Can you imagine what it would be like to fight in battle wearing bronze armor weighing several tens of kilograms?
For decades scholars suspected that the Dendra panoply was a ceremonial outfit, far too heavy for real combat. This full Mycenaean armor was unearthed in 1960 at Dendra, Greece.
More than six decades later, a research team produced a replica weighing about 23 kilograms. It was employed in a simulated engagement with thirteen Marines. To do so, the crew followed the schedules, conditions, and rations of ancient soldiers, according to the Iliad.
The result? The thirteen completed the day without major difficulties. In addition, a computer model calculated that in six of seven scenarios heat would have allowed them to continue the fight.
The experiment demonstrates that fighting in bronze armor was physiologically feasible.
Sources
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Flouris AD, Petmezas SB, Asimoglou PI, Vale JP, Mayor TS, Giakas G, et al. (2024) Analysis of Greek prehistoric combat in full body armour based on physiological principles: A series of studies using thematic analysis, human experiments, and numerical simulations. PLoS ONE 19(5): e0301494. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0301494
