page_title: Military of Mycenaean Greece
section_title: Shields
hierarchical_section_title: Military of Mycenaean Greece / Weaponry / Shields
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Eberzahnhelm, Archäologisches Museum Iraklion English: Boar tusk helmet, Archaeological Museum of Herakleion Français&#160;: Casque en défenses de sanglier. Musée archéologique d'Héraklion. Ce casque, daté de 1450 à 1400 av. J.-C., est originaire de Cnossos.
context_page_description: The military nature of Mycenaean Greece in the Late Bronze Age is evident by the numerous weapons unearthed, warrior and combat representations in contemporary art, as well as by the preserved Greek Linear B records. The Mycenaeans invested in the development of military infrastructure with military production and logistics being supervised directly from the palatial centres. This militaristic ethos inspired later Ancient Greek tradition, and especially Homer's epics, which are focused on the heroic nature of the Mycenaean-era warrior élite.
  Late Bronze Age Greece was divided into a series of warrior kingdoms, the most important being centered in Mycenae, to which the culture of this era owes its name, Tiryns, Pylos and Thebes. From the 15th century BC, Mycenaean power started expanding towards the Aegean, the Anatolian coast and Cyprus. Mycenaean armies shared several common features with other contemporary Late Bronze Age powers: they were initially based on heavy infantry, with spears, large shields and in some occasions armor.
context_section_description: Early Mycenaean armies used "tower shields", large shields that covered almost the entire body. However, with the introduction of bronze armor, this type was less utilized, even if it didn't completely go into disuse, as attested in iconography. "Figure-of-eight" shields became the most common type of Mycenaean shields. These shields were made of several layers of bull-hide and in some cases they were reinforced with bronze plates. During the later Mycenaean period, smaller types of shields were adopted. They were either of completely circular shape, or almost circular with a cut-out part from their lower edge. These were made of several layers of leather with a bronze boss and reinforcements. They occasionally appear to have been made entirely of bronze.
caption: Boar's tusk helmets were typical of Mycenaean warfare.
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