page_title: Crosby Garrett Helmet
section_title: Similarities and usage
hierarchical_section_title: Crosby Garrett Helmet / Similarities and usage
caption_attribution_description: English: Roman cavalry reenactment show during "Römerfest 2008" in Carnuntum. Show of http://www.timetrotter.de/
context_page_description: The Crosby Garrett Helmet is a copper alloy Roman cavalry helmet dating from the late 2nd or early 3rd century AD. It was found by an unnamed metal detectorist near Crosby Garrett in Cumbria, England, in May 2010. Later investigations found that a Romano-British farming settlement had occupied the site where the helmet was discovered, which was located a few miles away from a Roman road and a Roman army fort. It is possible that the owner of the helmet was a local inhabitant who had served with the Roman cavalry.
  The helmet appears to have been deliberately folded up and deposited in an artificial stone structure. It is thought to have been used for ceremonial occasions rather than for combat, and may already have been an antique by the time it was buried. It is of the same type as the Newstead Helmet and its design also has similarities with the Ribchester Helmet and the Hallaton Helmet, though its facial features are more akin to those of helmets found in southern Europe. Its design may allude to the Trojans, whose exploits the Romans re-enacted in cavalry tournaments.
context_section_description: The helmet and visor have marked similarities to a number of other Roman cavalry helmets. The visor is a cavalry sports type C (H. Russell Robinson classification) or type V (Maria Kohlert classification). Similar examples have been found across the Roman Empire from Britain to Syria. It is of the same type as the Newstead Helmet, found in Scotland in 1905, and its facial features most closely parallel a helmet that was found at Nola in Italy and is now in the British Museum. The rendering of the hair is similar to that of a type C helmet found at Belgrade in Serbia and dated to the 2nd century AD. The griffin ornament is unique, though it may parallel a lost "sphinx of bronze" that may originally have been attached to the crest of the Ribchester Helmet, discovered in Lancashire in 1796. The headpiece is nearly unique; only one other example in the form of a Phrygian cap has been found, in a fragmentary state, at Ostrov in Romania, dated to the second half of the 2nd century AD. Rings on the back of the helmet and on the griffin may have been used to attach colourful streamers or ribbons.
  Such helmets were used for hippika gymnasia, cavalry tournaments that were performed in front of emperors and senior commanders. Horses and riders wore lavishly decorated clothes, armour and plumes while performing feats of horsemanship and re-enacting historical and legendary battles, such as the wars of the Greeks and Trojans. According to the Roman writer Arrian:
  [T]hose of high rank or superior in horsemanship wear gilded helmets of iron or bronze to draw the attention of the spectators. Unlike the helmets made for active service, these do not cover the head and cheeks only but are made to fit all round the faces of the riders with apertures for the eyes ... From the helmets hang yellow plumes, a matter of décor as much as utility. As the horses move forward, the slightest breeze adds to the beauty of these plumes.— Arrian, Ars Tactica 34
  Combat gear was issued by and belonged to the Roman army, and had to be returned at the end of a wearer's service. Cavalry sports equipment appears to have been treated differently, as soldiers apparently privately commissioned and purchased it for their own use. They evidently retained it after they completed their service. Both helmets and visors have been found in graves and other contexts away from obvious military sites, as well as being deposited in forts and their vicinity. In some cases they were carefully folded up and buried, as in the case of the Guisborough Helmet. The Dutch historian Johan Nicolay has identified a "lifecycle" for Roman military equipment in which ex-soldiers took certain items home with them as a reminder of their service and occasionally disposed of them away from garrison sites as grave goods or votive offerings.
  The circumstances in which the Crosby Garret helmet was buried are still unclear, but the discoveries made by the post-discovery Tullie House/PAS excavations have provided much more detail about its context. It was clearly deposited within an artificial feature that had been specially constructed; Stuart Noon of the Museum of Lancashire suggests that the feature may have been intended as a memorial of some sort. It was not buried in an isolated spot but within a long-occupied Romano-British farming settlement that had clearly adopted aspects of Roman culture. Given the settlement's proximity to Roman military locations, it is very possible that some of its inhabitants served with the Roman army, which often recruited mounted auxiliaries from among native peoples. The helmet may well already have been a valuable antique at the time of its burial; if the coins found nearby reflect when it was buried, it could have been over a century old by the time it was deposited. It was deliberately broken before being buried in what may have been intended as a ritual sacrifice. The identity of its owner will never be known, but it could have been that a local inhabitant who had formerly served with the Roman cavalry was responsible for the helmet's deposition.
caption: A reenactor and horse wearing display armour typical of the hippika gymnasia
exif: {"Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon EOS 5D", "Image XResolution": "150", "Image YResolution": "150", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Bibble 5 Preview", "Image DateTime": "2008:06:14 15:04:39", "Image ExifOffset": "8", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/800", "EXIF FNumber": "6606029/1048576", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Aperture Priority", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "500", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2008:06:14 15:04:39", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2008:06:14 15:04:39", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "77/8", "EXIF ApertureValue": "43/8", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "1431655765", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "9786709/2097152", "EXIF FocalLength": "180", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard"}