800 years old and completely accidentally discovered complete ring armour
Categories: Nálezy nejenom s detektorem ve Velké Británii a Irsku
When the Knights and Conquests Heritage Center in Granard, County Longford, Ireland, had a "National Week" in August 2021Heritage Week," someone approached CEO Bartle D'Arcy, who was wearing a suit of chain mail. The man, who will remain anonymous, said "I have something like that at home". Two days later, the man brought a complete "hauberk" or ringmail shirt.
D'Arcy was shocked because he had never seen the entire vest as a discovered artifact.
The man who had it said he had been doing some earthmoving on his property using a small excavator. The hauberk appeared in the dirt from the drain and luckily caught his eye. The man, not knowing what he had actually found, simply threw it in the shed and gave the thing a miss. As it turns out, the artifact is over eight hundred years old and has Norman origins, according to irishtimes.com.
The reason the ring armor survived in such great condition was because of the water it was lying in.
According to D'Arcy, oxidation/rust only occurs when air has access to the iron. After being shown at the Norman Heritage exhibition, it went to the National Museum of Ireland for restoration and authentication.
The museum is subjecting the ring armour to a range of tests, including X-rays, and is also consulting experts on its dating. Ring armour became a popular means of protection during the late medieval period from 1300 to 1485. Because it was made of iron, it was extremely heavy and could become very hot in the sun.
It was made by shaping iron wire into links that were flattened with a hammer with enough layers to form a solid structure.
During the early years when ring armour came into use, it gradually began to replace individual pieces of medieval armour. But only the wealthiest knights could afford complete armour. This was the work of a single craftsman for about a year, and it was completely beyond the financial means of the average foot soldier.
The use of ring armour in Ireland dates from 1172 just after the Norman invasion.
When the Normans wanted to achieve complete control of the "Emerald Isle". But one thing is certain, it's an extraordinary find, and all thanks to a chance encounter. After restoration, conservation and certification, the armour is scheduled to be displayed at Longford.
Sources: thearchaeologist.org
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