I was wondering what the earliest shield find is. A shield mould found at Kilmahamogue in Ireland was radiocarbon dated to the first half of the second millenium. There is a surviving Mari shield made of reeds and covered with hide. What is the earliest shield boss so far found?

i don't know the earliest shield but i'm interested in knowing more about that mari shield. do you have more info on this?

Hi Dan,
I'm also interested in the Mari shield! Have you seen the "police" shield on this page:
http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/policemuseum.htm
It looks pretty old, and the construction is very interesting.

Todd

I don't have any info on the Egyptian police shield, but at first glance it looks like it dates to the Roman period.

The Mari sheild is briefly mentioned in Hamblin's book. On page 57 he is talking about Lagash shields and uses a surviving Mari shield to speculate on how the Lagash ones may have been constructed. All he says is that it was made of reeds and covered with hide.

Yeah, I was thinking Roman Period too --it looks a lot like a scutum.
Too bad about the Mari shield details! I wonder where the remains are? I'm sure there are "top men" working on it ;-)

Todd

Have a reference for that Mari Shield. Haven't read it yet.

Joan Aruz (ed.), The Art of the First Cities: The Third Millennium BC from the Mediterranean to the Indus (New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2003), 99.

That's the Fayum shield, dated to the first century BC. It is generally believed to be either Roman or at least Roman-influenced. It's 3 layers of wood strips (birch? I forget) covered with felt.

Matthew

thanks i'll order.