The Yarm helmet is a circa 10th-century

Viking Age The Viking Age (about ) was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonising, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. The Viking Age applies not only to their ...

Anglo-Scandinavian Anglo-Scandinavian is an academic term referring to the hybridisation between Norse and Anglo-Saxon cultures in Britain during the early medieval period. It remains a term and concept often used by historians and archaeologists, and in linguist ...

helmet A helmet is a form of protective gear worn to protect the head. More specifically, a helmet complements the skull in protecting the human brain. Ceremonial or symbolic helmets (e.g., a policeman's helmet in the United Kingdom) without protecti ...

that was found in

Yarm Yarm-on-Tees, or simply Yarm, is a market town in North Yorkshire, England. It lies on a meander of the River Tees, extending south-east to the River Leven, North Yorkshire, River Leven and south to the village of Kirklevington. A civil parish i ...

in the

North Riding of Yorkshire The North Riding of Yorkshire was a subdivision of Yorkshire, England, alongside York, the East Riding and West Riding. The riding's highest point was at Mickle Fell at . From the Restoration it was used as a lieutenancy area, having b ...

, England. It is the first relatively complete Anglo-Scandinavian helmet found in Britain and only the second relatively complete/intact Viking helmet discovered in north-west Europe. The helmet was discovered in the 1950s by workmen digging pipe trenches in Chapel Yard,

, near the

River Tees The River Tees (), in England, rises on the eastern slope of Cross Fell in the North Pennines and flows eastwards for to reach the North Sea in the North East of England. The modern-day history of the river has been tied with the industries ...

. Research led by Chris Caple of

Durham University Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament (UK), Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by r ...

, and published in 2020, established that the helmet dates to the 10th century. It's also likely the helmet is dated from before the Viking Age, based on comparison with helmets from the Migration Era. It is on display at the Preston Park Museum in Stockton-on-Tees. It is on loan from Yarm Town Council. The iron helmet is made of bands and plates, riveted together, with a simple knop at the top. Below the brow band it has a "spectacle mask", a guard around the eyes and nose forming a sort of

visor A visor (also spelled vizor) is a surface that protects the eyes, such as shading them from the sun or other bright light or protecting them from objects. Nowadays many visors are transparent, but before strong transparent substances such a ...

, which suggests an affinity with earlier

Vendel Period In Scandinavian prehistory, sometimes specifically Swedish prehistory, the Vendel Period, or Vendel Age (; ) appears between the Migration Period and the Viking Age. The name is taken from the rich boat inhumation cemetery at Vendel parish ...

helmets. The lower edge of the brow band is pierced with circular holes, where a mail curtain or

aventail An aventail () or camail () is a flexible curtain of mail (armour), mail attached to the skull of a helmet that extends to cover at least the neck, but often also the throat and shoulders. Part or all of the face, with spaces to allow vision, cou ...

may have been attached. The only other near-complete Viking helmet is the Gjermundbu helmet in Norway. Other helmet remains exist, such as the Tjele helmet fragment from Denmark, the Lokrume helmet fragment from Sweden, and a fragment from

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

References

Bibliography

* * 1950s archaeological discoveries Germanic archaeological artifacts Individual helmets Viking warfare Yarm Archaeological discoveries in the United Kingdom {{europe-archaeology-stub