CORBRIDGE  HOARD  DIAGRAM 

Isometric diagram by historian and illustrator Peter Connolly of the so-called "Corbridge Hoard" of armor and other artifacts uncovered in 1964 on the site of the Roman supply base of Corstopitum, along Hadrian's Wall, near Corbridge in Northumberland, England.  As is shown, the "Hoard" was found packed in a buried wooden trunk.  There were sufficient sections of lorica-armor to allow armorer-historian H.R. Robinson to reconstruct three variants (types A, B, C) of lorica segmentata body armor.  This important find was largely responsible for the now accepted design and understanding of how this Roman Army body armor was constructed and used.  

The first examples of some incomplete Roman "segmentata" body armor were excavated in 1899 in a deposit at Carnuntum Waffenmagazin (army magazine or storage depot) in Bad Deutsch Altenburg, Austria.  A breastplate segment was later found (1936) at the site of the Bank of England in London and a major find of upper and lower armor sections was uncovered at Risstissen in Germany.  But, it was the discovery of the "Hoard" at Corbridge that finally yielded a much more complete understanding of how the Roman segmented lorica body armor was assembled, worn and maintained.   

Relics of Corbridge Type A lorica armor (shoulder portions above and torso lames below) from the Corbridge Hoard on display in the Vindolanda Roman Army Museum near Haltwhistle,  just south of the central portion of Hadrian's Wall.  The placard reads in part:  "Portions of one of the sets of body armour (lorica segmentata) from the Corbridge Hoard.  The Hoard in fact contained armour of three different designs, two of which are more or less complete.  This example, Type A, is a slightly more elaborate version..."  "the Type B lorica can be seen in the Museum of the Department of Antiquities, Newcastle University."  "It is generally assumed that the lorica segmentata was worn only by legionary soldiers.  Finds of this type of armour from forts known to have held cavalry garrisons - including of course, Corbridge - suggest that this type of armour may also have been worn by cavalry".