Has there been any developments in the discussion as to when this transition occurred?
We have a Carthaginian coin from Spain showing an oval shield well before the 2nd Punic war. Indeed Quesada Sanz seems to think that the Iberians took up the oval shield from the middle of the 3rd century, certainly before the 2nd Punic War
We have a bas relief which shows the classic oval shield, but its vaguely dated to about 200BC.
There there is the Braganza Brooch which is vaguely dated to the 3rd century, and came from a royal collection, not an excavation. With Montefortino helmet and oval shield he could be a Gaul, a Roman legionary, or a Spanish infantryman!
But we have a spell where the Carthaginians were moving from round to oval shields. And in the same century their Iberian mercenaries was making the same move.
I'm wondering if the transition came during the First Punic war, where Hamilcar had three years at Eryx. He was up close and personal with a lot of Roman troops and replacing damaged equipment with Roman would be more reliable than trying to get stuff shipped in.
Capture.JPGRelieve_de_Osuna_M.A.N._Madrid_03-523x640.jpg250px-Celtic_Warrior_Naked_in_The_Braganza_Brooch (1).jpg
Nothing new since our last thread on this subject - https://soa.org.uk/sm/index.php?topic=6323.0 - AFAIK.
Thanks, I just wondered if anything new had appeared in the intervening three years
I haven't found anything but that is hardly definitive :)