Despite the vast research undertaken on hoplite warfare, surprisingly little is known about how hoplite shields were made, the very technology underpinning the transformative military reforms of hoplite warfare. The few forays that have explored the manufacturing process have been isolated and unintegrated studies leading to an often simplistic and superficial uniformity of production model which does not reflect the evidence. This article analyses the physical remains of extant hoplite shields and finds a plurality of different designs in concurrent use with core compositional differences that likely impacted combat performance and economic value with some designs performing better than others. Moreover, the use and availability of different shield designs of variable quality and economic value suggests a wider range of socioeconomic diversity in hoplite armies and among hoplites than is generally assumed.

尽管对重装战进行了大量研究，但令人惊讶的是，对于重装护盾是如何制造的知之甚少，而正是这种技术支撑着重装战的变革性军事改革。少数探索制造过程的尝试都是孤立和未整合的研究，导致生产模型往往过于简单化和表面化，无法反映证据。本文分析了现存的重装步兵护盾的物理残骸，发现了多种不同的设计同时使用，其核心成分差异可能会影响战斗性能和经济价值，其中一些设计的性能优于其他设计。而且，