Clothes Do Not Maketh the Man: A study of the potential skeletal changes associated with wearing medieval European plate armour

Abstract

Culture shapes bodies, and the medieval practice of armour wearing is likely an example of this. Much of our knowledge of armour comes from armour that has been passed down through families and institutions such as churches, because the metal was often recycled (Wijnhoven, 2015). This evidence, alongside rare, excavated finds, has been studied extensively. However, it is rare for skeletal remains to be found in association with armour, as it was usually removed prior to or after death (Appleby et al., 2015). As a result, we know comparatively little about the individuals who wore the armour we have studied, and how it affected their bodies. In other words, bioarchaeological, historical and archaeological evidence for armour wearing have not been compared or combined to a significant extent. This research will contribute to encouraging interdisciplinary study regarding armour and conflict more broadly. Alioto (2020) suggests that, in general, the reconstruction of the past through a combination of historical analysis and bioarchaeological methods is underperformed. Interdisciplinary research benefits bioarchaeology in many ways, for example, historical data is critical to narrowing down the causes of activity-related skeletal changes (Jiménez-Brobeil et al., 2012). The depth provided by interdisciplinary knowledge is also essential to the study of armour because armour and weaponry should be studied with their use in combat in mind, which involves their effects on the body. Without this, our understanding of their characteristics lacks the fundamental context of why they have those characteristics, in relation to protecting or harming the body (Halpin, 2013). Thus, we can and should investigate how the characteristics of armour affected the wearer, and how the wearer affected the characteristics of armour. Furthermore, interdisciplinary research can prevent misconceptions about past behaviours, including armour wearing. The development of misconceptions around armour wearing has occurred, alongside misconceptions around other examples of cultural body shaping for which scholars have favoured historical and archaeological evidence (Gibson, 2015). To attack these misconceptions and learn more about the individuals who wore armour, a method for identifying them in the common event that they were not buried in or with their armour is required. To form this method, it is necessary to investigate the core relationship: how medieval armour wearing shaped the body. Little is known about this due to the rarity of armour-associated burials, and there is a similar lack of relevant discussion about the bodily effects of armour wearing in historical records (Breiding, 2010; Clements, 2012). This research aims to develop a model for identifying wearers of medieval European armour through the effects it had on their bones. Throughout the research, the relationship between medieval armour and the body will be investigated. A top-down approach will be used to create the model: patterns in modern armour wearers’ injuries, pathologies, and activity-related skeletal changes will be used to create a model of the key skeletal changes associated with armour wearing. This model will then be tested on medieval skeletal data from a group of potential armour-wearers (based on archaeological and historical evidence), and a control group, to investigate whether it can accurately distinguish potential armour wearers from the wider population.