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Ancient helmet's secrets uncovered

Posted on 03/04/09

Leicestershire Councty CouncilCommunity Services

2 April 2009Ancient helmet's secrets uncovered

Experts at the British Museum are helping to unpick the secrets of a 2,000-year-old Roman helmet, found in Leicestershire.

The helmet is part of the Southeast Leicestershire Treasure, an internationally-important Iron Age find that will be the subject of a major, permanent exhibition at Harborough Museum (www.leics.gov.uk/harboroughmuseum) later this year.

Covered in silver gilt, it is one of the most ornate Roman cavalry helmets ever found in Britain.

It is believed the helmet, plus more than 5,000 silver and gold coins, was left on a religious site, the first of its kind to be found in Britain.

The helmet was lifted out of the ground in a soil block, to protect it. It is now at the British Museum, where experts from the University of Liverpool have carried out 3D scans to record every detail.

Made of silver gilt over an iron frame, the helmet has ornate cheek pieces that show a Roman soldier on horseback. The helmet is so fragile that every detail is being recorded, before painstaking work takes place to remove the soil around it.

Ernie White, Leicestershires Cabinet member for Community Services, said: "Its fascinating to think that this helmet and the rest of the treasure can help us to piece together what life was like in Leicestershire, 2,000 years ago.

"Im delighted that experts from the British Museum and the University of Liverpool are helping us to study this extremely delicate and valuable artefact."

Jeremy Hill, research manager at the British Museum, said: "This incredible fragile and beautiful helmet is rewriting our history.

"This one object can sum up the Roman Conquest of Britain and shows us it was not the black and white story it has often been made out to be in the past. The fact its discovery was only possible because of the work of local amateur archaeologists makes this find even more important. "

It is believed the helmet, plus more than 5,000 silver and gold coins, was left on a religious site, the first of its kind to be found in Britain. The helmet was found by professional arcaheologists from ULAS working with local community arcaheologists and Leicestershire County Council. The excavation was funded by English Heritage.

There are various theories as to why the helmet was there. It could have belonged to a member of the tribe who served with the Roman army and left it there afterwards as a tribute. Or it could have been a trophy after the tribe clashed with the Romans. Or it could have ben a diplomatic gift from the Romans to a local ruler.

The South East Leicestershire treasure is one of the most significant Iron Age finds in Britain and one of the best for the Corieltavi the tribe that covered the entire East Midlands and had its capital, in the Roman period, at Leicester. They were the most northerly Iron Age tribe in Britain to use coins.

How to get involved

Leicestershire County Council run an award winning scheme to involve local people in the archaeology of Leicestershire and Rutland. To get involved in local archaeology contact Peter Liddle, Community Archaeologist, Room 500, County Hall, Glenfield LE3 8TE (phone: 0116 305 8326; e-mail: pliddle@leics.gov.uk). Or see the Community Archaeology www.leics.gov.uk/community_archaeology webpages.

Background

The Hallaton Helmet was purchased by Leicestershire County Council as part of the Southeast Leicestershire Treasure with grants from the Heritage Lottery Fund, The Art Fund (the UKs leading independent art charity), the MLA/V&A Purchase Grant Fund, The Headley Trust and local contributions from the Friends of Leicester and Leicestershire Museums, the Leicestershire Museums Archaeological Fieldwork Group and the County Council, as well as private individuals. Support from Harborough District Council is also gratefully acknowledged.

For images of the 3D scans, please contact Frank Hargrave at Harborough Museum on 01858 821 1087 or email fhargrave@leics.gov.uk

Due to the conservation work taking place, the helmet is not on public display at the British Museum. For further details, contact Hannah Boulton on 0207 323 8522 or email hboulton@britishmuseum.org

The Hallaton Helmet will go on display in Harborough Museum once the conservation work is complete. It is estimated this work will take four years.

Harborough Museum is operated in partnership by Leicestershire County Council, Harborough District Council and the Market Harborough Historical Society.

The Southeast Leicestershire Treasure is the archive of material produced by several stages of archaeological work undertaken by local community archaeologists and University of Leicester Archaeological Services. The site proved to be an internationally important ritual site dating mostly to the generations before and after the Roman Conquest of Britain in the 1st century AD.

The purpose of the project is purchase, conserve, interpret and promote the Southeast Leicestershire Treasure. The cost of the project is 933,872 which includes purchasing the finds, conserving the finds, displays at Harborough Museum and at Hallaton Museum, two touring exhibitions, web based resources, workshops for schools and community groups, and events for the public.

The project is supported by grants from The Heritage Lottery Fund of 650,600, 100,000 from The Art Fund, the UKs leading independent art charity, 35,000 from the Museums and Art Galleries Improvements Fund, 35,000 from the MLA/V&A Purchase Fund Grant, The Headley Trust, Renaissance East Midlands and local contributions from the Friends of Leicester and Leicestershire Museums, the Leicestershire Museums Archaeological Fieldwork Group and the County Council, as well as private individuals.

The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) enables communities to celebrate, look after and learn more about our diverse heritage. From our great museums and historic buildings to local parks and beauty spots or recording and celebrating traditions, customs and history, HLF grants open up our nations heritage for everyone to enjoy. Since its conception, HLF has supported 26,000 projects allocating over 4 billion across the UK.

The Art Fund is the UKs leading independent art charity. It offers grants to help UK museums and galleries enrich their collections; campaigns on behalf of museums and their visitors; and promotes the enjoyment of art.It is entirely funded from public donations and has 80,000 members. Since 1903 the charity has helped museums and galleries all over the UK secure 860,000 works of art for their collections. Recent achievements include: helping secure Titians Diana and Actaeon for the National Galleries of Scotland and the National Gallery, London in February 2009 with a grant of 1 million; helping secure Anthony dOffays collection, ARTIST ROOMS, for Tate and National Galleries of Scotland in February 2008 with a grant of 1million; and running the Buy a Brushstroke public appeal which raised over 550,000 to keep Turners Blue Rigi watercolour in the UK. For more information contact the Press Office on 020 7225 4888 or visit www.artfund.org .

The Art Fund is a Registered Charity No. 209174

The MLA/V&A Purchase Grant Fund is a government fund, established at the Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A) in 1881 as part of its nationwide work. The annual grants budget, currently 1,000,000, is provided by the Museums, Libraries, Archives Council (MLA). The Fund supports the acquisition of objects relating to the arts, literature, and history by regional museums, record offices and specialist libraries in England and Wales. Each year it considers some 300 applications and in 2006-7 awarded grants to 115 organisations, enabling acquisitions of over 4million to go ahead.

Visit the website at www.vam.ac.uk/purchasegrantfund

The Headley Museums Archaeological Acquisition Fund has been established by the Headley Trust, one of the Sainsbury Family Charitable Trusts. Its trustees realise the great difficulties many regional and local museums find in raising the money to buy archaeological artefacts. They are also aware of the proliferation of finds as a consequence of the success of the Portable Antiquities Scheme. The Headley initiative is intended to help museums secure and display notable finds. The Headley Scheme runs alongside and in collaboration with the MLA/V&A Purchase Grant Fund.

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