Got a Real-World Weapon, Armor or Tactics Question? Mk. XXIV

[wolflance]

Most well known example of this is the Varangian Guard in Byzantium, the equipment they used was essentially the same as that of the "Russian" area, mostly because that is exactly where they came from. Lamellar armor itself is harder to trace to its origins, but I'd say it was ultimately either Parthia or China - the style was widely used on the steppes, often for leather armor.

I keep reading about the laments (?) of Varangian reenactors that virtually nothing about their looks is known for certain. Most if not all of their kit (Byzantine/Russian-like lamellar over mail, splinted limbs etc) are either imagined, speculated or conjectured from their place of origin/from their Byzantine master.

For lamellar armor, as far as I am aware, Byzantine lamellar (or at least the reconstruction of it) looks nothing like the Parthia and/or Chinese style lamellar, but Russian style is much be closer to the Mongol/Chinese style.

Lamellar is much, much older than 11th-13th century. There are examples of it in the same region in antiquity, over a millenia earlier.

The dead giveaway is the hand protection, which really wasn't all that common until 11-13th century.