Sechsteiliger Spangenhelm

So-called Spangenhelme were ubiquitous in late antiquity and the early Middle Ages; archaeologists have unearthed them in, for instance, France, Germany, Italy, and especially the Balkans. All extant Spangenhelme feature similar, often elaborate decoration, which suggests they were used as diplomatic gifts by the courts of both Byzantine emperors and Ostrogoth rulers.

This helmet was found in March 1902 in Vid, near Metković, Croatia, buried three metres deep in sandy ground. The skull is composed of six iron plates covered with sheet silver, held in place by six gilt bronze bands riveted to the plates. The punched design on the bronze bands comprises triangles, birds, suspended crowns, and trees of life, and a cross on the wearer’s forehead. Remnants of the gilt ornamentation of the circlet include the signs of the zodiac framed by circles and squares.

In February 1901, a similar hoard had been discovered at the same location in Vid, about 2 metres away from the site of the Spangenhelm, when a church was pulled down. These objects had been found buried about a metre and a half deep among the rubble of an old city wall. The village of Vid was built on the ruins of the ancient trading town of Narona, which had grown rich thanks to its location on the banks of the Neretva River and its proximity to the Adriatic.

In addition to this helmet, the 1901/02 hoard discovered at Vid comprises the following objects now in the Imperial Armoury: a second Spangenhelm (inv. A 1994), one left cheek guard (inv. A 1995), two banded helmets (invs. A 1998 a, b), three spear tips (invs. A 1999–A 2001), a small piece of mail from a neck guard (inv. A 2002), a fire steel (inv. A 2003), and a Roman bronze fibula from the second century AD (inv. A 2004).