A complete set of body armour made of bones has been discovered in Omsk, Siberia and according to Yury Gerasimov, a research fellow of the Omsk branch of the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, it would have “given good protection from weapons that were used at the time – bone and stone arrowheads, bronze knives, spears tipped with bronze, and bronze axes.” Bones are naturally well-suited to resisting blunt trauma as they are not a single solid material but made up of two distinct types of tissue: the compact bone tissue that makes up the smooth outer surface and the trabecular bone tissue of the interior which is made up of rod and plate like elements. These two structures would dissipate energy under impact therefore helping to protect the person underneath. We’ve worked on the human factors side of body armour and it’s amazing how ancent body armour can provide inspiration for modern concepts.
Website link: Warrior’s 3,900 year old suit of bone armour unearthed in Omsk, Siberian Times, 6th September 2014