Williams, Alan R.
Description:
THE oldest specimen of interlinked mail yet found has been excavated from a 3rd cent. B. C. Celtic grave in Romania, and this was probably developed from protective garments made up of rings threaded onto cords, like netting. A fragment of such a garment has been found in a Hallstatt grave, perhaps of the 8th cent. B. C. in Bohemia. Representations of Roman soldiers prior to the 1st cent. A. D. show them clad in mail-shirts rather than in plate. Mail returned to favour in the straitened economic circumstances of the Migration Period. and. indeed. remained the basis of most personal armour in the Middle Ages until gradually replaced by plate again in the 15th cent.<br><br>No disponible.