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The Canterbury Helmet is an Iron Age helmet found in a field near Canterbury, Kent, England, in December 2012. Made of bronze, it is one of only a few helmets dating from the Iron Age to ever have been found in Britain. The helmet currently resides in the British Museum, and is undergoing conservation work. It was found by Mr Trevor Rogers, who found it together with an iron brooch and a pin, and it is thought to have contained a bag with cremated human remains.

Construction

The helmet was made of sheet bronze, and was of the Coolus style, a type used by both Gallic Warriors and Roman Legionaries, with a bowl shape and a flared beck to protect the back of the head and neck. This type of helmet was common on the continent, but is not commonly seen in Britain, though this may simply be due to the lack of finds from this era.

Context

It is unclear where exactly the helmet is from. It is thought by some historians that it may be the burial of a Roman soldier from Caesar's Invasions of Britain, or that it may be the helmet of a British mercenary who had served against the Romans in Gaul, and had adopted a Continental helmet style. Other historians and archaeologists believe it is simply a helmet inspired by Gallic designs. As the helmet was found in 2012, debate still rages about its nature and origin.

See also

• Meyrick Helmet
• Waterloo Helmet

References

Notes

Sources

• "Iron Age bronze helmet found on Canterbury farmland". BBC News. 4 December 2012. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
• "A Late Iron Age helmet found near Canterbury". Canterbury Archaeological Trust. Archived from the original on 11 December 2012. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
• "Bronze helmet containing cremation found in south east England". Past Horizons. 5 December 2012. Archived from the original on 16 June 2013. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
• Bosworth, Lloyd (3 December 2012). "Laser Scanning an Iron-Age Helmet from Canterbury". Blog.L3DB6H.UK (Lloyd Bosworths Blog). Archived from the original on 1 April 2016. Retrieved 20 March 2016.
• Elton, Matt (5 December 2012). "Canterbury helmet 'dates from first century BC'". BBC History Magazine. Archived from the original on 27 March 2016. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
• Miller, Ben (3 October 2014). "Iron Age Roman helmet used as container for cremation burial goes on display in Kent". Culture24. Retrieved 20 March 2016.

• 1st-century BC artifacts
• 2012 archaeological discoveries
• Iron Age Britain
• Ancient helmets
• Individual helmets
• Ancient Roman helmets