12 July 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

2,000-Year-Old Unique Composite Fish Scaled Armor Found in Ancient Tomb

Chinese researchers have recently found fish-scaled armor in the tomb of Liu He, Marquis of Haihun from the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 25), in Nanchang, the capital of eastern China’s Jiangxi province.

According to the Provincial Institute of Archaeology and Cultural Relics, this is the first instance of composite armor—made from a combination of materials like lacquered iron, copper, and leather—discovered during the archaeological excavation of the Han Dynasty sites. It demonstrates the highest level of armor-making practices of that period.

The armor’s smallest piece is 1 centimeter wide and about 0.2 centimeters thick.

Yang Jun, head of the excavation team, told Xinhua that these armor pieces were found in the tomb of Liu He in the west part of the outer coffin, where weaponry was installed.

After more than two years of meticulous work, researchers have restored approximately 6,000 armor plates from among those unearthed in the weapons section of the tomb, alongside knives and swords, according to Yang Jun.

“The smallest plate is just 1 cm wide and about 0.2 cm thick, making it the smallest scale armor plate unearthed from Han Dynasty sites,” said Bai Rongjin, an expert in armor protection and research from the Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

The armor pieces unearthed from the tomb of the Marquis of Haihun. Photo: Jiangxi Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology
The armor pieces unearthed from the tomb of the Marquis of Haihun. Photo: Jiangxi Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology

According to Bai, scale armor is mostly found in Han Dynasty tombs and is usually made with a single material, with each plate measuring 4 to 10 cm in width. The smaller the armor plates, the more plates are required to assemble the armor — reflecting the increasing complexity of its production process.

The process of removing roughly 6,000 pieces of armor from the boxes took archaeologists two years. According to the cultural conservation team’s initial restoration research, the armor was made from materials that were lacquered in leather, bronze, and iron.

The pieces of fish-scaled armor were discovered with swords, according to Yang, at the Marquis of Haihun’s tomb. It has been assumed that the items were packaged in lacquer boxes based on the presence of patent leather traces on the premises. However, when the tomb was unearthed, it was discovered that the lacquer boxes had rotted, and the armor and swords appeared piled up.

“The tomb is known to have undergone earthquakes and the rising groundwater level caused by the intrusion of the Poyang Lake, China’s largest freshwater lake. The burial environment has made the armor pieces thin and fragile,” said Yang, in a statement to Global Times. The team decided to box up the cultural relics and carry out conservation research through laboratory archaeology thereafter.

The fish-scaled armor discovered in the Marquis of Haihun’s tomb was composed of iron, copper, and leather, in contrast to the Han Dynasty’s custom of using only one material for armor. For the first time, a composite design of this kind from the Han Dynasty has been discovered.

The discovery of the armor from the tomb of the Marquis of Haihun provides important material data for the study of armor-making techniques in the Han Dynasty.

Cover Image Credit: Armor pieces from the tomb of the Marquis Haihun Photo: Jiangxi Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology

Related Articles

A Large Roman Pottery Production Center was Found in Poland

2 April 2021

2 April 2021

A large Roman pottery production center was found in Poland. The production center was discovered near the village of Wrzepia,...

Rare 2,800-year-old Assyrian Scarab Seal-Amulet Found in Tabor Nature Reserve

12 February 2024

12 February 2024

A hiker in northern Israel found a rare scarab seal-amulet from the First Temple period on the ground in the...

8,000-year-old Female Figurine Discovered in Ulucak Höyük in Western Türkiye

15 August 2024

15 August 2024

One of the most prominent and oldest Neolithic sites found in what is now Turkey has yielded yet another interesting...

The camel carvings in Saudi Arabia are 8000 years old!

15 September 2021

15 September 2021

Life-size animal reliefs found in Saudi Arabia were carved almost 8,000 years ago, during the Neolithic period, when the desert...

One of the largest mass burial pits ever discovered in the UK has been unearthed next to Leicester Cathedral

21 November 2024

21 November 2024

While excavating the gardens of Leicester Cathedral for the future construction of a learning center, archaeologists uncovered one of the...

The biblical narrative of Sodom may have been inspired by a cosmic meteorite that devastated an ancient city

21 September 2021

21 September 2021

The Bible account of Sodom’s destruction lies at the heart of classic “fire and brimstone” judgment day prophesies. But what...

Three Roman Graves Uncovered in Portugal

17 April 2024

17 April 2024

Three burials dating to the 5th or 6th century AD have been unearthed in the ancient Roman city of Ossónoba...

400-year historical document confirms the martyrdom of Japanese Christians

27 February 2021

27 February 2021

In Japan, the suppression of Christianity increased from the end of the 16th century to the beginning of the 17th...

Evidence of a Roman shrine dating back was discovered during dig at Leicester Cathedral

7 March 2023

7 March 2023

Excavations by the University of Leicester archaeologists for have uncovered evidence that the site of Leicester Cathedral has been used...

The longest inscription in Saudi Arabia turned out to belong to the last king of Babylon

25 July 2021

25 July 2021

The Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage has announced the discovery of a 2,550-year-old inscription etched on basalt stone...

12,000-year-old ‘public building’ unearthed in southeastern Turkey’s Mardin

27 September 2022

27 September 2022

Archaeologists have discovered the remains of a “public building” thought to be 12,000 years old at Boncuklu Tarla in the...

Roman Bath Complex Found under Spain’s Caños de Meca beach

22 May 2021

22 May 2021

A well-preserved ancient Roman bath complex emerged from the sand of a beach in the Andalusian region of southwestern Spain....

Archaeologists explore Eastern Zhou Dynasty mausoleum in China’s Henan

30 January 2022

30 January 2022

An archaeological survey of a royal mausoleum of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty (770 B.C.-256 B.C.) has been launched in central...

A Royal Legacy? The Discovery of a Monumental Longhouse from the 3rd Century in Norway

2 February 2025

2 February 2025

Archaeologists have made a groundbreaking discovery at Øvre Eiker near Oslo, Norway unearthing a longhouse that surpasses any known structures...

On the eastern shore of the Marmara Sea, off the coast of Yalova, a 1700-year-old Shipwreck was discovered

23 August 2023

23 August 2023

A 1700-year-old shipwreck was discovered during maritime police training dives in the province of Yalova, located on the east coast...