Scale Armour
Extant Scale Armour Finds
– Looking for the Evidence By Jennifer Baker ( Jenny Baker )
Eurasian Scale Armor,
ca. 6th century B.C in the Met Museum, New York
Research Disclaimer : Please note that This Research was done many years ago now :
so the information contained may now be out of date , photos gone missing or web links broken
My apologises : But It has become an impossible task to try and keep it up to date - Jenny
SUMMARY OF FINDS
Early Finds – BC – 8 examples
Iron Age Finds - AD – 6 examples
Roman Age Finds – 25 examples
Early Medieval Finds -
10th Century Finds –
11th – 12th Century Finds – 3 examples
13th - 14th Century Finds –
15th – 17th Century Finds – 1 example
Later Finds – 1 example
EARLY FINDS - BC:
Egypt in King Tutankhamun’s Tomb 1333-23 B.C - The only item of true body armor recovered from the tomb was a close-fitting leather cuirass, found in a crumpled up state in box 587 in the Annex. It is described by Howard Carter as 'made up of scales of thick tinted leather [perhaps red and yellow] worked onto a linen basis, or lining, in the form of a ...bodice without sleeves'
photos of Howard Carter’s notes on it
http://www.griffith.ox.ac.uk/gri/carter/587a-c587a-1.html
http://www.griffith.ox.ac.uk/gri/carter/587a-c587a-2.html
http://www.griffith.ox.ac.uk/gri/carter/587a-c587a-3.html
Burton’s Photos of the leather cuirass as found in the box in the tomb – there are no photos of it laid out
http://www.griffith.ox.ac.uk/gri/carter/587a-p1304.html
Leather and Bronze Scale Armour from Troy - The scale from Troy is about 1" wide by 3" long, with a rounded bottom and a midrib, and 4 holes across the top. with alternating rows of bronze and red-painted rawhide scales.
Mentioned in "The ancient Greece of Odysseus " by Peter Connolly
Photos of a Reproduction of it
http://www.larp.com/hoplite/scales8.jpg
http://www.larp.com/hoplite/scales9.jpg
http://z8.invisionfree.com/Bronze_Age_Center/...id=6570479
Leather Scale Armour - Eurasian - possibly the Scythian – ca. 6th century B.C. in the Met Museum New York
http://www.metmuseum.org/Works_Of_Art/recent_acquisitions/1999/co_rec_ancient_2000.66.asp
A Piece of Scale Armour from Shaikhn Dher, Chrsada India
http://www.jstor.org/pss/25203200
mention of Scale Armour being found at excavations of the royal tombs at Vergina in Macedonia, which have produced a cuirass of iron scales covered with fabric
Arms and Armor - lorica segmentata, Mary Rose, La Trinidad Valencera, Batavia, Armour from the Battle of Wisby http://www.jrank.org/history/pages/5900/Arms-Armor.html#ixzz0gUoB1QEF
mention of Scale Armour being found at excavation of the collapsed arsenal at Aï Khanoum in Afghanistan
Arms and Armor - lorica segmentata, Mary Rose, La Trinidad Valencera, Batavia, Armour from the Battle of Wisby http://www.jrank.org/history/pages/5900/Arms-Armor.html#ixzz0gUoRZOyv
mention of Scale Armour being found at excavation of Scythian tombs (sixth to fourth centuries B.C.) and housed in the Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg
Arms and Armor - lorica segmentata, Mary Rose, La Trinidad Valencera, Batavia, Armour from the Battle of Wisby http://www.jrank.org/history/pages/5900/Arms-Armor.html#ixzz0gUoRZOyv
Breastplate of scale - Italy. Late 6th century - Steel and bone; forged and carved. H. 42 cm
Source of Entry: Tsarskoye Selo Arsenal (formerly in the collection of N.A. Kushelev). 1885 in the Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg
Iron Age Finds - AD –
Silla warriors Scale Armour , fourth and sixth centuries AD
measuring 440 centimeters (173 inches) long and 220 meters (722 feet) wide
the ancient tombs of the Jjoksaem District of Hwango-dong, Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Korea.
