Chest Plate Ornaments in the Shape of an Animal Face (獸面甲飾)
Resource Identifier:
R019970
Description:
In the cemetery of Hsin-ts’un, from tombs M2, M8, M19 and other larger or medium sized tombs, the largest in number and variety of artifacts from the Western Chou period are excavated. It is easy to distinguish two horns, a face and a mouth of a beast on the chest-plate. Because war armor was often placed beside horse implements, these ornaments were often mistaken for horse frontlets. But because of the holes drilled on the rare side, it is possible to tell that this chest plate was originally stitched on leather armor.