NEW ROMAN HELMET

[jho]

APPARENTLY A NEW ROMAN CAVALRY HELMET HAS BEEN FOUND, SEE THIS THREAD:

http://www.romanarmy.com/rat/viewtopic. ... 879#220879

[jho]

While I am at it, does anybody have further information on this

Harborough Cavalry Helmet

found in the UK which appears from the description to be very similar to the Xanten helmet:

The Southeast Leicestershire Treasure
By Pete Liddle and Zara Matthews, Leicestershire County Council, with thanks to Ian Leins, British Museum.

The South East Leicestershire Treasure was found by amateur archaeologists in 2000 working in a Leicestershire County Council project to help communities find out about their own past. The project was followed by archaeological excavation which showed that the site represents an important religious site of the Corieltavi (the people of the East Midlands in the Iron Age and Roman periods) with links around the country. The objects were declared ‘Treasure’ by the local coroner, and acquired by Leicestershire County Council Environment and Heritage Services in 2007 with funding from a number of sources, including the Heritage Lottery Fund and The Art Fund. The project to conserve, display and interpret the coins and associated finds has begun, and will see a permanent exhibition at Harborough Museum opening Spring 2009.

The most significant finds were the 14 hoards of coins found just inside the gateway of a polygonal enclosure. Outside the enclosure was a mass of pig bones – probably sacrificed animals – some of which may have been consumed in ritual feasting. The finds date the site to the Iron Age, and suggest a ritual purpose. This site is particularly special because it is the first of its kind to be excavated by archaeologists.

The Coins
At present, 5292 coins have been identified from the site, including 4835 which can be attributed to the local ‘tribe’ the Corieltavi. 38 are gold coins known as ‘staters’, and 4797 are silver ‘units’ and ‘half units’. There are 125 coins of other ‘tribes’, mostly of the Trinovantes of Southeast England, and some also of the Iceni, the Atrebates, the Dobunni and the Durotriges. 334 coins are Roman. An ingot and the contents of a crucible, which has clear evidence that silver coins were being melted down, probably represent in the order of another 2000 coins. Several hundred more coins remain within the Roman cavalry helmet, which was lifted from the site in a block for excavation and conservation under laboratory conditions.

This find more than doubles the total number of Corieltavian coins previously recorded; and there are a number of unusual, previously unrecorded pieces, including gold coins with the name of Cunobelin (Shakespeare’s Cymbeline) on one side, and Dubn(ovellaunus) on the other.

Most of the coins include a somewhat abstract horse design, with the earliest examples showing boars on the other side. Most of the Leicestershire coins bear the names of local rulers who held power in the early 1st century AD.

It seems likely that the hoards were buried at around the time of, or shortly after, the Roman conquest of AD 43. However, there are a number of Roman coins from the site that date from between the mid 1st to the late 4th century AD, which strongly suggest continuing deposition on the site, although there is no sign of any conventional Roman temple.

The coins will be available to study online through the Oxford Celtic Coin Index (the primary repository of Iron Age coin finds) by 2008.

The Helmet
The helmet is a rare Roman parade helmet, very fragile with a corroded iron core, completely covered with silver and decorated with an elaborate raised design picked out with gilding. Stylised human hair and a laurel wreath can be made out on the helmet bowl. Fragments, probably from a cheek piece, include a lion’s head thought to be from a figure of Hercules. A second, complete, cheek piece has an iconic image of a Roman emperor on horseback being crowned with a laurel wreath by a winged victory while riding down a cowering barbarian. What appear to be at least two other cheek pieces are lying face down. The best parallel so far identified is from the Roman fort at Xanten on the Rhine in Germany. The helmet was so fragile that it was decided to lift it in a large block of surrounding soil so as to keep the whole assemblage intact. Excavating it from this block, and subsequent conservation and scientific work, will be a long-term and painstaking process.

The Other Metal Finds
These include personal jewellery, an ingot, crucible contents, droplets of gold, silver and copper alloy, sword chape, silver disc (probably horse harness) and possible shield binding clip. Vessels include a handle from a stave built tankard, and a unique small silver bowl, and there are a number of miscellaneous objects, including: a Roman bronze lamp, pieces of copper alloy sheet, tacks, studs, fittings and many fragmentary objects not yet identified. There are also a few finds of other periods, including a bronze blade of Bronze Age date.

