Technological studies on Bronze Age metal body armour: from the Aegean to Western Europe

Abstract

European Bronze Age metal armour, that is helmet, cuirass, shield and greaves is considered as one of the peaks of Bronze Age metal work. Within recent projects funded by the Austrian FWF and the European Union within FP7, most of the European Bronze Age body armour could be studied in detail, including chemical and metallographic analyses, analyses of manufacture and usage of the armour, combined with a conventional archaeological study (typology, distribution, development of the armour).