The Helm of Gisborough is a bronze helmet of a Roman horseman found in North Yorkshire, England. The helmet was discovered on August 19, 1864, at Barnaby Grange Farm, about two miles west of downtown Gisborough. Found it during roadworks, buried deep in the ground on a bed of gravel. John Christopher Atkinson described the circumstances of its discovery in an article for Gentleman magazine in September 1864: “Not long ago, it was deemed appropriate to replace the existing road to the Barnaby Grange Farm, which crosses the Cleveland Railroad, with a tunnel below it. During the work, at a depth of several feet, a variety of bones were excavated, most of which were in extremely good preservation … But the most remarkable of the finds was a folded metal plate covered with embossing and engraving. It was barely corroded and shone as brightly as the day it was buried in the ground. It was also not particularly badly dented or even scratched."
Helm from Gisborough. Front view. Looking closer, you can see an engraved figure of a deity in the center.
Obviously, the find was "deliberately buried in a hole dug for this purpose, where it was found." Thomas Richmond, a local historian, mistakenly labeled the find as "late Celtic or early Anglo-Saxon." In 1878, Frederick B. Greenwood, who owned the land on which the find was made, donated it to the British Museum. In the museum, it was restored and it turned out that in fact it is nothing more than an ancient Roman helmet. It is currently on display in the section of Roman Britain in room 49. Similar helmets have been found elsewhere in Europe; The closest continental parallel is a helmet discovered in the Saone River at Chalon-sur-Saone in France in the 1860s. The Gisborough Helmet gave its name to a certain type of Roman helmet called the Gisborough type, which can be distinguished by three pointed ridges on the crown, giving it the appearance of a crown.
Helm from Gisborough. Left front view.
Initially, the helmet was equipped with two protective cheek pads, which, however, have not survived. Only the holes with which they were attached are visible, and which are visible in front of the protective earmuffs of the helmet. The helmet is lavishly decorated with engraved as well as relief figures, indicating that it could be used as a ceremonial or for hippie gymnasium tournaments. But there is no reason to think that it was not intended for combat. The helmet was found on a bed of gravel, far from the known places of Roman presence, so it is obvious that it was no coincidence that it came to this place. Once found, it was donated to the British Museum in London, where it was restored and where it is currently on display.
Helm from Gisborough. Side view, left.
The helmet was made of bronze in the 3rd century AD. It is engraved with the figures of the goddess Victoria, Minerva and the god Mars, that is, all the patrons of military affairs. Horsemen galloping are depicted between the figures of the deities. The crown of the helmet has three diadem-like protrusions that make it look like a crown. On the outer edge of these protrusions, wriggling serpents are depicted, the heads of which meet in the center, forming an arch above the central figure of the god Mars. At the back of the helmet, two small umbons stand out, positioned in the center of the embossed colors. The sides and upper part of the helmet is decorated with reliefs with feathers. Its design is similar to a number of other similar artifacts found in Worthing, Norfolk and Chalon-sur-Saone in France. Despite their relative thinness and rich finish, it is believed that such helmets may have been used in battle, not just in parades or hippie gymnasium competitions.
Helm from Gisborough. Back view. Two umbons are clearly visible.
The helmet is still a mystery. For some reason he was flattened and buried in the ground away from any other ancient Roman objects known to us; and it remains unclear why it was not buried in its entirety, why was it brought to such an unusable state ?! There was no fort or fortress in the vicinity. Therefore, this helmet was brought here from afar. But if it was a sacrifice to some pagan gods, then again it is not clear why it was necessary to spoil it?
Those wishing to deepen their knowledge on this topic can recommend this book: Negin, A. E. Roman ceremonial and tournament weapons.
The question of how much Roman "ceremonial" helmets could serve as protection in battle is still interesting. This question interested the Russian historian A. E. Negin, who considered it in his monograph "Roman ceremonial and tournament weapons", in which he also refers to the experiments of M. Junckelmann.
The figure of the god Mars on the crown of the helmet.
The latter noted that helmets with face masks of the 1st century. usually made of rather thick sheet iron, and if so, then in battle they could well be used. For example, one of the found face masks has a thickness of 4 mm, while the mask from Mainz has a thickness of 2 - 3 mm, that is, this is quite enough to protect the face from impact. Crown of helmets of the 2nd-3rd centuries It was also made of sheet iron of sufficient thickness, moreover, they had embossed images, that is, their protrusions could even more soften the blows applied to the helmet. We know that corrugated or grooved Maximilian armor of the 15th - 16th centuries. were six times stronger than armor with a smooth surface, so everything here was exactly the same as in the Middle Ages.