Other Finds
These include Iron Age and Roman pottery, flint material, medieval pottery, tile, animal bone and environmental samples. The Iron Age and Roman pottery are broadly contemporary with the ritual activity; and the animal bone is crucial evidence for one aspect of that ritual activity. The other material is evidence for earlier and later use of the landscape, probably of an agricultural nature.

A picture is emerging of hilltop ritual activities, with feasting taking place on one side of a boundary or enclosure and coin hoard deposition on the other. No evidence has so far been found for a building (so it cannot be called a shrine or temple). The site was possibly an outdoor gathering place or sanctuary, possibly a sacred grove, dedicated to an unknown Celtic god. This site is of a kind not previously found in Britain, and appears to have been an important religious centre for the Corieltavi, the dominant Iron Age tribe of the East Midlands.

Use and Display of Objects
The Treasure will be documented and then stored and displayed according to the highest possible collections management standards. Much of the collection – notably the coins – is in excellent condition and requires no further conservation. The Roman helmet needs a programme of excavation and conservation which will last around 4 years. Other objects need some work to bring them up to display standards.

The Treasure will be made accessible to Leicestershire and wider audiences by permanent displays in Harborough and Hallaton Museums, and by travelling exhibitions for both the larger museums of the East Midlands and smaller museums and other community venues. These exhibitions will cater for all appropriate learning and access requirements, including on-line learning resources. They will also cater for all relevant security and environmental needs.

This is a very exciting project for Leicestershire, and in particular Harborough Museum. The ongoing research into the context of the finds is changing our understanding of late Iron Age Britain, and raises many questions about relations with Rome immediately before and after the Claudian invasion of AD43.

The British Museum and the University of Leicester Archaeological Unit continue to support and work with Leicestershire County Council to understand, conserve and display the finds.

The Southeast Leicestershire Treasure Project is made possible through funding from many charities, organisations and individuals. The Heritage Lottery Fund has awarded £650,600 towards the project to acquire, conserve, display and interpret the Treasure, and leading independent art charity The Art Fund contributed £100,000 towards the acquisition of the Treasure. Other funders include the V&A Purchase Fund, the Department of Culture Media and Sport, Renaissance East Midlands, Hallaton residents and fieldworkers group, and the Friends of Leicester & Leicestershire Museums.

(cited from BRIEFING NOTE REF. NO. 24/ 2007-08 Southeast Leicestershire Treasure Project)

[Peroni]

The Leicestershire helmet deposit is currently still lying in a Tesco carrier bag at the British Museum awaiting restoration.

Once they have made a start we hope to be making a reconstruction for the museums!

[jho]

Have you seen it? From the note above it appears that we have one helmet but four cheek pieces?

[Peroni]

That's right! :wink:

[martijn.wijnhoven]

APPARENTLY A NEW ROMAN CAVALRY HELMET HAS BEEN FOUND, SEE THIS THREAD:

http://www.romanarmy.com/rat/viewtopic. ... 879#220879

Interesting!

Thanks,

Martijn

[Peroni]

The treasure was discovered in southeast Leicestershire in 2000! eight years on and still on the bench!

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

Is that a picture of what it looks like in the website, or it that a different one altogether?

[Crispvs]

I note that it is described as a parade helmet but from the description it sounds like a type 'A' cavalry helmet.

Byron,

The helmet in the link at the top of this thread is a different helmet to the Harborough helmet.

Crispvs

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

OK, I couldn't open the link to it for some reason. Thanks Crispus!

[jho]

After purchasing the magazine, a little more info on the helmet referred to in the first post of this thread:

The helmet is from a private collection so there is no archaeological context. The brow band features three masks in the center and other decoration which the author associates with the cult of the Thracian rider (not sure whether it is referred to as such in English). The bowl shows the usual hair decoration rather crudely executed.

Given the crude way in which the bowl, brow band and hinges for the cheek pieces are riveted together, I am not sure that much can be deducted from the position of the brow band.