RESEACHERS REPLICATE 3,500-YEAR-OLD BRONZE ARMOUR

In 1960, a suit of 3,500-year-old bronze armour was found in a tomb in Southern Greece (1,2). Extraordinarily, it is “one of the oldest [known] complete suits of European armour from the European Bronze Age” (2). While one could assume the suit was for battle, researchers weren’t sure (2). Aside from battle, the suit may have been used for ceremonial purposes (2).

To determine the suits’ use, last May, researchers replicated the suit and put the design to the test (2). Researchers set up and studied an 11-hour simulation with special armed-forces personnel who replicated battles of the past (2). The verdict? This ancient metal was combat ready (2).

Some metal never quits. Neither should yours. Think about what your metal could do when you recycle it at a BN location near you today.


SOURCES

1. Anderson, Sonja. "Soldiers Put an Ancient Greek Suit of Armor to the Test, and It Passed." Smithsonian Magazine, May 24, 2024. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/soldiers-put-an-ancient-greek-suit-of-armor-to-the-test-and-it-passed-180984411/.

2. Flouris, Andreas D, Stavros B Petmezas, Panagiotis I Asimoglou, João P Vale, Tiago S Mayor, Giannis Giakas, Athanasios Z Jamurtas, Yiannis Koutedakis, Ken Wardle, and Diana Wardle. “Analysis of Greek Prehistoric Combat in Full Body Armour Based on Physiological Principles: A Series of Studies Using Thematic Analysis, Human Experiments, and Numerical Simulations.” PloS One 19, no. 5 (2024): e0301494–e0301494. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0301494.