Mere shiny metal or real protection? The oldest Italian armour discs (Mozzano, Cittaducale, Capena) and the question of the fighting method in Central Italy

Abstract

Analysis of more than half of the so-called Italian armour discs (dischi-corazza) deriving from uncertain contexts has forced one to accept that they are really metal decorative discs belonging to Italian female costume (dischi di ornamento femminile). As a result, it seemed necessary to look at the oldest armour discs covering the soldier’s upper body with regard to an extended typology and an up-to-date chronological classification which again discusses the origin and meaning of the strange lateral notches on the specimens of the older examples.
Moreover, in this paper the hitherto unknown armour discs from the antiquities collection of the Archaeological Museum in Frankfurt am Main, which have been investigated archaeometrically at the Friedrich-Schiller University of Jena, will be presented for the first time. Thereby a new method could be used, involving non-contact optical profile measurement and surface topography carried out at the IFW Jena, in order to recognise traces of ancient working beneath layers of patina.
The second part of the study deals with the reconstruction of the method of fighting in Central Italy during the Archaic Period (7th-5th c. B. C.), starting from the many weapon-bearing burials from the necropolis of Bazzano near L’Aquila and from the neighbouring cemetery of Fossa. The inclusion of ancient records and iconographic sources shows that archaeological features alone do not suffice in obtaining a more differentiated picture of the weaponry and conduct of warfare, as unknown ideological, religious and symbolic criteria
influenced the choice of weapons as burial-goods.