In an ancient Chinese tomb, the remarkable "bionic" armour was unearthed 2,500 years ago

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As far as we know, there are just two more examples of its kind.

A man was buried in northwest China with armour consisting of more than 5,000 leather scales, a finely crafted military outfit that resembles the interlacing scales of fish; new research has shown.

The armour, which resembles an apron-like waistcoat, could be donned quickly without the help of another person. Professor Patrick Wertmann of the University of Zurich's Institute of Asian and Oriental Studies described it as "lightweight, highly efficient, one size fits all defensive clothing for soldiers of a mass army." Wertmann is the study's primary researcher.

Using nature as a source of inspiration for human technology was referred to as bionics by the researchers. According to study co-researcher Mayke Wagner, the scientific director of the Eurasia Department of the German Archaeological Institute and head of its Beijing office, the fish-like overlapping leather scales "strengthen the human skin for better defence against the strike, stab and shot."

At an archaeological site near Turfan, on the Taklamakan Desert's outer rim, researchers discovered the leather garment at Yanghai cemetery. During the early 1970s, local peasants unearthed an ancient graveyard. Archaeologists have uncovered more than 500 graves since 2003, including the one with the leather armour mentioned earlier in this paragraph. From the 12th century B.C. until the 2nd century A.D., archaeologists discovered that ancient humans used the cemetery for approximately 1,400 years. According to Wertmann, ancient Chinese historians referred to the Tarim Basin residents as the Cheshi people. They lived in tents, farmed, kept livestock like cattle and sheep, and were skilled horse riders and archers despite their lack of surviving written records.

The armour is quite hard to come by. The only other well-preserved ancient leather scale armour with a known provenance is that found in the tomb of King Tutankhamun, who ruled Egypt in the 14th century B.C. In New York, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, there is a well-preserved leather scale armour dating from the eighth to the third century B.C., although its origins are unknown.

The armour's discovery came as a "huge surprise," Wagner told Live Science via email. Archaeologists discovered this clothing in the grave of a 30-year-old man buried with other relics, including ceramics and two horse cheek pieces fashioned from horn and wood.

When archaeologists initially saw the burial's dusty bundle of leather fragments, they weren't too interested, according to Wagner. Since the Tarim Basin has such a dry climate, old leather items are frequently discovered.

"organized in horizontal rows and connected by leather laces going through the incisions," Wagner explained how he reconstructed the body armour's 5,444 small scales of cow rawhide and 140 bigger ones of cowhide. The Greek historian Herodotus referred to comparable armour worn by the fifth century B.C. Persian troops as "the scales of a fish" because of the overlapping rows of scales.

According to the experts, the armour dates back to 786 to 543 B.C., making it earlier than the Persians' fish-like armour, which dates back to 543 B.C. The team's reconstruction estimates that the armour's total weight was 11 pounds (5 kilograms).

Unique in every way

It's a one-of-a-kind find. "There is no other scale armour from this or an earlier period in China," Wagner added. "Armor fragments of a distinct style have been recovered in eastern China."

When chariotry first entered the military in about 1500 B.C., West Asian engineers devised scale armour to protect the drivers of the chariots. After that, the Persians and Scythians used this armour style, and later the Greeks did. Despite this, "the Greeks favoured different types of armour," Wertmann said in an interview with Live Science.

Since the newly described armour has a distinctly local flavour, Wagner believes it was not constructed in China. According to the British Museum, it resembles Neo-Assyrian military equipment from the 7th century B.C., which may be seen in rock engravings. Wertmann, "We believe that this piece of leather scale armour was probably made in the Neo-Assyrian Empire and potentially even in the neighbouring territories." It is possible that the Yanghai armour could be one of the few actual indications of West-East technology transfer across the Eurasian continent during the first half of the millennium BCE, according to the researchers' conclusions in the study.

The way it was worn

Most of the body is protected by this armour, including the torso, hips, and lower back. Wertmann explained that the thongs on this design allow it to be worn by people of varying heights and widths. The wearer's right arm was unrestricted due to the shield's left-side protection.

"It appears to be the appropriate equipment for both mounted combatants and foot soldiers, who have to move quickly and depend on their strength," he continued. In light of the discovery of horse cheek pieces in the tomb, it is possible that the tomb owner was a horseman."

Wertmann, however, remained puzzled about how the armour wound up in the body of the deceased guy. "The Yanghai armour's wearer may have been a foreign soldier in Assyrian service who was given Assyrian equipment and brought it back, or he may have captured the armour from someone else who was there, or he may have been an Assyrian or North Caucasian who somehow wound up in Turfan. There is no limit to what can be achieved."

Reference : https://www.livescience.com/rare-leather-armor-found-china-burial

Image source : https://pixabay.com/id/photos/kuburan-batu-nisan-makam-4653166/

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