Mask from "helmet from Nijmegen" ("Nijmegen type"), Netherlands. Iron and brass, Flavian era (possibly hidden during the Batavian revolt in 70). The helmet was found on the southern bank of the Baal River near the railway bridge. Inside it were two cheek pads that did not belong to this specimen. Based on this, it can be assumed that the helmet is a sacrificial gift thrown into the river. Only the rim with a bronze lining has survived from the helmet. On the frontal part there are five gilded busts (three for women and two for men). The inscription CNT is carved on the left earcup, and on the right cheek of the mask - MARCIAN … S. The lips and edges of the eyelids have preserved traces of gilding. Remnants of rivets are located under the ears for attaching the mask to the helmet by means of a strap located above the butt pad. (Nijmegen, Museum of Antiquities)
The bronze masks of many helmets are 0.2 to 2 mm thick. M. Junkelmann conducted experiments on firing arrows at armor of such thickness from a distance of 2 m, threw a spear-gasta at them from the same distance and struck at them with a sword-spat. First, the experiment was carried out with a flat untreated sheet with a thickness of 0.5 mm. The arrow pierced it through and went out to 35 cm. The spear managed to pierce this sheet by 12 cm. After the sword hit, a dent about 2 cm deep was formed on it, but it was not possible to cut it through. An experiment with a brass sheet 1 mm thick showed that an arrow penetrates it to a depth of 2 cm, a spear - 3 cm, and from the sword a dent was formed on it about 0.7 cm deep. However, it should be borne in mind that the impact was made on a flat surface and at a right angle, while an impact on the curved surface of the helmet, as a rule, did not reach the target, since the metal thickness was actually greater due to the difference in the product profile. In addition, the leather and felt used as a lining made it possible to neutralize the blow.
The only complete Roman helmet (including a mask), not counting the "Crosby Garrett helmet", found in the UK in the Ribchester area back in 1796. Part of the so-called "Ribchester Treasure". A bronze figurine of a sphinx was found with him. But Joseph Walton, who found the treasure, gave it to the children of one of the brothers to play, and they, of course, lost it. Thomas Dunham Whitaker, who investigated the treasure after the discovery, suggested that the sphinx should have been attached to the top of the helmet, since it had a curved base that repeated the curvature of the helmet's surface and also had traces of solder. The discovery of the Crosby Garrett helmet in 2010, with a winged griffin, confirmed this assumption. (British Museum, London)
Subsequent experiments were carried out with a profiled plate that imitated the crown of a Roman helmet, minted in the form of curly hair, and had a thickness of 1.2 mm. It turned out that most of the blows on this part did not reach the target. The weapon slid off and left only scratches on the surface. The arrow metal sheet was pierced to a depth of only 1.5 cm. The spear, hitting the profiled sheet, most often bounced off, although with a direct hit it pierced the plate to a depth of 4 mm. From the blows of the sword, dents remained on it with a depth of no more than 2 mm. That is, both helmets and masks made of metal of the specified thickness and covered, in addition, with chased images, did not badly protect their owners from most of the weapons of that time. A direct hit from an arrow posed a great danger. But arrows with such a hit pierced both chain mail, and even scaly shells, so that none of the types of armor of that time guaranteed absolute protection!
In terms of wearing comfort, the helmet with the mask was more comfortable than the knight's tophelma, since the mask fit snugly to the face, and since the holes for the eyes are closer to the eyes, the view from it is better. When jumping, the air flow is quite sufficient, but the lack of wind blowing over the face is annoying. Sweat drips from the face to the chin, which is unpleasant. The samurai on masks to remove sweat were invented special tubes. But the Romans for some reason did not think of this.
Helm from Gisborough. The cutout for the ear with the embossed ridge surrounding it is clearly visible.
The helmet is poorly audible. And there is no neck protection as such. But this was typical for all Roman helmets, which had only a backside in the back, and only the helmets of the cataphracts and Klibanarii had the aventail. The conclusion made by M. Junkelmann and A. Negin is that helmets with masks provided Roman soldiers with very good protection and could well have been used both in parades and in battles!
