#lentoid

[battleshields]

Shield rim drilled and stiched with double twisted linen cord. Drilling 202 holes is backbreaking work. Painting the rim and waxing the shield are next.

[battleshields]

Unique handle from the British iron age cavalry shield I’m making. I like to think the slightly offset rivets are more realistic.

[battleshields]

Blood & Leather: Re-creating the Maasai war shield in 2012

Excellent video showing the power of cultural identity in shields today.

[battleshields]

European Lentoid Shield Shape

  Commonly mistaken for crudely depicted oval shields, ‘Lentoid’ or eye-shaped shields did exist in Iron Age Europe and the near east. The evidence for them mostly comes from numismatics (coins), but they span many different cultures and fighting traditions. Even the Hellenistic ‘Thureos’ are sometimes seen as a lentoid shape and not just an oval. Although the two shapes are similar, they present different handling and protection methods. In addition, there are parallels in lentoid shape shields from the African continent, e.g. traditional Maasai or Nguni shields.

No physical shields of this type have been archaeologically discovered, but the images above provide pictorial evidence from various sources. Pictures 1 - 5 are from Britain and are coins minted during the reign of Tasciovanus, King of the Catuvellauni & Trinovantes. Quite clearly a lentoid shaped shield is being carried in the left hand by all cavalrymen and are long in length. Pictures 6 & 7 are also coins from Britain, but this time they were minted during the reign of Verica, King of the Atrebates. In a similar style the lentoid shields are being carried (or worn by strap) on the left side by a cavalryman. Both sets of coins were natively minted by those peoples and are strong cases for the use of this particular shaped shield in Britain.

On the continent, evidence for lentoid shields mostly comes from Roman coinage that celebrated military victories against the peoples that used them. After the Gallic Wars ended, Julius Caesar and various other Roman noble families minted various coins displaying the spoils of war and amongst them are captured Gallic shields. Pictures 8 & 9 are both Roman coins and show lentoid shields supposedly used by the Gallic enemy. Picture 9 is a famous type minted for L. Hostilius Saserna that shows the bust of captured leader, Vercingetorix. Just behind his head is an elongated lentoid shape that represents a shield and the corresponding reverse side of the coin shows a charioteer carrying a smaller lentoid shield. Picture 10 is an example of Gallic lentoid shields in re-enactment. These guys are ‘Teuta Senones Pisaurenses’ from Italy and are the only group that show this shield in all its glory.

 Pictures 1 - 6: Images courtesy of The Portable Antiquities Scheme

  Pictures 7 - 9: Image courtesy of www.cngcoins.com

 Picture 10: Image courtesy of Teuta Senones Pisaurenses