Gyeongju National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage
http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2907709
Several Leather scale armours were found at Miran Fort Tibet
Description of them - Oblong Lacquered scale of varying in size and ornamentation
8th to 9th century
Leather with lacquer 7 cm x 15.6 cm 11 cm x 19.5 cm 15.5 cm x 21.2 cm
http://dsr.nii.ac.jp/toyobunko/VIII-5-B2-9/V-1/images/PDF/0547.pdf
http://dsr.nii.ac.jp/toyobunko/VIII-5-B2-9/V-1/images/PDF/0548.pdf
http://dsr.nii.ac.jp/toyobunko/VIII-5-B2-9/V-1/images/PDF/0549.pdf
The Silk Road By Susan Whitfield, Ursula Sims-Williams, British Library
number of Leather & Metal scale armours have been found in Scythian graves in Rusia
http://www.romanarmytalk.com/rat/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=19877&sid=6c28fccec2b6ce0d7f5715e72748a406
Issyk's Gold Cataphract Warrior (from Kazakhstan), a parade gold scale armour from Issyk's thomb of Sakas King - approx. VI -V centuries. BC
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Issyk_Golden_Cataphract_Warrior.jpg
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Issyk%27s_Golden_Cataphract_Warrior_(close_view).jpg
Roman Age Finds –
Note: some of these could easily be described as Lamellar but I have kept them as scale as that is what the Archeologists have categorized them as.
Fragment of Lorica squamata. Somerset County Museum in Taunton
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scale_armour
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Roman_scale_armour_fragment.JPG
A large fragment of iron scale or locking scale armor, probably the collar cape from a lorica squamata, was found at Carlisle early in 2001. - a section of neck guard or cuirass, made up entirely of small iron scales joined together with copper-alloy wire. Carlisle Millennium Project armor page - Tullie House Museum & Art Gallery - Carlisle
http://www.carlislemillenniumdig.co.uk/pages/armour.htm
http://www.romanhideout.com/armamentarium.asp
http://www.roma-victrix.com/armamentarium/loricae_squamata.htm
Roman armour and metalworking at Carlisle, Cumbria, England
By Mike McCarthy, Mike Bishop & Thom Richardson
http://www.antiquity.ac.uk/projgall/Pre2003/McCarthy/mccarthy.html
Fragment of Lorica squamata. At the Landesmuseum - Mainz - Germany
http://www.romanhideout.com/armamentarium.asp
http://www.roma-victrix.com/armamentarium/loricae_squamata.htm
Fragment of Lorica squamata. At the Vindonissa Museum
http://www.roma-victrix.com/armamentarium/loricae_squamata.htm
Lamellae of a lorica squamata from Trajan Ulpia Sarmizegetusa (Dacia), dating from the second century AD
Muzeul you Civilizatiei Dacice Romane - Deva-RO. From the book "Trajan-The Edge of the Empire" Electa-Verlag
http://www.roma-victrix.com/armamentarium/loricae_squamata.htm
Scale Mail Armor Fragment - 2nd or 3rd Century
Fragment of Lorica squamata. From Nijmegen,
http://www.romancoins.info/MilitaryEquipment-Body-Armour.html
Fragment of Lorica squamata. from Carnuntum
http://www.romancoins.info/MilitaryEquipment-Body-Armour.html
Fragment of Lorica squamata on display at Museum Carnuntinum ( Austria, Bad Deutsch-Altenburg)
Published: Exhibition catalogue "Legionsadler und Druidenstab, F. Humer, 2006," ISBN 3854602294"
http://www.romancoins.info/MilitaryEquipment-Body-Armour.html
A string fragment of Bronze Scale Mail or Lorica Squamata armor consisting of numerous leaf shaped pieces of silvered bronze connected with bronze rings. This items has 11 leafs still attached together with a pair separate - 1st to 3rd Century AD - Location Discovered Balkans
Fragment of Lorica squamata on display at the British Museum, London
Fragment of Lorica squamata on display at the Limesmuseum Aalen
http://www.roma-victrix.com/armamentarium/loricae_squamata.htm
Fragment of Lorica squamata on display at the Bad Deutsch-Altenburg (Carnuntum) in Austria, dating to the second century AD: the remains measuring 4 to 5 centimeters in height - Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum – Mainz Germany
http://www.roma-victrix.com/armamentarium/loricae_squamata.htm
Fragment of Lorica squamata on display at the Bad Deutsch-Altenburg (Carnuntum) in Austria, dating to the second century AD: the remains measuring approximately 1.2-1.5 cm to indicate a clear variety of types of this armor. - Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum – Mainz Germany
http://www.roma-victrix.com/armamentarium/loricae_squamata.htm
Fragment of Lorica squamata Archaeological Museum Carnuntinum - Bad Deutsch-Altenburg - Austria
Three rows of scales in bronze respectively in their horizontal measuring 7 cm - 4.6 - 4.9.
http://www.roma-victrix.com/armamentarium/loricae_squamata.htm
Fragment of Lorica squamata iron lorica squamata gaging in their entirety, CM19 x 19,
Archaeological Museum Carnuntinum - Bad Deutsch-Altenburg-Austria
http://www.roma-victrix.com/armamentarium/loricae_squamata.htm
Fragment of Lorica squamata iron lorica squamata gaging in their entirety, 14.5 cm x 15.
