Scale armour offers better and more solid protection from piercing and blunt attacks than chain mail. : 78–80 Comparison with other armour types It is a protective jacket with scale-shaped metal plates, possibly made of brass. The Javanese people has a type of scale armour called siping-siping. "A primitive type of Japanese harness, the single laminae being of boiled leather, cut and beaten into pieces shaped like fish-scales." Indonesia Japanese scale armour constructed from fish type scales ( gyorin kozane) were reportedly constructed in Japan as far back as the Fujiwara period (11th century). Japanese (samurai) individual scales are called kozane. Horses covered with scale armour are mentioned in the ancient Chinese book of poetry, Shi Jing. ![]() Ming dynasty tomb guardian statue in mountain pattern armour, a possible variation of scale armour Sir Albrecht's armour appears to be additionally riveted to the backing. The funeral effigy of Sir Albrecht Von Hohenlohe circa 1325 AD depicts him wearing scaled body armour underneath his surcoat and over a mail haubergeon. The use of these scale armoured components is commonly depicted in period art and funeral effigies. There is also evidence for scale sabatons (protective shoe coverings) and scale aventails. It was commonly used to augment other armour types, predominantly mail, but also plate armour taking the form of a cuirass over mail, scale pauldrons, or faulds (the lower part of a breastplate that protects the lower stomach, hips and groin). Metal scale armour was used throughout most of the European world for the duration of the medieval period. JSTOR ( December 2020) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message).Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.įind sources: "Medieval scale armour" – news Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Again, in the collection of marble portrait-busts from the great Gallo-Roman villa of Chiragan near Toulouse, the Emperors Antoninus Pius and Severus both appear wearing corselets of scale armour. The Carnuntum monument of Calidius (a work of the middle of the first century) shows also a scaled tunic of a centurion. ![]() On two tombstones of the Sertorii at Verona (one that of a centurion, the other that of a standard-bearer) both figures are represented wearing a tunic of scale armour which covers the shoulders and comes down below the belt. Scale armour is not of frequent occurrence on the grave monuments of the German frontier. In these areas, scales were commonly dished (that is, with a bowl effect from a depression being hammered into a flat piece of metal) in order to benefit from the extra protection offered by a rounded scale.Īccording to the statement of Herodotus, the ancient Persians wore tunics with sleeves of diverse colours, having upon them iron scales of the shape of fish-scales this comparison indicates scale armour, and not mail, is meant. Hellenistic-Attic lamellar armour was also widely used in Middle Eastern empires, such as Persia and Byzantium. ![]() ĭuring Roman times, scale armour ( lorica squamata) was a popular alternative to mail ( lorica hamata) as it offered better protection against blunt force trauma. The individual scales used to construct Roman armour are called squamae or squama. Only the "lowermost" holes are visible on most scales, while a few show the pair above and the ring fastener passing through them. Each plate has six holes and the scales are linked in rows. Some finds indicate partial armour, where a leather shirt or similar garment has sewn-on scales in places, particularly around the neck and upper chest.įragment of lorica squamata. The armour was made from small plates of iron or bronze.ĭue to the semi-rigid nature of the armour, the Scythian variety was made as breast- and back-plates, with separate shoulder pieces. The Scythians' horse warriors appear to have used scale or possibly lamellar armour, evident both from contemporary illustrations and burial finds in kurgans. The Romans also had a variant called lorica plumata in which the scales were attached to mail. Other types of armour made from individual scales but constructed in a different manner have their own separate names, such as lamellar armour where the individual scales are perforated on several or all edges and lashed tightly to each other in straight ridged rows and do not need to be attached to a backing. ![]() Lorica squamata is an ancient Roman armour of this type. The scales are usually assembled and strapped by lacing or rivets. Scale armour is armour in which the individual scales are sewn or laced to a backing by one or more edges and arranged in overlapping rows resembling the scales of a fish/reptile or roofing tiles.
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