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Coppergate Helmet
The Coppergate Helmet (also known as the York Helmet) is an eighth-century Anglo-Saxon helmet found in York, England. It was discovered in May 1982 during excavations for the Jorvik Viking Centre at the bottom of a pit that is thought to have once been a well.
The helmet is one of six Anglo-Saxon helmets known to have survived to the present day, and is by far the best preserved. It shares its basic form with the helmet found at Wollaston (1997), joining that find and those at Benty Grange (1848), Sutton Hoo (1939), Shorwell (2004) and Staffordshire (2009), as one of the "crested helmets" that flourished in England and Scandinavia from the sixth through to the eleventh centuries. It is now in the collections of the Yorkshire Museum.
The construction of the helmet is complex. Apart from the neck guard the basic form is shared by the contemporaneous Pioneer Helmet, a sparsely decorated fighting piece, and consists of four parts: an iron skull cap with brass edging and decorations, two iron cheek guards with brass edging, and camail protecting the neck.
The cap of the helmet has eight iron components. A brow band encircles the head; a nose-to-nape band extends from back to front, where it narrows and continues downwards as the nasal; two lateral bands each connect the side of the brow band to the top of the nose-to-nape band; and four subtriangular infill plates sit underneath the resulting holes. The eight pieces are riveted together. The brow band, 572 mm (22.5 in) long and 74 mm (2.9 in) to 87.4 mm (3.44 in) wide, is not entirely circular; a 69.8 mm (2.75 in) gap at the front is covered by the nose-to-nape band, which overlaps the brow band at the front and underlaps it at the back. Quadrant-shaped cutouts at the front, and rectangular cutouts at the sides, create eye-holes and attachment points for the cheek guard hinges. On the dexter side is a light and unexplained sketch of a rectangle with two lines in the shape of an 'X' connecting the corners. The nose-to-nape band is 492.8 mm (19.40 in) long and about 87.5 mm (3.44 in) wide, and is shaped at the front, possibly with a template before assembly, both to help facilitate the eye-holes and to continue down as the nasal. The two lateral bands, about 125 mm (4.9 in) long and 82 mm (3.2 in) wide, are riveted to the inside of the brow and nose-to-nape bands by three iron rivets on each end. The four infill plates are roughly triangular, but have their corners cut off to avoid overlapping the rivets holding the bands together. Their sizes vary considerably, likely because the edges are hidden from view. At the front the two infill plates are affixed underneath the bands by four rivets on either side and three at the bottom; at the back, five rivets on either side, and three at the bottom, hold each infill plate to the bands.
Four different types of brass edging, comprising seven individual pieces, are used on the cap. A plain binding extends around the front of the helmet, connecting the two cheek guard hinges and covering the edges of the nasal and eye-hole cutouts; a short strip on either side fills the space between the hinge and the end of the eyebrow; behind the hinge on either side, another short piece extends to the end of the cheek guard; and across the back of the helmet, connecting the ends of the cheek guard, runs a mail suspension strip. The plain binding is made from a piece of brass, up to 9.8 mm (0.39 in) wide, that is folded in half around the edge of the helmet. It appears to be made from a single piece of metal, and is attached with six brass rivets. Above these on either side, a strip approximately 19.4 mm (0.76 in) long and 9 mm (0.35 in) tall fills the space between the hinge and the end of the eyebrow, on which side it is moulded to the shape of the eyebrow's terminal animal head. The upper edges are folded over at the top. These strips are each affixed with two brass rivets and are primarily decorative, for they match the height of the two types of edge binding on the back of the helmet. The first of these types is made from one rectangular strip of brass per side, folded over into a U-shape and fitted over the approximately 35.5 mm (1.40 in) long portion of the brow band between the cheek guard hinge and the back of the cheek guard.
