Editors’ Choice: Testing archaeological mail armour in a virtual environment: 3rd century BC to 10th century AD

Description

Editor’s choice in Journal of Cultural Heritage, Volume 48, 2021

Metal archaeological artefacts such as mail armour can be examined in numerous ways to extract information from the object. It can be assumed that, as textiles, different mail armours have different characteristics and behave accordingly and may have changed through time or geography. The behaviour and characteristics of mail armour depend substantially on the physical and mechanical properties of the mail fabric. These properties are contained within the archaeological remains and can still reveal important information on the characteristics of mail armour. However, none of current methods and techniques are able to determine the physical and mechanical properties of the mail garment in its entirety.