourteenth century many more shields are represented and often clearly depict concentric rings of cane woven with silk thread into a light but firm convex defence, usually fitted with a central steel boss. Several colours of silk thread were used and remarkable geometric patterns produced. They were lined with fabric and had a leather cushion behind the central boss, over which was braced a plaited leather grip, the ends of which were secured to four iron rings riveted through to four ornamental washers."
[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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"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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Some expert disagreement on whether an object commonly held by "warriors" in North Yemeni rock-art from the Late Neolithic and Bronze Age should be interpreted as a shield or a bow.
[1]
[1]: (Jung 1991: 57) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/JP9KX5BK. |
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Some expert disagreement on whether an object commonly held by "warriors" in North Yemeni rock-art from the Late Neolithic and Bronze Age should be interpreted as a shield or a bow.
[1]
[1]: (Jung 1991: 57) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/JP9KX5BK. |
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Some expert disagreement on whether an object commonly held by "warriors" in North Yemeni rock-art from the Late Neolithic and Bronze Age should be interpreted as a shield or a bow.
[1]
[1]: (Jung 1991: 57) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/JP9KX5BK. |
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