The Sutton Hoo helmet, weighing an estimated 2.5 kg (5.5 lb), was made of iron and covered with decorated sheets of tinned bronze.
Fluted strips of moulding divided the exterior into panels, each of which was stamped with one of five designs.
Two depict figural scenes, another two zoophormic interlaced patterns; a fifth pattern, known only from seven small fragments and incapable of restoration, is only known to occur once on an otherwise symmetrical helmet and may have been used to replace a damaged panel.
The existence of these five designs has been generally understood since the first reconstruction, published in 1947.
The succeeding three decades gave rise to an increased understanding of the designs and their parallels in contemporary imagery, allowing possible reconstructions of the full panels to be advanced, and through the second reconstruction their locations on the surface of the helmet to be redetermined.
As referred to below, the designs are numbered according to Rupert Bruce-Mitford's 1978 work.
The Sutton Hoo helmet, weighing an estimated 2.5 kg (5.5 lb), was made of iron and covered with decorated sheets of tinned bronze. Fluted strips of moulding divided the exterior into panels, each of which was stamped with one of five designs. Two depict figural scenes, another two zoophormic interlaced patterns; a fifth pattern, known only from seven small fragments and incapable of restoration, is only known to occur once on an otherwise symmetrical helmet and may have been used to replace a damaged panel. The existence of these five designs has been generally understood since the first reconstruction, published in 1947. The succeeding three decades gave rise to an increased understanding of the designs and their parallels in contemporary imagery, allowing possible reconstructions of the full panels to be advanced, and through the second reconstruction their locations on the surface of the helmet to be redetermined. As referred to below, the designs are numbered according to Rupert Bruce-Mitford's 1978 work.
Sutton Hoo helmet