The helmet cheekpieces
The helmet cheekpieces is part of the following collections: The Hallaton Treasure.
By 2011 the conservators at the British Museum had removed all the helmet remains from the soil, found at the Hallaton site. They revealed a helmet bowl (the part that sits on the head) and seven cheek pieces. A Roman helmet only needs two cheekpieces (a left and a right), so why were there five extra cheekpieces here? We do not know if the people who buried the helmet received them in this state or dismantled them for burial at the shrine. All of the cheekpieces have a roughly similar design and one definitely belonged to the helmet bowl.
Highlights
Cheekpiece 1 (Emperor)
The best preserved ‘Emperor’ cheekpiece was the first to be uncovered during excavation in the laboratory. It shows a triumphant emperor riding a horse and trampling an enemy beneath his horses hooves. The goddess Victory flies behind him holding a palm leaf. What the local Iron Age people who buried the helmet thought of this image of Roman military power remains a mystery.
You can interact with a 3D-scanned model of the cheekpiece below.
Cheekpiece 6
This cheekpiece also depicts an emperor but is slightly different to Cheekpiece 1 because the goddess holds a laurel wreath above his head. Cheekpiece 6 belonged to the helmet bowl from Hallaton and was found nestled inside.
You can interact with a 3D-scanned model of the cheekpiece below.
Cheekpiece 4
This cheekpiece has a more intriguing design as the bearded defeated enemy is wearing a very specific type of banded headgear and a cloak with circular brooch. He looks like Roman depictions of the Dacians, the native inhabitants of the area which is now Romania.
You can interact with a 3D-scanned model of the cheekpiece below.
