Non-typical Samurai helmets and armor (Part II)

Armour, begining of the 17th century (end of the Momoyama period), and sashimono featuring three feathers, gilded papier-mâché (washi), end of the 16th century. Ann and Gabriel Barbier-Mueller Museum, Dallas (Texas).
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By Periklis Deligiannis
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Non-typical Samurai helmets and armor (Part I)

The Iberian influence is evident on the helmet and the torso armor of the great Japanese warlord Tokugawa Ieyasu (1542–1616) who unified Japan for the last time and created the Tokugawa shogunate: they are specifically Portuguese-inspired. The helmet seems to be of the European Cabasset type with a Japanese neck guard while the torso armor is the typical Renaissance European type of the 16th-17th centuries.
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By Periklis Deligiannis
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I go on with the tribute to more unknown aspects of Samurai warfare of the Muromachi (Ashikaga) and Edo periods of the Japanese history, presenting some non-typical helmet and armor of the Samurais, that is to say casques and armor which are somewhat unusual and distinctive. The helmets have either an unusual shape, for example they are shell-shaped or axe-shaped, or their design bear overseas influences, especially European influences. I also present some armor with rather unusual decorations or under European influence such as an armor of Tokugawa Ieyasu. In the early 16th century, the first European seafarers appeared on the seas of the Philippines and Indonesia pioneered by the Spanish expedition of Magellan (Magellan himself was a Portuguese at the service of the Spaniards). A little later, they appeared on the seas of China and Japan. The Spaniards and the Portuguese were the first to appear there as traders and colonists, to be followed by the Dutch and the British.
There are also influences from the empires of China on the design of the Samurai helmets and armor, but in these two articles I have not added any armor or helmet with clear Chinese influence. Lesser influences on the same military items originated from Korea and the Mongol and Tungus continental tribes.

Genetic research uncovering the origins of the British people from prehistoric and historical populations

[This is a republication from the “People of the British Isles” project of the University of Oxford. You can read this paper in conjunction with my paper AFTER ARTHUR: a synoptic study on the fate of the native Briton population after the Anglo-Saxon invasion and prevalence ]

 

Figure  1

A genetic map of the People of the British Isles (Figure 1 from the Nature paper)

For each individual, the coloured symbol representing the genetic cluster to which an individual is assigned is

plotted at the mean position of their grandparents’ birthplaces. Cluster names are in the side-bar.

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Ancient genomes link early farmers to Basques

Republication from Heritage Daily

 

The burial was found deliberately sheltered by large limestone blocks and three other blocks carefully protected the child´s head. The grave was scattered with grave goods suggesting a special status of this boy. The burial is covered by different ornaments, such as ceramics fragments of different sizes sealed with a green-like clay, vessel parts, flint flakes, a bone arrowhead, quartzite and, most surprisingly, the boy was left accompanied by an almost complete calf in anatomical position. This child possibly died of malnutrition as evidenced by a series of lesions in his skull and bones indicating the boy suffered from rickets and/or scurvy (Castilla et al, 2014) at different stages of his life. CREDIT Eneko Iriarte

An international team led by researchers at Uppsala University reports a surprising discovery from the genomes of eight Iberian Stone-Age farmer remains.

ΟΙ ΛΟΓΟΙ ΤΗΣ ΕΙΣΟΔΟΥ ΤΟΥΡΚΙΚΟΥ ΣΤΡΑΤΟΥ ΣΤΟ ΙΡΑΚ: ΜΙΑ ΓΕΩΠΟΛΙΤΙΚΗ ΑΝΑΛΥΣΗ

 

 

Λίγο παλαιότερος χάρτης της κατάστασης στο Ιράκ και Συρία. Στο Ιράκ η κατάσταση δεν έχει αλλάξει σημαντικά εκτός από μία αναδίπλωση του ΙΚ από τα πέριξ της Βαγδάτης. Με μωβ χρώμα οι περιοχές του ΙΚ, με κίτρινο οι Κούρδοι (credit: Der Spiegel).

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Π. Δεληγιάννης

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Είναι γνωστό ότι μία μικρή αλλά ισχυρά εξοπλισμένη τουρκική δύναμη εισήλθε στο έδαφος του Ιράκ και εγκαταστάθηκε κοντά στη μεγαλούπολη Μοσούλη η οποία ελέγχεται από το Ισλαμικό Κράτος (ΙΚ), σε θέση από όπου μπορεί να κινηθεί ταχέως και να καταλάβει καίρια σημεία της πόλης αν χρειαστεί. Νομίζω ότι τα ελληνικά και διεθνή ΜΜΕ δεν έχουν δώσει την απαραίτητη προσοχή σε αυτήν την ενέργεια. Δεν πρόκειται για εισβολή όπως έχει ήδη χαρακτηρισθεί υπερβολικά από μερικά ΜΜΕ επειδή η τουρκική δύναμη είναι μικρή, αλλά είναι μία δύναμη που μπορεί να λειτουργήσει ως προθάλαμος για μία πραγματική εισβολή. Η επίσημη ανακοίνωση της τουρκικής κυβέρνησης διά του υπουργού Εξωτερικών Μεβλούτ Τσαβούσογλου αναφέρει ότι η δύναμη αυτή κινήθηκε για να προστατεύσει τους Τούρκους στρατιωτικούς οι οποίοι προϋπήρχαν στην περιοχή (εκπαιδεύοντας Τουρκομάνους και σουνίτες Αραβες), αλλά πρόκειται για δικαιολογία.

Για ποιους λόγους η κυβέρνηση Ερντογάν-Νταβούτογλου προέβη σε αυτήν τη στρατιωτική ενέργεια; Κατά την άποψη μας, αυτοί είναι οι ακόλουθοι.