The Canterbury Helmet is an

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

helmet found in a field near

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

, England, in December 2012. Made of

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...

, it is one of only a few helmets dating from the

to ever have been found in Britain. The helmet currently resides in the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

, 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

, and was of the

Coolus Coolus () is a commune in the Marne department in north-eastern France. It gave its name to the Coolus helmet, a type of ancient Celtic and Roman helmet. See also *Communes of the Marne department The following is a list of the 610 commu ...

style, a type used by both Gallic Warriors and

Roman Legionaries The Roman legion (, ) was the largest military unit of the Roman army, composed of Roman citizens serving as legionaries. During the Roman Republic the manipular legion comprised 4,200 infantry and 300 cavalry. After the Marian reforms in 1 ...

, 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 In the course of his Gallic Wars, Julius Caesar invaded Britain twice: in 55 and 54 BC. On the first occasion, Caesar took with him only two legions, and achieved little beyond a landing on the coast of Kent. The second invasion was more subst ...

, or that it may be the helmet of a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

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.

References

;Notes ;Sources * * * * * * {{helmets 1st-century BC artifacts 2012 archaeological discoveries Iron Age Britain Ancient helmets Individual helmets Ancient Roman helmets