Lamellar armour

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Lamellar armour is a kind of personal armour consisting of small plates (lames) which are laced together in parallel rows. Lamellar armour evolved from scale armour, from which it differs by not needing a backing for the scales. It is made from pieces of lacquered leather, iron, steel or horn held together with silk, leather, or cotton thread. When the lames are made up of leather one would often water harden or bake it in a process called cuir bouilli. Various materials have been used throughout the ages across many cultures, with different techniques of construction and designs of coverage.

Lamellar was an armour that, when made out of materials such as leather, facilitated high mobility for a comparably high level of protection. Lamellar was often worn as augmentation to existing armour, such as over a maille hauberk. The lamellar cuirass was especially popular with the Rus, the Scandinavian settlers of Russia, as well as Mongols, Turks, Avars, and other steppe peoples as it was simple to create and maintain.

Lamellar is pictured in many historical sources on Byzantine warriors, especially heavy cavalry. It is thought that it was worn to create a more deflective surface to the rider's armour, thus allowing blades to skim over, rather than strike and pierce.

It is mistakenly believed that the Assyrians circa 900–600 BC developed lamellar but this is incorrect. Assyrian armour is more accurately classified as scale armour. The earliest instance of true lamellar was found in China when twelve suits of lacquered lamellar were uncovered in a tomb at Sui-hsien, Hupei (dated to c.433BC). Lamellar was used by various cultures from this time up through the 16th century. It is generally associated with the Japanese Samurai, although the armour came to Japan from contact with Tang Dynasty China. It is also associated with the steppe people of southern Russia and Mongolia.