A modern forgery?

From an art historical perspective the decoration seems suspect. The different images displayed on the shield each contain surprising details. Together the scenes often do not seem coherent.

The overriding goal seems to have been to fill as much of the available space with decorations, even at the expense of legibility. But are these suspicions enough to cast doubt on the antiquity of the shield itself?

Other decorated objects from Luristan show a vibrant narrative language which seems to reflect myths and stories that must have circulated among its people. Perhaps this shield displays one such narrative, otherwise unknown to us. We still know little about the people who lived in Luristan in this period and about their imagination and visual language.