The helmet was likely produced around the third quarter of the first century AD, based on the size and steep angle of the neck guard.
It is broadly classified as an auxiliary cavalry helmet—type B, according to the typology put forward by H. Russell Robinson.
It is the sole surviving example of type B helmets; though similar to type A helmets, which are hemispherical, with recesses for the ears and small neck-flanges extending from the occiput, it has a larger, sloping neck guard.
Although the bosses on the helmet have no known Roman parallel, their origin may trace to Etruscan helmets from around the sixth century BC.
Examples from near the Picenum region of the Adriatic coast—and now found in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, and the British Museum—have similar bosses.
These examples are filled with lead, which would have helped deflect blades; the bosses on the Witcham Gravel helmet are hollow, by contrast, suggesting a decorative function.
The helmet was likely produced around the third quarter of the first century AD, based on the size and steep angle of the neck guard. It is broadly classified as an auxiliary cavalry helmet—type B, according to the typology put forward by H. Russell Robinson. It is the sole surviving example of type B helmets; though similar to type A helmets, which are hemispherical, with recesses for the ears and small neck-flanges extending from the occiput, it has a larger, sloping neck guard. Although the bosses on the helmet have no known Roman parallel, their origin may trace to Etruscan helmets from around the sixth century BC. Examples from near the Picenum region of the Adriatic coast—and now found in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, and the British Museum—have similar bosses. These examples are filled with lead, which would have helped deflect blades; the bosses on the Witcham Gravel helmet are hollow, by contrast, suggesting a decorative function.
Witcham Gravel helmet