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Researchers at the Jiangxi Provincial Institute of Cultural Research and Archeology in China have recovered the remains of a complex scale armor recovered from a more than 2,000-year-old Han Dynasty tomb.
The unusual armor is composed of several materials, making it the first of its kind documented from the Han Dynasty, the institute announced on December 7, as reported by Xinhua news agency.
The tomb belongs to Liu He, a prince who he inherited the imperial throne of the Western Han Dynasty (202 BC to 25 CE) for only 27 days before he was deposed (but not killed). At the time of his death years later, he was known as the Marquis of Haihun. Archaeologists have discovered his well preserved tomb in East China’s Jiangxi Province in 2011.
The Institute of Cultural Relics and Archeology of China’s Jiangxi Province announced on the 7th that it has completed the preliminary arrangement of armor fragments excavated from the tomb of Prince Haiguan Liuhe, an ancient Han Dynasty tomb located in Nanchang , the province. The researchers reconstructed approximately 6,000 shell fragments and found that they were part of a fish shell made from a combination of lacquered iron, copper and leather. This is the first time that Han Dynasty armor made of multiple materials has been found. pic.twitter.com/mxV3OY0Jgj
– China News Agency Xinhua Japanese (@XHJapanese) December 10, 2024
Two years ago, archaeologists discovered armor scales (also known as plates) with knives and swords in a pile in the tomb’s armory room. The History Blog. Given the remains of lacquer—a hard, shiny coating—archaeologists surmise that the armor had originally been packed in now disintegrating lacquered boxes.
“The Tomb of Haihun Hou had been through earthquakes and the rise of the underground water level due to the expansion of the Poyang Lake area, so the armor fragments were in a fragile state” , Yang Jun of the Jiangxi Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archeology and head of the excavation. team that discovered the grave said Xinhua news agency. Over the course of two years, the team, including researchers from the Institute of Archeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and several other institutions, extracted 6,000 armor scales and brought them to a laboratory for analysis and restoration.
The armor stands out for the distinctive size and material of its scales. According to Bai Rongjin of the Institute of Archeology at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the scales of Han Dynasty armor are usually 0.39 to 3.94 inches (4 to 10 centimeters) wide. The smaller the scale, the more it is necessary, requiring greater skill to make such a meticulous equipment.
However, “The smallest piece of armor” from the tomb of the Marquis of Haihun” is about 1 cm wide and 0.2 cm thick, making it the smallest piece of fish scale armor excavated during the archaeological investigations of the ruins of the Han Dynasty,” he explained. In addition, archaeologists discovered that the armor was made of many materials, including iron, copper, and leather. This is also unusual, as Rongjin noted that Han dynasty armor was usually composed of a single material. In fact, the scales are the only documented example of armor made of multiple materials from the Han Dynasty.
The armor ultimately represents a stunning example of Han Dynasty military equipment, and reflects the excellent level of armor production that existed in the region at the time. Perhaps it even suggests that even though Liu He may have been disgraced during his lifetime, he was buried with honor.