On the exterior of the helmet the strips are about 11.7 mm (0.46 in) tall, and have the tops folded over, as on the filler strips. Two brass rivets per side hold them in place. The final type of edge binding, the mail suspension strip, is similar to the pieces behind the hinges that it abuts. It is made of folded over rectangular strips of brass, fitted over the edge of the brow band and with the top of the exterior edge itself folded down. Two pieces of equal length were used, abutting at the back of the helmet, although the sinister strip was not found with the helmet. The dexter strip is 162 mm (6.4 in) long and 10.3 mm (0.41 in) tall, and between its bottom and the bottom of the brow band, leaves a hollow 3.3 mm (0.13 in) high gap. Seven or eight slots, each between 1.1 mm (0.043 in) and 1.7 mm (0.067 in) wide, were cut for every 25 mm (0.98 in) of the strip. One ring of mail was placed into each slot, and a piece of iron wire 2.5 mm (0.098 in) in diameter was slotted through to hold them in place. The mail suspension strip was held on by silver rivets with domed heads; only two survive, though five were probably originally used.
Suspended from the cap are two cheek guards and a mail curtain. The cheek guards are made from individual pieces of iron and at their maximum dimensions are approximately 127 mm (5.0 in) long and 88 mm (3.5 in) wide. They are curved inward both laterally and longitudinally, and each held to the brow band by a single hinge. Both hinges are made of two pieces of iron, approximately 50 mm (2.0 in) long and 25 mm (0.98 in) wide, that were bent in half over a circular rod and then cut to create matching slots; the upper dexter piece has four slots and the lower piece three—one of which is broken—a pattern that is reversed on the sinister side. The upper halves fit over sections cut out of the brow band, the lower halves over the cheek guards, and all four pieces are held in place with two iron rivets. The slots mesh together, and are held in place by 2.4 mm (0.094 in) diameter iron pins, the sinister of which is missing and has been replaced.
The mail is remarkable in consisting of forge-welded links, rather than the far more common riveted links. The helmet was found to be made of iron, with applied brass-work containing approximately 85% copper.
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Coppergate Helmet
The Coppergate Helmet (also known as the York Helmet) is an eighth-century Anglo-Saxon helmet found in York, England. It was discovered in May 1982 during excavations for the Jorvik Viking Centre at the bottom of a pit that is thought to have once been a well.
The helmet is one of six Anglo-Saxon helmets known to have survived to the present day, and is by far the best preserved. It shares its basic form with the helmet found at Wollaston (1997), joining that find and those at Benty Grange (1848), Sutton Hoo (1939), Shorwell (2004) and Staffordshire (2009), as one of the "crested helmets" that flourished in England and Scandinavia from the sixth through to the eleventh centuries. It is now in the collections of the Yorkshire Museum.
The construction of the helmet is complex. Apart from the neck guard the basic form is shared by the contemporaneous Pioneer Helmet, a sparsely decorated fighting piece, and consists of four parts: an iron skull cap with brass edging and decorations, two iron cheek guards with brass edging, and camail protecting the neck.
The cap of the helmet has eight iron components. A brow band encircles the head; a nose-to-nape band extends from back to front, where it narrows and continues downwards as the nasal; two lateral bands each connect the side of the brow band to the top of the nose-to-nape band; and four subtriangular infill plates sit underneath the resulting holes. The eight pieces are riveted together. The brow band, 572 mm (22.5 in) long and 74 mm (2.9 in) to 87.4 mm (3.44 in) wide, is not entirely circular; a 69.8 mm (2.75 in) gap at the front is covered by the nose-to-nape band, which overlaps the brow band at the front and underlaps it at the back. Quadrant-shaped cutouts at the front, and rectangular cutouts at the sides, create eye-holes and attachment points for the cheek guard hinges. On the dexter side is a light and unexplained sketch of a rectangle with two lines in the shape of an 'X' connecting the corners. The nose-to-nape band is 492.8 mm (19.40 in) long and about 87.5 mm (3.44 in) wide, and is shaped at the front, possibly with a template before assembly, both to help facilitate the eye-holes and to continue down as the nasal. The two lateral bands, about 125 mm (4.9 in) long and 82 mm (3.2 in) wide, are riveted to the inside of the brow and nose-to-nape bands by three iron rivets on each end. The four infill plates are roughly triangular, but have their corners cut off to avoid overlapping the rivets holding the bands together. Their sizes vary considerably, likely because the edges are hidden from view. At the front the two infill plates are affixed underneath the bands by four rivets on either side and three at the bottom; at the back, five rivets on either side, and three at the bottom, hold each infill plate to the bands.
