Posted on 09/16/2010 5:17:28 AM PDT by decimon
A Kevlar-like armor might have helped Alexander the Great (356323 B.C.) conquer nearly the entirety of the known world in little more than two decades, according to new reconstructive archaeology research.
Presented at the annual meeting of the Archaeological Institute of America in Anaheim, Calif., the study suggests that Alexander and his soldiers protected themselves with linothorax, a type of body armor made by laminating together layers of linen.
"While we know quite a lot about ancient armor made from metal, linothorax remains something of a mystery since no examples have survived, due to the perishable nature of the material," Gregory Aldrete, professor of history and humanistic studies at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, told Discovery News.
"Nevertheless, we have managed to show that this linen armor thrived as a form of body protection for nearly 1,000 years, and was used by a wide variety of ancient Mediterranean civilizations," Aldrete said.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.discovery.com ...
Alexander’s ragtime band ping.
I suppose these folks forgot that Alexander’s armor was penetrated by an arrow ....that almost killed him. =.=
I wonder what the thread count was?
LOL.
/blonde
I’m a weaver and have worked with linen. It is unforgiving and difficult. We made a paste (glue) by boiling the flax seeds and then painting that on the strings of linen to keep them from fraying.
Old news...
Cool!
Don't all school girls have to get this mandated vaccine now?
At least you two agree that Pablo is very wily.
Don't all school girls have to get this mandated vaccine now?
And in the thorax. Go figure.
:)
I saw one program that showed how layers of silk under garments defeated the ability of an arrow to penetrate deeply.
Used by Mongol warriors, I think.
It went in under his arm, not through the “armor”.
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You sure that wasn't an ad for...awww...nevermind... ;-))
I wonder what kind of fabric the Trojans used? ;’)
There was a program on either the Discovery channel or the History channel that demonstrated this type of armor and how surprisingly resistant it was.
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