Chinese archaeologists have recreated 6,000 armor scales excavated from the tomb of Liu He - the 9th emperor of the Han Dynasty (202 BC - AD 220).
According to SCMP, about 6,000 multi-material armor scales are the first discovery of this type of armor from the Han Dynasty and are also "the smallest ever excavated" from this era.
The armor scales were unearthed in China's eastern Jiangxi province in the tomb of Emperor Liu He, which was excavated about a decade ago.
The armor scales were made from a mixture of iron, bronze and lacquered leather, the Jiangxi Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology told Xinhua.
According to Bai Rongjin, an experienced armor restoration expert from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), the multi-material, composite approach to armor construction, as opposed to the usual single-material armor, is unprecedented in Han Dynasty archaeology.
Each scale of the armor is only 1 cm wide and 0.2 cm thick, making it “the smallest scale armor ever excavated from the Han Dynasty,” noted expert Bai Rongjin. Such small pieces of armor require more complex forging and assembly techniques.
Han Dynasty armor scales typically ranged from 4 cm to 10 cm wide. The elaborately crafted armor scales discovered in the tomb of Liu Sheng, a prince of the Western Han Dynasty (202 BC - AD 9), were also 2 cm to 3 cm wide - much larger than the scales on the armor in the tomb of Emperor Liu He. Prince Liu Sheng's tomb was discovered in northern Hebei Province in 1968.
Emperor Liu He reigned for only 27 days in 74 BC. He was later demoted to the title of Marquis of Haihun. Emperor Liu He's mausoleum near the capital of Nanchang in Jiangxi Province is considered by Chinese archaeologists to be a treasure trove of valuable artifacts.
