ROMAN SOLDIER’S CHAIN MAIL FOUND AT BATTLE SITE

Large fragment of chain mail from Harzhorn found at Kalefeld near Göttingen. 

Credit: Clemens Fiedler

Archaeologists from Freie Universität Berlin made a spectacular discovery in their excavations of a Roman-Germanic battlefield at the Harzhorn in Lower Saxony. While exploring the area near Kalefeld in the Northeim district north of Göttingen, the researchers, headed by Prof. Dr. Michael Meyer, found the chain mail of a Roman soldier from the Third Century AD.

It was the first time that such a well-preserved piece of body armour was excavated on a Roman-Germanic battlefield. This find made it possible to reconstruct an individual story in the battle, a close-up image of the war, said Michael Meyer, a professor of prehistoric archaeology at Freie Universität Berlin.

Located on edge of battlefield

The chain mail, which was found in several fragments, consists of thousands of small chain links with a diameter of about six millimetres. The iron in the rings, however, is largely decomposed. Chain mail was worn in battle by Roman soldiers of various ranks. Germanic warriors usually waived this protection; however, in Germanic burial grounds, remains of those laboriously produced armour can often be found. In this case, not only the object itself was an unusual find, but also the position in which it was found. It was located directly on the edge of the battlefield with probably the most intense combat action that could be detected on the Harzhorn hill.

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