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Illyrian weaponry


Illyrian weaponry played an important role in the makeup of Illyrian armies and in conflicts involving the Illyrians. Of all the ancients sources the most important and abundant writings are those of Ennius (239 -169 BC), a Roman poet of Messapian origin. Weapons of all sorts were also placed intact in the graves of Illyrian warriors and provide a detailed picture for archaeologists on the distribution and development of Illyrian weaponry.

Shields were used among the Illyrians from the end of the Bronze Age, but very little is known about the early shields until the Iron Age. In this period, Illyrian shields were made of wood and leather and as a result no such example has survived.During the Iron Age a metal plate-cover was attached to the shields. The most common Illyrian shield was the circular shield, although northern Illyrians and the Japodes also used an oval or rectangular type. The circular shield was small, and was decorated with embedded circles and semicircles on the sides. It resembled the Macedonian shield of the time, but differed in the number of circles, which were a symbolic decoration. One of the best examples of the Illyrian circular shield, coated in bronze, was found in a Liburnian necropolis in Nin and dates from the 4th century BC. The circular shield was widely used from Glasinac in Bosnia to Albania. They are depicted on Illyrian city coins of Lezhë and Shkodër. Similar to the Illyrian oval shield in northern Illyria was the shield that the Celts brought with them during the Gallic invasion of the Balkans in the 4th-3rd centuries BC. The Celtic shield was wooden and oblong, with an iron boss.

Breast armour was a rare and very interesting part of Illyrian armor. A type of breast-armor made of bronze plate was only used by northern Illyrians. Up to now only three of these have been discovered in Novo Mesto, Sticna-Verpole and St. Vid. All date before 500 BC. Other Illyrian did not use breast armor. Only the Glasinac Illyrians used a type of breast armor if breast armor can be considered a jacket made of cloth or leather with parts of bronze. Another form of body armor was a bronze pectoral that may have protected part of the back as well. It was more like a disc "breastplate" of 10 cm in diameter.


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