Four different types of brass edging, comprising seven individual pieces, are used on the cap. A plain binding extends around the front of the helmet, connecting the two cheek guard hinges and covering the edges of the nasal and eye-hole cutouts; a short strip on either side fills the space between the hinge and the end of the eyebrow; behind the hinge on either side, another short piece extends to the end of the cheek guard; and across the back of the helmet, connecting the ends of the cheek guard, runs a mail suspension strip. The plain binding is made from a piece of brass, up to 9.8 mm (0.39 in) wide, that is folded in half around the edge of the helmet. It appears to be made from a single piece of metal, and is attached with six brass rivets. Above these on either side, a strip approximately 19.4 mm (0.76 in) long and 9 mm (0.35 in) tall fills the space between the hinge and the end of the eyebrow, on which side it is moulded to the shape of the eyebrow's terminal animal head. The upper edges are folded over at the top. These strips are each affixed with two brass rivets and are primarily decorative, for they match the height of the two types of edge binding on the back of the helmet. The first of these types is made from one rectangular strip of brass per side, folded over into a U-shape and fitted over the approximately 35.5 mm (1.40 in) long portion of the brow band between the cheek guard hinge and the back of the cheek guard.
On the exterior of the helmet the strips are about 11.7 mm (0.46 in) tall, and have the tops folded over, as on the filler strips. Two brass rivets per side hold them in place. The final type of edge binding, the mail suspension strip, is similar to the pieces behind the hinges that it abuts. It is made of folded over rectangular strips of brass, fitted over the edge of the brow band and with the top of the exterior edge itself folded down. Two pieces of equal length were used, abutting at the back of the helmet, although the sinister strip was not found with the helmet. The dexter strip is 162 mm (6.4 in) long and 10.3 mm (0.41 in) tall, and between its bottom and the bottom of the brow band, leaves a hollow 3.3 mm (0.13 in) high gap. Seven or eight slots, each between 1.1 mm (0.043 in) and 1.7 mm (0.067 in) wide, were cut for every 25 mm (0.98 in) of the strip. One ring of mail was placed into each slot, and a piece of iron wire 2.5 mm (0.098 in) in diameter was slotted through to hold them in place. The mail suspension strip was held on by silver rivets with domed heads; only two survive, though five were probably originally used.
Suspended from the cap are two cheek guards and a mail curtain. The cheek guards are made from individual pieces of iron and at their maximum dimensions are approximately 127 mm (5.0 in) long and 88 mm (3.5 in) wide. They are curved inward both laterally and longitudinally, and each held to the brow band by a single hinge. Both hinges are made of two pieces of iron, approximately 50 mm (2.0 in) long and 25 mm (0.98 in) wide, that were bent in half over a circular rod and then cut to create matching slots; the upper dexter piece has four slots and the lower piece three—one of which is broken—a pattern that is reversed on the sinister side. The upper halves fit over sections cut out of the brow band, the lower halves over the cheek guards, and all four pieces are held in place with two iron rivets. The slots mesh together, and are held in place by 2.4 mm (0.094 in) diameter iron pins, the sinister of which is missing and has been replaced.
The mail is remarkable in consisting of forge-welded links, rather than the far more common riveted links. The helmet was found to be made of iron, with applied brass-work containing approximately 85% copper.