A contribution to the study of lamellar armors

Abstract

The work is based on the finds of lamellar armors from the Early Byzantine site Svetinja at Viminacium. In addition to the analysis of the finds we presented also the analogies from Early Byzantine, Germanic and Avar contexts and we also paid attention to the so far insufficiently known find from Selenča. Along the armors we also analyzed the related lamellar helmets. The work includes discussion of the genesis of lamellar armor types - their Oriental origin and their continuance after the 6th century, i.e. the final years of the 6th and the beginning of the 7th century, when lamellar armors were introduced in the Byzantine army and among Germans and Avars as a result of changes in warfare techniques. Finally, we suggest conclusions resulting from the precisely defined context of the Svetinja find.

Keywords

• lamellar armors
• lorica squamata
• Svetinja
• Selenča
• Byzantium
• Germans
• Avars