The Armour Archive

Dalloch

Might not be of any use to you, but some of the archaeological work I've been doing over the past few years involved late Iron age (c.0-400AD) roundhouses in the Moray firth area of Scotland. http://www.nms.ac.uk/kids/people_of_the_past/celts_and_romans_at_birnie.aspx http://canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/en...

Dalloch

Talorc: I applaud your attention/interest to early Scots (picts). If you have not done so you might consult two texts by Alistair Moffat "The Faded Map" and "Before Scotland" he does have a third text just out "A Genetic Journey". Respectfully, Moffat is at best a coffee table historian and at wors...

Dalloch

Also for footwear I planned to go with this. Am I completely of base with is? I figured they would be ok since by the 6th Century some sort of influence from the south had to travel north in the clothing. Plus there was not that much difference anyway other than, pants or no pants; leg wraps or no ...

Dalloch

Hello there, this will have to be brief... Greetings! I am in the middle of a situation on trying to get an appropriate Pictish kit for the 5th-6th Century, probably early 6th Century. I have studied this thread, any thread on this site that mentions Picts and even the Osprey books. What I find is a...

Dalloch

Any idea what all hunting weapons were common then? Of the top of my head: bow, slingshot, thrown spear, hand spear, knife. Traps of various types using pits, cordage and wood. Sir Digby, for ages up here tree hugging archaeologists were harping on about the great wood of Caledon'. Now we know (fro...

Dalloch

I'd doubt Capercallie. Its a bird of the dense, largely undistrubed woodland. Its very likely that Northumberland was largely denuded of these sorts of woodlands from the early Iron Age. If we are talking of the area around Hadrians wall, game birds woudl likely have been Grouse, but not Capercallie.

Dalloch

Small (mammal) game in Northern England of the top of my head: Then: Fox, Badger, Pine Martin, Pole Cat, Stoat, Weasel, Wildcat, Hare, Squirrel (Red), Hedgehog, Otter, Beaver. Now: Fox, Badger, Pine Martin (rare), Pole Cat (rare), Stoat, Weasel, Hare, Rabbit, Sqirrel (Red and Grey), hedgehog, Otter ...

Dalloch

interesting, out of curiosity, where did the Frisians settle? Frisia? :wink: I take it you mean the group known as the Scaldingi ? The indications are that some might have settled in the area around York, acording to Geoffrey Gaimars Historia de Sancto Cuthberto (10-11th century). 14: Then the army...

Dalloch

How much difference would it be between the west Saxon and a Saxon from Northumbria? Would there be significant differences? In short, none at all. Also there is no such thing as a Saxon from Northumbria. They are Angles (how much people living in the 'old' Northumbria still thought of themselves a...

Dalloch

Hi there, First, try posting here http://forums.armourarchive.org/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=14 Or look at these threads http://forums.armourarchive.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=48035 http://forums.armourarchive.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=43165 http://forums.armourarchive.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=43853 ...

Dalloch

I'm not aware of any evidence for lamellar or scale in Britain after the 4th century. There have been archaeological finds (apparently what we'd call scale, although archaeologists aren't always specific in initial reports) during the Carolingian period in France, though. Thats quite true. Really m...

Dalloch

The greaves and shoulders need to stay. For some unknown reason I get hit low a lot. No idea why, but I will normally get hit low at least twice at any practice or tourney I fight in. The shoulders, I could get rid of, I fought for years without them, but well just like em. :) Thereâ€™s no reason w...

Dalloch

Hi Fin, Before I dove into comments, what time period specifically are you looking at portraying? As a general comment, I would say you look far more 4th century southern Romano-British than anything else right now (there are a few issues with that as well, the spaulders and grieves for one). Knowin...

Dalloch

I have walked and run around on snow and ice in felt boots. Works well enough. As with all things, different people in different places came up with solutions to problems with regard to their own particular circumstances. The needs of someone in northern Scandinavia are different from someone in sou...

Dalloch

According to the guide book, many of the silver fragments may have come from a helmet similar to the one found at Sutton Hoo along with the gold cheek pieces. The golden strip with the biblical instriction may have come from a helmet too. However unlike Sutton Hoo there were no strap ends or buckle...

Dalloch

I'm looking forward to working on this again. I had to sideline it because of other more pressing dealines. There is no actual (functional)'armour' of any type. What there is however are ways of making armour look fantastic!

Dalloch

In brief, no. The amount of decoration is not assigned to a particular rank (military ranks as such do not exist at this time), and the richness of your clothing would indicate your richness and social standing. The more exclusive the dyes, fabrics and materials used in construction of clothing, the...

