Dedyulkin A.V., Kayumov I.F., Meshcheryakov D.V., Popov Y.V., Postoev K.K. (2025). Rezul’taty kompleksnogo issledovanija jellinisticheskih muskul’nyh pancirej iz Juzhnogo Priural’ja [Results of a Comprehensive Study of Hellenistic Muscle Cuirasses from the South Ural Region]. Istoricheskoe oruzhievedenie [Weapons History Journal], № 15, pp. 291—357.
Dedyulkin A.V., Kayumov I.F., Meshcheryakov D.V., Popov Y.V., Postoev K.K.
Abstract: This article presents new materials and results of a study of Hellenistic muscle cuirasses discovered in nomadic burials in the South Ural region. The armor originates from the necropoleis of Berdyanka V and Prokhorovka, the latter being eponymous for the Early Sarmatian culture. Newly identified fragments of a cuirass from the Prokhorovka necropolis are published here for the first time; previously, this armor was known only from archival photographs. Identical features in the neck opening and decorative edging suggest that the Prokhorovka cuirass and the armor from Berdyanka were produced in the same workshop.
For the first time, a reconstruction of the equestrian cuirass from the Prokhorovka tumuli, created by K. K. Postoev, is presented. The reconstruction demonstrates how the armor could have been used. Its wide lower section allowed the wearer to bend, squat, lean, or arch the back freely. The shoulder guards were not merely decorative; they also enabled size adjustment, making the cuirass less demanding on the wearer’s body than earlier types with hinged connections at all plate joints.
The uniformity, identical width, and high quality of the decorative ridges and grooves forming the edging ornament indicate the use of rolling tools in manufacturing the edging strips. Cold forging was likely employed for most of the work, as confirmed by metallographic analysis. Both cuirasses were made of relatively pure medium-carbon steel and were neither quenched nor cemented.
The cuirasses date to the second half of the 3rd century through the first half of the 2nd century BCE. They were produced in workshops of the Hellenistic East, following the craft traditions of Greece, Macedonia, and the Eastern Mediterranean. The article also situates Hellenistic iron muscle cuirasses within a broader historical and archaeological context.
Keywords: Hellenism; armor; Parthia; Greco-Bactria; South Ural region; Early Sarmatian culture.