- Order:
- Duration: 2:53
- Published: 29 Jun 2007
- Uploaded: 12 Jul 2011
- Author: SkallagrimNilsson
Lamellar is pictured in many historical sources on Byzantine warriors, especially heavy cavalry. It is thought that it was worn to create a more deflective surface to the rider's armour, thus allowing blades to skim over, rather than strike and pierce. Recent studies by Timothy Dawson of the University of New England, Australia, suggest that Byzantine lamellar armour was significantly superior to chain mail.
Sumerian and Ancient Egyptian bas-reliefs depicting soldiers have been argued as portraying the earliest examples of lamellar armour, particularly on chariot drivers, but it is not until the time of the Assyrians circa 900–600 BC that possible examples of lamellar begin to appear in the archaeological record. Among finds of Assyrian armour (often individual or unconnected scales) there are examples that can clearly be classified as scale armour as well as others that appear to be lamellar, and there exist a large number of finds whose function has proven difficult to determine. The extent to which either type was used is a debated topic. The earliest definite instance of true lamellar was found in China when twelve suits of lacquered lamellar were uncovered in a tomb at Sui-hsien, Hupei (dated to c. 433 BC). Lamellar was used by various cultures from this time up through the 16th century. It is generally associated with the Japanese Samurai, although the armour came to Japan from contact with Tang Dynasty China. It is also associated with the steppe people of southern Russia and Mongolia such as the Scythians and Sarmatians.
This text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.