13 July 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

Impressive proof of technology transfer in Antiquity times “2700 year- old a Leather Armor”

Design and construction details of the unique leather-scaled armor found in a horse rider’s tomb in northwest China indicate that it originated in the Neo-Assyrian Empire between the 6th and 8th centuries BCE, before being brought to China.

A virtually full leather scale armor was discovered in the grave of a 30-year-old male in the modern-day city of Turfan in Northwest China in 2013. This unprecedented discovery, which survived the millennia due to the area’s extremely arid climate, provided new insights into the spread of military technology during the first millennium BCE to an international team led by Patrick Wertmann of the University of Zurich’s Institute of Asian and Oriental Studies.

Researchers from the University of Zurich, the Academia Turfanica, the Russian Academy of Sciences, the LVR-Landesmuseum Bonn, Freie Universität Berlin, the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York), and the German Archaeological Institute were involved in the study.

Scale armors shield a fighter’s critical organs like an additional layer of the skin without impeding their movement. Small shield-shaped plates were stacked in horizontal rows and stitched to a backing to create the armors.

2700 years ago, the Neo-Assyrian fighters probably looked similar to how Mongol warriors look today at a festival. (Image: istock.com/katiekk2)

Armors were extremely valuable because of the expensive components and time-consuming production process, and wearing them was seen as an aristocratic luxury. They were seldom buried beside the owner. But when strong governments with big armies began to appear in antiquity, less expensive but still effective armors made of leather, bronze, or iron were developed for regular troops.

Standard military equipment for horsemen

The researchers used radiocarbon dating to determine the age of the armor to between 786 and 543 BCE. It was originally made of about 5,444 smaller scales and 140 larger scales, which together with leather laces and lining weighed between 4 and 5kg. The armor resembles a waistcoat that protects the front of the torso, hips, the sides and the lower back of the body. It can be put on quickly without the help of another person and fits people of different statuses.

“The armor was professionally produced in large numbers,” said Patrick Wertmann from the University of Zurich. With the increasing use of chariots in Middle Eastern warfare, a special armor for horsemen was developed from the 9th century BCE. These armors later became part of the standardized equipment of military forces of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, which extended from parts of present-day Iraq to Iran, Syria, Turkey, and Egypt.

Photo: Wikipedia

Two armors, distinct units

While there is no direct parallel to the 2,700-year-old armor in the whole of Northwest China, there are some stylistic and functional similarities to a second contemporary armor of unknown origin held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (the Met). It is possible that the two armors were intended as outfits for distinct units of the same army, i.e. the Yanghai armor for cavalry and the armor in the Met for infantry.

It is unclear whether the Yanghai armor belonged to a foreign soldier working for the Assyrian forces who brought it back home with him, or whether the armor was captured from someone else who had been to the region.

Wertmann in the press release: “Even though we can’t trace the exact path of the scale armor from Assyria to Northwest China, the find is one of the rare actual proofs of West-East technology transfer across the Eurasian continent during the early first millennium BCE,” he said.

The study is part of the Institute of Asian and Oriental Studies’ research project “Sino-Indo-Iranica rediviva – Early Eurasian migratory phrases in Chinese and their cultural consequences.” The research, funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), investigates the oldest flow of tangible products between Central Asia and China using linguistic, historical, and archaeological data.

University of Zurich

Cover Photo: The ancient leather shed armor could be dated to the period between 786 and 543 BC. (Image: D.L. Xu, P. Wertmann, M. Yibulayinmu)

Related Articles

Artifacts found in Japan could be prototypes of ninja weapons

14 January 2022

14 January 2022

Artifacts discovered in the ruins of structures associated with warlord Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s 1590 Siege of Odawara may be prototypes of...

1500-Year-Old Petroglyphs Found in Central Iran

13 April 2021

13 April 2021

Researchers have discovered 70 petroglyphs carved into the rock that they think is from the Sassanid era. The petroglyphs were...

A relief of a man holding his Phallus was found in Sayburç, one of the Taş Tepeler

18 October 2021

18 October 2021

In Sayburç, one of the Taş Tepeler in Şanlıurfa, a five-figure scene consisting of humans, leopards, and a bull was...

An artificial intelligence “Ithaca” that will improve our understanding of ancient history

11 March 2022

11 March 2022

A deep neural network trained to restore ancient Greek texts can do so with 72% accuracy when used by historians,...

Underwater Archaeologists Discover a 7,000-Year-Old Road in Croatia

8 May 2023

8 May 2023

A team of underwater archaeologists from the University of Zadar has discovered the sunken ruins of a 7,000-year-old road that...

The Highest Prehistoric Petroglyphs in Europe Discovered at 3000 Meters in the Italian Alps

20 November 2024

20 November 2024

The highest petroglyphs in Europe were found at Pizzo Tresero (Valfurva) in the Stelvio National Park in the northern Italian...

Roman-era marble sundial found for the first time in Turkey’s second Ephesus

26 September 2022

26 September 2022

Archaeologists have unearthed a Roman-era marble sundial in the ancient city of Aizanoi in the Çavdarhisar district of Kütahya province...

The discovery that surprised archaeologists; a Rare glass cup adorning the table of rich Romans in Crimea

2 April 2022

2 April 2022

A discovery made in Frontovoye-3 necropolis in Crimea shows that during the Roman Empire there were more centers of glass...

300-Year-Old Sacred Mummified Mermaid From Japan’s Mystery Solved

20 February 2023

20 February 2023

A mummified mermaid has been worshiped in Japan for centuries because locals believe it has healing powers. However, upon closer...

Bone workshop and oil lamp shop unearthed in Aizanoi ancient city in western Turkey

13 November 2021

13 November 2021

Archaeologists have unearthed a bone workshop and an oil lamp shop in an Aizanoi ancient city in the Çavdarhisar district...

The Oldest Semicircular Classroom in the Greek World Unearthed in Sicily

21 April 2025

21 April 2025

In a remarkable archaeological breakthrough in southern Sicily, an international team of researchers has uncovered an extraordinary ancient classroom that...

Archaeologists Find the Missing Link of the Alphabet

15 April 2021

15 April 2021

Researchers believe that Tel Lachish pottery is the oldest of its kind found in the region, and could explain how...

Flying reptile discovered in Scotland dubbed ‘Jurassic fighter jet’

24 February 2022

24 February 2022

The jawbone of a 170 million-year-old pterosaur, described as the world’s best-preserved skeleton of the prehistoric winged reptile, was discovered...

Ancient DNA Reveals Surprising Maternal Lineages at Neolithic Çatalhöyük

28 June 2025

28 June 2025

New research, utilizing ancient DNA analysis, is challenging long-held assumptions about kinship and societal structures in one of the world’s...

Ukrainian Soldiers Uncover 6th–5th Century BC Burial Site During Fortification Works

1 April 2025

1 April 2025

In a remarkable archaeological find, soldiers from the 123rd Territorial Defence Brigade have uncovered an ancient burial site dating back...