Dalloch

Why not let your sword hand do the talking insted? Seriously, if you want to do something authentic, its pretty much impossible to be 'pagan' and litterate in the culture you wish to portay. So either you accept that and move on, or use something which historically makes little sense. Also, 7-10th c...

Dalloch

Scotland/Alba(Western Highlands/Isles?), was populated by the Gaels who came from Ireland. Alba seems to have referred to the bit of modern Scotland north of the Forth, and south of the Oykel. The main power centres seem to have been in the east (Fortievot, Kilrimonith, Abernethy). How far to the w...

Dalloch

Gallwegian

/=Gallowglass. Gallwegian=Gallgael='Foreign Gael'

from Galloway in Ayrshire

...but I thought...

in the Gallwegian armies of the army of David I, as well s the army of Macbeth.

I can't place it, but there is something very wrong with these statements!

Dalloch

There is no 'right' answer for that. Look at other people, see what they wear and decide what you want based on desired profile v protection. I would like to have a combat kit that is at least loosely historically plausible for a British warrior living during the 5th through 7th centuries. If it goe...

Dalloch

Welcome!
http://forums.armourarchive.org/phpBB2/ ... hp?t=43867

Dalloch

Hello there Eadrich, I think the chronicle you are referring to Solinus (3rd century AD) from his De mirab. mundi bk23 and Isidore (630s) in his Etymologiae . Of interest to that whole discussion is Chron 802 ,s. a. 786; Ang.-Sax. Chron. E, s. a. 785. Whitelock, D (ed)., English Historical Documents...

Dalloch

No. OK, thatâ€™s the short answer.:) I am not aware of any unshaped amber beads from the 'early' period. My area of awareness is northern Britain, so I can only really speak for there. All the finds that I know of are worked, and rounded in appearance. They also seem to be fairly small, about the (v...

Dalloch

That's odd, so am I!

Meeting with some archaeologist friends in Elgin. I'll ask around and see what is known.

As usual though, 'Highlands' /= 'Scotland'

Dalloch

Kind of like the Scottish tartan? Represented no such thing. 'Tartans' specific to 'clans' are an invention of Sir Walter Scott and the 19th century, along with much of the 'highland' ideology of kilts and bagpipes. One thing that was used were sprigs of a distinguishing plant/twig in the bonnet, t...

Dalloch

Wicker men, Druids does not equal Migration era. Out by about 500-1000 years! Its perfectly possible to do a well researched and fairly accurate portrayal from the period 300-800 (which is what I'd call the migration era). It depends on exact time and place, but it is quite possible to do. I have st...

Dalloch

So far as I know the whole argument is mostly based on wind, from both sides. Its possible that at some point there was human sacrifice, (Bog bodies, strange burials etc) but there is no evidence for 'wicker men', that I know of.

Dalloch

Brilliant as many of the interpretations posted have been (some very sharp kits), what makes them Romano-British c.5-6th? Most are very fine, but generic â€˜late-romanâ€™ at best. While this may be fine for c.400-450, what about say 550? Has anyone tried a later purely Britonic kit? For example, a r...

Dalloch

So apart from needing to tighten the pommel now and again, its a general thumbs up?

Dalloch

Now that I'm dusting of my Silver again, I could do with a good early basket hilted sword. Darkwood have nice looking weapons, but how 'good' are their blades for WMA? Anyone have any experience of them?

http://www.darkwoodarmory.com/store/ind ... Path=65_82

Dalloch

Looked up Raedwald, and he was (at least nominally) a Christian, so if the Sutton Hoo burial is him, which is far from certain (although, admittedly, there's not a better known, named candidate), I suppose it would be Christian. I didn't know that . . . in any case, the material culture does not sh...

Dalloch

That's all pre-Christian Not quite, acording to Bede, '603 The East Saxons, under king Saeberht, accepted the Christian faith through Bishop Mellitus.' The only other thing being that Sutton Hoo mound one, whatever it is and whoever was commemorated/buried there, its much more likely they were a ki...

Dalloch

Sorry, that pdf was what I meant to post, but its frustratingly unclear. If you click through the sides there is a section on a helmet, listed as 'from Giubiasco'. The point of the science was apparently about deep imaging, which showed that the helmet was made up of â€˜bitsâ€™ that could be reconst...

Dalloch

But, I gotta' say that a hardened leather cheek piece is undeniably armor. Has any one seen the object? Is it in fact a cheek piece? Hmmm... (LARGE pdf file, you've been warned) http://tinyurl.com/c3lorl Itâ€™s frustratingly unclear, but it appears to claim that a helmet from Giubiasco is in fact a...

Re: Turf roofs

Re: Early Period, Briton (above the Wall)

Re: I Wanna be a Pictish Warrior 500-900AD

Re: Re:

Re: there we go

Darkwood armoury blades