History
The earliest finds of European pattern mail are from the 3rd century BCE from Horný Jatov, Slovakia, and a Celtic chieftain's burial located in Ciumeşti, Romania. Its invention is commonly credited to the Celts, but there are also examples of Etruscan pattern mail dating from at least the 4th century BCE. Mail may have been inspired by the much earlier scale armour. Mail spread to North Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, India, Tibet, Korea and Japan.
Mail continues to be used in the 21st century as a component of stab-resistant body armour, cut-resistant gloves for butchers and woodworkers, shark-resistant wetsuits for defence against shark bites, and a number of other applications.
Read more about this topic: Mail (armour)
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