"Oldest Roman body armour found in Germany" Topic

"Archaeologists have discovered the oldest and most complete Roman body armour at the site of the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest in Kalkriese, Germany. Before this find, the earliest known examples of Roman lorica segmentata — iron plate sections tied together — were found in Corbridge, UK, and date to the 2nd century. Those were fragments. The Kalkriese armor is a complete set, and includes an extremely rare iron collar used to shackle prisoners.

More than 7,000 objects have been found at the Kalkriese battlefield site, from weapons to coins to items of everyday use. In the summer of 2018, a metal detector scan of the side wall of an excavation trench retuned 10 strong signals, indications of a large quantity of metal inside the bank. To ensure whatever was in there wasn't exposed to the air and rapid oxidization, archaeologists removed the entire soil block containing the mystery metallics.

The first step was to scan the block to see what was inside and map out its excavation. The block was too big for regular X-ray machines, so they transported the crate to the Münster Osnabrück International Airport where the customs office has a freight-sized X-ray machine. All they could see was nails of the wooden crate and a large black hole in the shape of the soil block…"

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Amicalement
Armand

IF that drawing is accurate, that is a very different representation of lorica segmentata than on any miniature I have or have seen.

Errr…. have you read the article my friend?…

Amicalement
Armand

That is awesome. Now we need new figures for the new lorica!

IF that drawing is accurate, that is a very different representation of lorica segmentata than on any miniature I have or have seen.

Considering there are over 100 years between this set and the Corbridge types its not surprising.

I not only read the article, I studied the x-ray produced 3D animation.

There's not much left of the armour.

It shows the body folds up nicely but the shoulder areas are not very complete.

So… you said that the draw figure is wrong…?…

I'm curious…

Amicalement
Armand

The armour appears to have a big gap in the front which earlier armours cover with shoulder doubling. The sleeveless armour you see from the first century ad onwards has enough marterial around the shoulder to cover the whole pectoral region.
I suspect the outer plate was either more squared off like later segmentata or there was another piece underneath. Having done a lot of historic combat that hole in the front is a glaring target to aim for. I don't see the Romans going from armour that fully covered the chest to armour with a big hole on the side of the chest.
Nice to see the rolled edges though, that appears in art in places like Trajan's column, not the main frieze but in the trophy friezes where more detail is possible.

As fas as I read it, the drawing is (just) an interpretation basd on the findings. The armour is not complete (yet??). It will take some years for all evidence is restored.