Archaeological Museum Carnuntinum - Bad Deutsch-Altenburg-Austria
http://www.roma-victrix.com/armamentarium/loricae_squamata.htm
In the article "Roman Scale Armour" by John Clemetson in vol. 5 no. 1 of ARMA (June 1993), seven samples of scale armor are shown. All are copper alloy, have slightly domed and pointed bottoms, and 6 holes in three vertical pairs across the top
Corbridge - Height 14.2mm, 9/16", Width 9.9mm, 3/8", Thickness 0.25mm/.010"
Corbridge - Height 13.6mm, 11/32", Width 7.3mm, C. 9/32", Thickness 0.25mm/.010"
Great Chesters - Height 12mm, C. 5/16", Width 7mm, 9/32", Thickness 0.25mm/.010"
Caerleon - Height 9.5mm, C. 3/8", Width 9.5mm, C. 3/8", Thickness ?
Vindobona - Height 14mm, C. 9/16", Width 10mm, C. 3/8", Thickness ?
Carnuntum - Height 14mm, C. 9/16", Width 8mm, 5/16", Thickness "Slight"
Dura Europas - Height 9mm, C. 11/32", Width 6.5mm, 1/4", Thickness 0.25mm/.010"
http://www.larp.com/legioxx/squamata.html
Fragment of Lorica squamata at the Castle museums in Linz ( Upper Austria ). Archeological collection: Remnants of Roman scale mail ( lorica squamata ) from Enns
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Linz_Schlossmuseum_-_R%C3%B6mischer_Schuppenpanzer.jpg
Some fragments of actual Roman era scale were found at the fort barracks at Yassihöyük (Gordion), Ankara Province, Turkey
http://www.myarmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t=13920&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=20
Early Medieval Finds –
10th Century Finds –
11th – 12th Century Finds –
Frankish Scale Armour – Montfort, Vadrum Jacob,
Crusader archaeology: the material culture of the Latin East By Adrian J. Boas http://books.google.com.au/books?id=a4ROJ_y85qwC&pg=PA166&lpg=PA166&dq=scale+armour+archaeological&source=bl&ots=w5D2JDYHHM&sig=8aCv2RqGDFjUSdNXX4lofjT1SX8&hl=en&ei=BpyFS8H8N8GTkAXAxL2tAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CBcQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q=scale%20armour%20archaeological&f=false
Frankish Scale Armour – Har Hozevim in Jerusalem
Crusader archaeology: the material culture of the Latin East By Adrian J. Boas http://books.google.com.au/books?id=a4ROJ_y85qwC&pg=PA166&lpg=PA166&dq=scale+armour+archaeological&source=bl&ots=w5D2JDYHHM&sig=8aCv2RqGDFjUSdNXX4lofjT1SX8&hl=en&ei=BpyFS8H8N8GTkAXAxL2tAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CBcQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q=scale%20armour%20archaeological&f=false
Frankish Scale Armour – Kurum
Crusader archaeology: the material culture of the Latin East By Adrian J. Boas
13th - 14th Century Finds –
15th – 17th Century Finds –
Spanish Scale Armour - New Mexico
A New World Find Of European Scale Armor by HC Rogers
http://gladius.revistas.csic.es/index.php/gladius/article/viewFile/21/22
Later Finds –
Scale coat covered with the gold decorated scales of the pangolin.
Indian, Rajasthan, early 19th century - Royal Armouries, Leeds.
This coat has been covered with the scales of the pangolin or scaly anteater (Manis crassicaudata). The scales have been decorated in gold, and the larger have been used where more protection is required. This is the only known example of this type of armour. It originally had a helmet, also made of pangolin scales, with three plumes.
The scale coat was presented to the King George III in 1820 by Francis Rawdon, 1st Marquis of Hastinges (1754-1826), who was the East India Company's Governor General in Bengal, 1812-22.
1st Published : 20 Oct 2011 Page Updated: 10 Sept 2020 © Looking for the Evidence : Jennifer Baker ( Jenny Baker )