TY - JOUR
T1 - A warrior's skirt made from rings
T2 - Early mail armour or a collector's vision?
AU - Wijnhoven, Martijn A.
PY - 2019
Y1 - 2019
N2 - An Italic bronze belt in the collection of the Louvre Museum contains an unusual feature: A mesh of bronze rings hangs from it, forming a mail skirt. The belt itself dates to the 4th century BC. As for the skirt, it has been suggested that it may be one of the earliest occurrences of mail, or possibly an ancestor of mail armour. However, closer examination demonstrates that the belt and skirt do not belong together and were married in the 19th century. The skirt does not concern mail armour, nor an ancestor. Analysis of similar finds shows that the skirt is an 8th-7th century BC hip ornament from a female burial in southern Italy.
AB - An Italic bronze belt in the collection of the Louvre Museum contains an unusual feature: A mesh of bronze rings hangs from it, forming a mail skirt. The belt itself dates to the 4th century BC. As for the skirt, it has been suggested that it may be one of the earliest occurrences of mail, or possibly an ancestor of mail armour. However, closer examination demonstrates that the belt and skirt do not belong together and were married in the 19th century. The skirt does not concern mail armour, nor an ancestor. Analysis of similar finds shows that the skirt is an 8th-7th century BC hip ornament from a female burial in southern Italy.
KW - Armour or ornamentation
KW - Female burials
KW - Iron age in south Italy
KW - Italic bronze belt
KW - Origin of mail armour
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85077456654&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85077456654&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3989/gladius.2019.03
DO - 10.3989/gladius.2019.03
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85077456654
SN - 0436-029X
VL - 39
SP - 45
EP - 70
JO - Gladius
JF - Gladius
ER -