Laminar armour

Laminar armour from animal skins has also been traditionally made and worn in the Arctic areas of what are now Siberia, Alaska and Canada.

In the 16th century laminar and lamellar armour was superseded by plated mail in the Middle East and Central Asia, remaining mainly in Mongolia.

The technique was also used create segmented armour to protect the neck, upper limbs, and hips as seen in the Almain rivet, the zischagge, falling buffe, and faulds.

At the beginning of the Sengoku period Japanese armour typically had two versions – expensive and inexpensive.

The difference was that expensive versions were made from hundreds or even thousands of individual leather and or iron scales laced together into armor strips (lamellar), this was a very time-consuming process.

Laminar armor proved to be inexpensive and easier to construct, although was often made to look like simulated lamellar plates.

Kiritsuke iyozane is a form of laminar armor constructed from long strips of leather and or iron which were perforated, laced, and notched and made to replicate the look of real lamellar plates.

Finally by the end of the 16th century laminar and lamellar armour practically disappeared in the Middle East and Central Asia regions.

Classic lamellar armour was made from hard materials (initially from natural materials like bone, tusk, baleen, and even wood as arrow-heads initially were from bone or stone) and in the shape of a short cuirass or even consisted only of a breast-plate.

While laminar armour was made from hardened seal leather and often knee long, or even longer.