The Armour Archive

Just wondering what cultures/periods used scale as neck protection. (Eastern European/ Mongols?). How common were they? I've seen pictures of warriors clad in what appears a full scale coif.
Any ideas about their use and construction?(i.e. maybe by use only by cetain ranks i.e. similar to Munitions grade Japanese 'tatami' helmets being issued to generally to the lower ranks)

They are attested iconographically for the Byzantines (don't know exactly when), and also for the Middle East in the early Sasanian Period. I seem to recall that the Carolingians may have used them, but cannot say for certain.

Kalba

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Barkalba bar Shalamsin
m.k.a. Jamie Szudy
LU2.DUB.SAR

Scale aventails appear in the eastern HRE, particularly Bohemia, and in some German sources in the 14th century. There are a number of depictions of scale coifs, rather more of a skull-cap, in a number of German sources from the late 14th to early 16th centuries.