Caspian wrote on Jul 6
th, 2024 at 7:49pm:
Very good throwing! The damage is really interesting to see - while arrows might be easily deflected by the roundness of the helmet, even a glancing stone shot has a sizeable amount of force that could put a soldier on the ground, even if only temporarily.
That bit about the brow ridge is really interesting. I know that not all helmets had a brow ridge such as that one, but it makes sense that it served a purpose like absorbing sling impacts. Given where it sits on helmets, it does really fit into the idea of functioning as slingstone protection; the face is unprotected, and while it'ss a valid and effective target, probably will not cause immediate death depending on the projectile. The crown is much too round and will cause stones to glance. But the forehead or brow is perhaps the optimal target as demonstrated with that last shot, and the brow ridge sits in a good spot to protect from most oncoming slingstones, at least I imagine. Sort of like the trend in late Medieval plate armour to have arrow ridges so as to protect vitals from glancing arrows, although very different.
The brow also makes the helmet hold it's shape better, as high impacts cause the whole helmet to compress, reducing protectiveness. It's also placed on that sweet-spot so that it's low enough that it's unlikely to catch stones and increase force transfer, but high enough to protect against a lot of square-on hits.
I should have shown the brow piece afterwards, as it was quite bent from impact, and no longer fit on the helmet. The fluting above the helmet also acts like a buffer against impact, but to a lesser degree.
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The Most Underrated Ancient Projectile (Read 829 times)
