How things have changed over the millennia: the complete combat equipment of British soldiers from the XI to the XXI century

English photographer Tom Atkinson took a series of pictures in which he presented the full combat equipment of a British soldier: starting from 1066 and ending with the present. In his photo project "Soldier's Inventory", he reproduced everything that soldiers took with them on the battlefield: from underwear to a helmet, from a prayer book and a snuffbox to a fitness tracker and a Kevlar armor.

At the Battle of Hastings, the choice of soldiers' weapons was also extensive.

A group of restorers, collectors, historians and soldiers helped the photographer to collect the items necessary for each photo.

Working on projects with Wellcome Trust and At the Natural History Museum, Tom Atkinson has focused his attention on what he describes as "the mythology around Britain's attitude to war."

The similarities between the sets of equipment are striking, however, as are the differences. Notebooks have replaced iPods, but 18th-century bowls are almost identical to modern bowlers; games such as chess or cards are found with enviable regularity.

Each set of equipment represents items used by a conditional British soldier during the iconic battles that took place over the past millennium.

Atkinson says that the project, which took him nine months to work on, was very instructive.

The set of equipment issued to soldiers who fought in the Battle of Waterloo included, among other things, a tin mug and a set of checkers.

Each photo includes bandages, edged weapons and other items necessary for survival, as well as things "for the soul" on which humanity rests: written paper, prayer books and Bibles.

Despite the fact that the First World War was the first modern war, the equipment of the Battle of the Somme demonstrates how primitive it was. Along with the gas mask, the private was given a "trench baton" with spikes — almost identical to medieval weapons.

Each photo shows the soldier's world, including protective equipment, provisions, and so on. Items can be divided into formal (issued by the quartermaster and gunsmith) and personal (watches, crucifixes, combs and shaving brushes).

From the bulky armor of heavily armed Yorkist horsemen in 1485 to the heavy duffel bags in Port Stanley on the backs of the Royal Marines five centuries later - a review of the literal soldier's burden.

The evolution of the technologies presented in the series has passed with incredible speed over the past century. The pocket watch of 1916 has now been replaced by a waterproof digital wrist fitness tracker, the Lee-Enfield rifle with a manual shutter is a light assault carbine with laser sights, light camouflaged Kevlar bulletproof vests have taken the place of khaki woolen gymnasts.