All about lamellar and scale armor

Lamellar and Scale Armor his body armor made of small plates steel, brass, bronze, leather or bone. The plates are usually strung together in rows, often in horizontal lines. Lamellar armor was probably worn without a textile or leather underlayer, while scale armour was often attached to textile or leather clothing or even on mail shirts. Both types of armor are possibly the oldest type of body armor. They are older than the chainmail shirt which was likely developed in the 3rd century BC.  

Lamellar armor is usually made of larger plates than scale armour. Scale armour was attached to textile, leather, or a mail underlayer, while lamellar armor was worn completely loose, often over the chainmail shirt. A major difference between the two types of mail is the amount of archaeological evidence. While the archaeological evidence of lamellar armor is quite scarce, there are many examples of scale armor. Possibly because the Romans widely used scale armour. Both the lorica squamata and the lorica plumata. In the latter, the scales were directly attached to the chainmail shirt. 

Because both are very similar, it is possible that both developed parallel to each other, but that lamellar armor was easier to recycle as steel for other objects such as scale armour. 

Both armors offer better and sturdier protection against piercing and blunt attacks than mail shirts. It is also cheaper to produce, but it is not as flexible and does not offer the same level of coverage. After the introduction of the coat of plates and brigandine, lamellar and scale armor gradually fell out of use in medieval Europe. However, in other parts of the world, they remained popular. 

It is unclear which culture developed the scale and lamellar armor. It may have been in the region of the Middle East, Egypt, or the Caspian steppe. The earliest depiction of scale armor comes from the tomb of Kenamon, who lived in Egypt during the reign of Amenhotep II (1436–1411 BC). The earliest archaeological evidence of lamellar armor comes from the Neo-Assyrian Empire in the early Iron Age. They used lamellar armor in the 8th-7th century BC. On reliefs from Nineveh and Nimrud, we see many Assyrian soldiers with lamellar cuirasses. . These cuirasses covered their body from shoulder to waist and sometimes had short sleeves. It appears that this type of lamellar armor was different from later versions. In findings of Assyrian armor, there are examples of both scale armor and lamellar armor. Around 485 BC-425 BC, a lot of scale and lamellar armor was used in Middle Eastern empires, such as Persia. In these areas, the scales were often domed, allowing them to overlap better. According to Herodotus's account, the ancient Persians wore tunics with sleeves in different colors, on which iron scales in the form of fish skin were placed; this indicates that scale armors are meant, and not chainmail shirt. 

The mounted warriors of the Scythians wore scale and possibly also lamellar armor.  This is evident from both illustrations and grave finds in burial mounds. The armor was made of small plates iron or bronze. A Scythian scale armour from the 8th-3rd century BC is one of the best-preserved scale armors from classical antiquity and is currently part of the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. 

Due to the semi-rigid nature of the armor, the Scythian variant was made as breast and back plates, with separate pauldrons. Some finds indicate partial armor, where a leather shirt or similar garment has scales in some places, particularly around the neck and the upper chest.

Lamellar armor was used in many parts of the world, such as in Central Asia, East Asia (in China, Japan, Korea, Mongolia, and Tibet), West Asia, and Eastern Europe. 

Possibly, Lamellar and scale armour were introduced into the Roman Empire from the steppes. On the Column of Trajan, Dacian mercenaries are depicted wearing scale armour. During the Roman era, scale armor (lorica squamata) was a popular alternative to chainmail (lorica hamata) because it offered better protection against blunt trauma. They were widely worn by auxilia, but also by other Roman soldiers and officers. On two Roman tombstones (80-72 BC) of the Sertorii in Verona (one of a centurion, the other of a standard-bearer), both figures are depicted with a lorica squamata covering the shoulders and reaching below the belt. The Carnuntum monument of Calidius (1st century AD) also shows a scaled lorica squamata of a centurion. In addition, in the collection of marble portrait busts from the large Gallo-Roman villa of Chiragan near Toulouse, the emperors Antoninus Pius and Severus both appear with corsets of scale armor. Moreover, archaeological excavations in regions like the Roman Limes in Germany have yielded various scales.

In the Migration Period, lamellar armor was used in combination with chainmail. In the necropolis of Castel Trosino, 6th-7th century lamellar armor was found that was worn by the Lombards (a Germanic tribe that moved from Northern Europe to Italy). Possibly around this time, scale and lamellar armor were also worn by other Germanic peoples, although there is no evidence of this. 

Lamellar armor is often depicted on Byzantine warriors, especially in heavy cavalry, the Cataphract. According to recent studies by Timothy Dawson of the University of New England, Australia, it turns out that Byzantine lamellar armor was much better than chainmail.

In Scandinavia, no archaeological evidence has been found of scale armour. However, two examples of lamellar armor are known. In the 19th century, pieces of lamellar armor were probably found in Snäckgärde on Gotland. However, these have not been preserved and are only mentioned in reports of the archaeological excavation at the time. In Birka, 720 lamellae from the 10th century were found that protected various parts of the body such as the chest, back, upper arms, and possibly even the knees. These lamellae were likely made in Gnezdovo and Novgorod. There are some examples of 9th-11th century lamellae found that were worn by the Rus or Varangians: Swedish Vikings who settled in the region of Ukraine and Russia. Archaeological finds (270 pieces) indicate that in this region around the 11th-13th century, lamellar armor was more widely worn. It is likely that the Vikings' lamellar armors were exclusively imported from the Byzantine Empire, where lamellar armor was much more commonly used. 

In the Middle Ages, lamellar and scale armour were used mainly by the Rus, Mongols, Turks, Avars, and other steppe peoples.

Metal scale armour was regularly used in the Middle Ages in Western Europe to reinforce other armor. Especially mail hauberks, but also helmets were sometimes reinforced with scale armour. There is also evidence of scale armour that protected the feet. The use of these scale armour components is sometimes depicted in art from that time.

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