British Museum finally pieces together Roman helmet discovered in Leicestershire

Batsy

Experts at the British Museum in London have finally pieced the 1,000 pieces of a Roman helmet back together again ten years after it was discovered.

Metals conservation expert Marilyn Hockey began unearthing the fragments out of a 'big lump of soil' at the British Museum three years ago.

She said: 'Working our way down this enormous lump of clay, we discovered at the bottom some amazing finds ... the emperor cheek piece told us it was something really special.

'To get something straight out of the soil like this is like gold. You can find out so much from it.'

The helmet features several scenes of Roman military victory, including the bust of a woman flanked by lions and a Roman emperor on horseback with the goddess Victory flying behind while a cowering figure, possibly a native Briton, is being trampled under his horse’s hooves.

It is believed to have been buried in the years around the emperor Claudius’s invasion of Britain in AD43.

Experts claim there is a 'distinct possibility' that it belonged to a Briton serving in the Roman cavalry before the conquest of Britain.

They say it changes our understanding of the relationship between Romans and Britons and what the country was like just before the invasion.

It is thought that the helmet may have been buried as a gift to the gods at what was a local shrine on the Briton’s return to the East Midlands.

The helmet was unearthed in Hallaton, Leicestershire, after a metal-detecting enthusiast came across buried coins with his second-hand £260 metal detector.

Retired design and technology teacher, Ken Wallace, 71, called in experts who went on to discover an impressive collection of artefacts.

More than 5,000 coins, ingots and the helmet’s ear guard were among the treasures discovered, along with the remains of a feast of suckling pigs.




Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2084686/Historians-piece-2-000-year-old-Roman-cavalry-helmet-shedding-new-light-ancient-Britain.html#ixzz1jF08QAo7

Riamfada

What was the context of the find? What was it in relation to and how does it fit ino the landscape? It is very shiny though.

slowburner

How was it determined that the helmet was owned by a Briton and how does this change thinking on Romano-British relationships?

Batsy

Riamfada wrote: »

What was the context of the find? What was it in relation to and how does it fit ino the landscape? It is very shiny though.

It was found by members of the Hallaton Fieldwork Group and professional archaeologists from the University of Leicester Archaeological Services and caused quite a stir at the time. The original finders joked that they’d discovered a “rusty bucket”, but in fact they’d got one of the earliest Roman helmets found in Britain, believed to have been buried in the years around the Roman Emperor Claudius’ invasion of AD 43.



But that wasn’t all they’d found. Some 5,296 Iron Age and Roman coins were also unearthed, most of them locally-made and dating to about AD 20/30-50. That’s almost 10 percent of all known surviving British Iron Age coins – and the largest number of Iron Age coins ever excavated in Britain – found at this one site.

They also found evidence suggestive of ritual feasting dating back to the first century AD.

Collectively these finds are known as the Hallaton Treasure.

http://blog.britishmuseum.org/2012/01/10/finishing-a-3d-2000-year-old-roman-jigsaw-puzzle-the-hallaton-helmet-unveiled/

Batsy

slowburner wrote: »

How was it determined that the helmet was owned by a Briton and how does this change thinking on Romano-British relationships?

This hasn't been determined.

Nobody knows for sure who owned the helmet and we may never know. It is just a theory that it was owned by a Briton.

Maybe it was owned by an important local man who served in the Roman cavalry before or during the Roman conquest. He might have chosen to bury his highly-prized helmet at his local shrine as a gift to the gods on his return home.

Or, perhaps it was a diplomatic gift to a supportive local population. It has also been suggested that it was spoil of war, or captured during a battle or a raid.

Since Saturday, the helmet has been on permanent display atHarborough Museum, Market Harborough, Leicestershire along with the rest of the treasure.