Mail armour (commonly mislabelled 'chainmail') was used for more than two millennia on the battlefield. After its invention in the Iron Age, mail rapidly spread all over Europe and beyond. The Roman army, keen on new military technology, soon adopted mail armour and used it successfully for centuries. Its history did not stop there and mail played a vital role in warfare during the Middle Ages up to the Early Modern Period.
Given its long history, one would think mail is a well-documented material, but that is not the case. For the first time, this books lays a solid foundation for the understanding of mail armour and its context through time. It applies a long-term multi-dimensional approach to extract a wealth of as yet untapped information from archaeological, iconographic and written sources. This is complemented with technical insights on the mail maker’s chaîne opératoire.
Author(s): Martijn A. Wijnhoven
Series: Amsterdam Archaeological Studies, 29
Publisher: Amsterdam University Press
Year: 2021
Language: English
Pages: 520
City: Amsterdam
Cover
Contents
Acknowledgements
1 Introduction
1.1 Previous research
1.2 Research question and aims
1.3 Chaine opératoire
1.4 A multi-dimensional approach to material studies
1.5 Scope
1.6 Mail or chain-mail?
2 The origins of mail armour
2.1 Suggested precursors
2.2 Contested Origins
2.3 Earliest evidence
2.4 Tracing the earliest contexts
2.5 Further disperal
2.6 When, where and by whom
3 Distribution and archaeological context
3.1 Battlefiels and accidental loss
3.2 Iron age mail
3.3 The roman Republic
3.4 The Roman Principate
3.5 Hybrid feathered armour
3.6 Hybrid armour beyond the roman empire
3.7 Late Antiquity
3.8 Late Barbaricum and beyond
3.9 Mail for men, woman and children
3.10 Social access to mail outside the Roman Empire
3.11 Centuries of archeological evidence
4 The iconography of early mail armour
4.1 the iconographic evidence
4.2 the 3rd century bc to the end of the roman republic
4.3 early empire until the end of the 1st century ad
4.4 the 2nd century ad
4.5 the 3rd to 5th century ad
4.6 development of mail armour design in iconography
5 The naming of mail armour
5.1 Classical literature on armour
5.2 Lorica hamata
5.3 Other designations
5.4 Simply lorica
6 Decoration in mail garments
6.1 Gold on silver
6.2 Copper alloy elements
6.3 Decorative origin
6.4 Development and distribution
6.5 Decorative trimmings
6.6 Inserted patterns
6.7 Contrasting rivets
6.8 Decoration of hybrid armour
Decoration of 'miniature mail'
6.10 Decorative hems
6.11 Colourful Roman army
7 Padded garments
7.1 the advantage and disadvantage of flexible armour
7.2 himation, thoracomachus, subarmalis and cimmerian tunic
7.3 textile and leather remains
7.4 medieval analogy, gladiators and pteruges
7.5 concealed by metal armour
8 The craft of making mail rings
8.1 The mail maker's process
8.2 The manufacture of metal wire
8.3 The manufacture of solid rings
8.4 Unravelling the use of butted rings
8.5 Loose rings
8.6 The mail making workshop
9 Weaving patterns
9.1 Four-in-one pattern
9.2 Six-in-one pattern from tiefenau
9.3 Pinched loop-in-loop pattern from Bertholdsheim
9.4 Four-in-one pattern in hybrid armour
9.5 Favourable characteristics
10 The construction of mail garments
10.1 Current knowledge based on late mail from Europe
10.2 Presence of constructional techniques in early mail
10.3 Construction of early mail by working in the flat
10.4 Construction of textile clothing and mail
10.5 Construction of the coat with shoulder guards
10.6 Mail with shoulder guards and textile clothing
10.7 The development of mail armour trough the ages
10.8 Construction in cultural context
11 Ring characteristics
11.1 The relevance of the seemingly irrelevant
11.2 Ring size
11.3 Direction of the overlap and ring types
11.4 Cross-section of riveted rings
11.5 rivet characteristics
11.6 Shape of the overlap in riveted rings
11.7 Cross-sections of solid rings
11.8 Ring characteristics typology
12 Final considerations
12.1 Insights
12.2 Prospects
12.3 Methodological potential
Bibliography
Database
Appendix 1. Catalogue of mail armour
Appendix 2. Catalogue of hybrid armour
Appendix3. Catalogue of isolated finds of fasteners and fixtures
Appendix 4. Finds excluded from the database
