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Paul Hansen
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 Posted: Sat 25 Feb, 2012 12:04 pm Post subject: Scale armor, but from where? |
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I just found these pictures:
http://www.tforum.info/forum/index.php?autoco...mp;img=410
According to the title (above the picture) it's in the Hermitage, but otherwise there is no information.
Anyone know something about it's age and culture?
There are more interesting pictures from other museums in that gallery as well, btw...
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Felix Kunze
Location: Bonn, Germany Joined: 28 Feb 2007
Posts: 50
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| Posted: Sat 25 Feb, 2012 12:22 pm Post subject: |
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Looks like one of the scythian scale armours from the 5th to 4th century BC. The scales, belt and the shoulderguards look very typical for such an armour. The hole arrangement visible in some of the scales look like some other finds from scythian kurgans.
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Dan Howard
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| Posted: Sat 25 Feb, 2012 1:04 pm Post subject: |
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Need to know where it was found but agreed with Felix. It looks 5th-4th C Scythian. They were wearing the "Greek style" with the shoulder doublings around that time. It is curious that the torso scales are actually smaller than the shoulder scales. Usually the largest scales are on the torso. I'm wondering whether it was originally like the others in that photo set and the shoulder doublings were added later to help the wearer conform to the trendy new Greek fashion.
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Romulus Stoica
Location: Hunedoara, Transylvania, Romania Joined: 26 Oct 2006
Posts: 124
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| Posted: Sun 26 Feb, 2012 11:10 am Post subject: |
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It is a scythian armor, I believe it's one of those found in Ukraine. I remember seeing it on a russian site but I don't remember which one. I have to search my archive.
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Felix Kunze
Location: Bonn, Germany Joined: 28 Feb 2007
Posts: 50
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| Posted: Sun 26 Feb, 2012 11:39 am Post subject: |
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After some research, these armours most probably are the two specimen found in kurgan 491 in Makeevka. The armour was removed from the grave en bloc, but the upper part was so much destroyed by grave robbers, that there is some incertainty about the placement of the fragments here. Only the front part of the armour was made of metal, only the lower end of the back was reinforced with a row of scales (row 14). In the inside rests of a leather garment with linen and coarse wool was found. The armour was dated to the (end of the) fifth century BC. Information according to Cernenko, Scythian armour.)
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Artis Aboltins
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| Posted: Sun 26 Feb, 2012 1:53 pm Post subject: |
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I believe Felix is correct - and I must say that seeing that armour up close in the Hermitage museum in St. Petersburg is really interesting - photos, while good, does not really let you appreciate how impressive it is. When you imagine how it must have looked when it was not rusted, but clean and reflecting sunlight when worn by a mounted warrior...
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Paul Hansen
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| Posted: Mon 27 Feb, 2012 11:32 am Post subject: |
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Thanks guys, interesting stuff! I thought the Skythians mainly used lamellar armor rather than scale...
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Len Parker
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Dan Howard
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| Posted: Sun 30 Sep, 2012 3:08 pm Post subject: |
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| Paul Hansen wrote: | | Thanks guys, interesting stuff! I thought the Skythians mainly used lamellar armor rather than scale... |
Nobody was wearing lamellar that early. The earliest example of lamellar dates to the end of the Warring states period in China.
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This is a standard topic