Lamellar armour

Lamellar armour consists of small platelets known as "lamellae" or "lames", which are punched and laced together, typically in horizontal rows.

Lamellae can be made of metal, leather cuir bouilli, horn, stone, bone or more exotic substances.

[1] The earliest evidence points to the early-Iron Age Assyrians as the people responsible for the early development and spread of this form of armour, during the Neo-Assyrian Empire.

In the numerous battle scenes depicted in the reliefs from Niniveh and Nimrud, commemorating the victories of Ashurnasirpal and Ashurbanipal from the 8th and 7th centuries BC, hundreds of Assyrian soldiers, both infantry and cavalry, are represented wearing cuirasses constructed of lamellae.

If we accept the representations as correct and translate the method of construction literally, then we are confronted with a type of lamellar armour quite different from later specimens.

The lamellar cuirass was especially popular with the Rus, as well as Mongols, Turks, Avars, other steppe peoples, as well as migratory groups such as the Langobards as it was simple to create and maintain.

Lamellar armour is often associated with the samurai class of feudal Japan, but was commonly used in ancient and medieval China, Korea, and Mongolia.

[6] For example, the Terracotta Army of the Qin dynasty is portrayed as wearing six (6) or seven (7) different categories of lamellar armor corresponding to rank and military division.