Question for August 2013

In an earlier civilization, at Teotihuacan, full body armor was used in the fifth through seventh centuries, but combat then did not involve the swords and thrusting spears used by the later Aztecs, so the point was full protection without as much need for agility. After Teotihuacan, nobody used full body armor because more hand-to-hand weapons were used and it would slow the wearer down. Also, cotton couldn’t grow in the climate of central Mexico and it had to be imported from more tropical coastal regions, which made it very expensive. Anyway, the eagle suits covered the limbs, but did not especially protect them. The eagle suits, like most of the other warriors suits, were made out of cloth - undoubtedly cotton, although none have survived to be examined - and then covered with whatever was appropriate to the wearer, appropriately colored feathers in the case of eagle warriors, though not likely with actual eagle feathers, most of which would be too large and inflexible for the suits.

An artist’s impression of Aztec cotton body armour