I’m wondering about the purpose of that, uh, “collar plate”? The vertical thingamajig behind his head.
It “protects the neck and back of the head”.
“The high headguard of the cuirass efficiently protected champions from hits from behind or stones thrown by auxiliaries.”
Source: https://www.fg-art.org/en/artwork-of-the-month-archives/the-art-of-armour-in-kiribati
This reminds me of a back shield apparently used in some Iroquois wood armour that would similarly provide protection to the neck and head. I guess missiles from your own back-line guys is not an uncommon problem. Get me some of these warriors in the Total War games or Myth: TFL
Get me some of these warriors in the Total War games
Thanks for the link about the Iroquois armor, that was fascinating. Having those in TW would be great, though it’s too bad we don’t know more about their small-unit tactics and historical battles. I imagine they had “heavy infantry” as well as light archers, for example. I wonder if there was an intimidation factor to the back-shield as well, which worked in the same way as the bearskin hats of European grenadiers, to make them look larger.
Protection from projectiles from behind, maybe? Not sure. It would probably be terribly inconvenient to get concussed in the middle of a fight, even if your helmet stopped the projectile.
I wonder if it’s strong enough to stop projectiles? Or at least cushion hits that would have otherwise been fatal.
Where is this? The headdress makes me think somewhere near Thailand?
Kiribati is a tiny island in the South Pacific, about 2,500 miles due south of Hawaii.
Well closer to Thailand than Norway
I think I saw him on Moana
I suppose that’s effective if you’re only going to encounter other wood and tooth weapons. Not so much against bronze, iron, or steel.
Kinda metal. Particularly since I’m guessing he killed that shark himself
