In a first, researchers have applied modern sports science to help answer a century-old question: Did their armor give Bronze Age Greeks an outsized advantage on the battlefield?
Scholars have long noted that some scenes in the Iliad, Homer’s epic tale of the Trojan War, contain anachronisms like chariots and hoplite warfare that were common when it was written down in the Archaic Greece period (from the 8th until the 6th centuries B.C.) but not in the earlier Bronze Age, when the story is likely set.
Then in 1960, archaeologists working near the Greek site of Mycenae, the fabled capital of King Agamemnon, uncovered a remarkable set of copper-alloy armor, with a helmet fashioned from boars’ tusks.
Known as the Dendra armor or the Dendra panoply, it dates to the 15th century B.C. a few centuries before the Trojan War that inspired Homer probably took place.
A volunteer from the 32nd Marines Brigade of the Hellenic Army lands a blow on a wooden target. While the Bronze Age armor may look unwieldy, it offered better protection than the other type of armor typically used at the time, which consisted of small bronze scales on a linen backing.
Photograph By Photograph By Andreas Flouris and Marija Marković
The Dendra armor isn’t sleek or dashing, but a massive and unwieldy suit resembling a mobile furnace; its lack of battle damage, however, has led some researchers to believe it may have been only for ceremonial use.
Previous research, however, indicated the Dendra armor was indeed battle-worthy; and this latest study, published in the journal PLOS ONE, reveals precisely how ancient warriors must have coped with its weight and heat during a day of hand-to-hand battles during the late Bronze Age.
And what they’ve found also suggests the Dendra style of armor was a “secret weapon” that gave the Mycenaeans a powerful advantage in conflicts like the Trojan War.
Any volunteers?
For the study, researchers recruited 13 volunteers from the 32nd Marines Brigade of the Hellenic Army to wear replicas of the armor during an 11-hour simulation of late Bronze-Age battle.
The researchers also studied the Iliad—known to be a palimpsest of the fighting styles and artifacts of ancient war, including tactics of late Bronze Age warfare that should have been unknown to Homer, who supposedly composed the epic about 500 years later.
They compared Homer’s battle descriptions with archaeological evidence to determine how much could be accepted as historically likely, and what should be disregarded as poetic license.
The Iliad “does describe aspects of battle we know to be true of the Mycenaean world,” says co-author and archaeologist Ken Wardle of the UK’s University of Birmingham; and their combat simulation protocol accounted for other aspects of the conditions for a warrior some 3,300 years ago.
Simulated combat protocol
The combat simulation protocol was put in action by the 13 volunteers, who’d been selected as the suitable height, weight, and age of late Bronze Age warriors.
The volunteers prepared for the protocol by eating only carefully weighed food under a nutrition plan that consisted of dried bread, beef, olives, goat cheese, onions, red wine, and water—a diet researchers deemed typical for a Mycenaean army on the move.
They were then woken before dawn and given a measured breakfast; at which time urine and blood samples were taken, and sensors to measure their body temperatures and vital signs during the experiment were placed on their bodies.
All the marines were equipped with a close replica of the Dendra armor, made of copper alloy and weighing roughly 60 pounds; a replica of the famous boar-tusk helmet; and replicas of Bronze Age spears and swords, which they wielded for the next 11 hours of simulated combat, featuring high-intensity-interval exercises such as sprinting and striking blows, with timed brief breaks for rest or food.
All of the volunteers completed the combat simulation successfully, and only one showed signs of low blood sugar after the “battle”—which indicates the study’s estimate of about 4,400 calories of food per Mycenaean warrior is about right.
Many of the volunteers also reported suffering high levels of fatigue, a sore upper body from the weight to the armor, and foot pain from walking, running, and fighting barefoot.
After the 11-hour combat simulation, a study volunteer reveals armor-related bruises and sensors measuring skin temperature.
Photograph By Andreas Flouris
Armor’s advantages
The research shows the Dendra armor gave better protection than the other type of armor typically used in the late Bronze Age, which consisted of small bronze scales on a linen backing, Wardle says —but at the cost of mobility, which was prized in later eras.
Tell-tale features that show the Dendra armor was designed for combat include the triangular plates attached on the inside of the shoulder pieces, which make sense only to protect the armpit when an arm is raised; and the armor’s extensions over the upper arms to provide flexibility and protection during close combat, says study co-author Yiannis Koutedaki, a professor emeritus of applied physiology at the University of Thessaly in Greece.
Study lead author Andreas Flouris, a professor of physiology at the University of Thessaly, notes that the Dendra armor provided important advantages in mid-range combat, between six and 65 feet: “At that distance, the armor protected the wearer from most dangers.”
The weight of the armor was a drawback, but it led to the development of weapons and tactics that gave Mycenaean warriors a decisive advantage. “Leaders wore full, well-made, and functional armor and were typically elite warriors with extensive battle experience,” Flouris says. But “the majority of followers wore light or no armor, and their task was to protect their leader from close-range encounters.”
The research team also created free software, known as the Late Bronze Age Warrior Model, that uses the data collected during their study to accurately predict fighting outcomes with different variables, such as hot or cold environments; the angle of the sun; or of frequent fighting.
A modern volunteer in ancient replica armor pauses combat to don a gas analyzer that monitors energy expenditure. “Suits of armor like this would have transformed the battlefield,” says archaeologist Barry Molloy, who was not involved in the study.
Photograph By Andreas Flouris and Marija Marković
Transforming the battlefield
Suits of armor also play an important thematic role in the Iliad beyond purely physical protection: “Armor in the Iliad often symbolizes the identity and status of the warrior and is often associated with the heroic code,” Flouris explains. “It is a visible marker of a hero’s honor and valor.”
Archaeologist Barry Molloy of Ireland’s University College Dublin wasn’t involved in the latest study but has assessed the suitability of the Dendra armor for combat.
“The Dendra corslet is one of the most exciting finds of armor from prehistoric Europe, and its importance for understanding the long history of development of weapons and warfare cannot be understated,” he says.
Such armor was cutting-edge military technology at the time, and simpler copies of it appeared in other parts of Europe about 100 years later, Molloy says: “Suits of armor like this would have transformed the battlefield.”
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