Английская Википедия:Benty Grange helmet

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Шаблон:Short description Шаблон:Bots Шаблон:Featured article Шаблон:Use British English Шаблон:Use shortened footnotes Шаблон:Use dmy dates Шаблон:Infobox artefact

The Benty Grange helmet is an Anglo-Saxon boar-crested helmet from the seventh century AD. It was excavated by Thomas Bateman in 1848 from a tumulus at the Benty Grange farm in Monyash in western Derbyshire. The grave had probably been looted by the time of Bateman's excavation, but still contained other high-status objects suggestive of a richly furnished burial, such as the fragmentary remains of a hanging bowl. The helmet is displayed at Sheffield's Weston Park Museum, which purchased it from Bateman's estate in 1893.

The helmet was constructed by covering the outside of an iron framework with plates of horn and the inside with cloth or leather; the organic material has since decayed. It would have provided some protection against weapons, but was also ornate and may have been intended for ceremonial use. It was the first Anglo-Saxon helmet to be discovered, with five others found since: Sutton Hoo (1939), Coppergate (1982), Wollaston (1997), Shorwell (2004) and Staffordshire (2009). The helmet features a unique combination of structural and technical attributes, but contemporaneous parallels exist for its individual characteristics. It is classified as one of the "crested helmets" used in Northern Europe from the 6th to 11th centuries AD.

The most striking feature of the helmet is the boar at its apex; this pagan symbol faces towards a Christian cross on the nasal in a display of syncretism. This is representative of 7th-century England when Christian missionaries were slowly converting Anglo-Saxons away from traditional Germanic paganism. The helmet seems to exhibit a stronger preference toward paganism, with a large boar and a small cross. The cross may have been added for talismanic effect, the help of any god being welcome on the battlefield. The boar atop the crest was likewise associated with protection and suggests a time when boar-crested helmets may have been common, as do the helmet from Wollaston and the Guilden Morden boar. The contemporary epic Beowulf mentions such helmets five times and speaks of the strength of men "when the hefted sword, its hammered edge and gleaming blade slathered in blood, razes the sturdy boar-ridge off a helmet".Шаблон:Sfn

Description

Colour photograph of the Benty Grange helmet replica on view at Weston Park Museum in Sheffield
Replica of the Benty Grange helmet at Weston Park Museum in Sheffield

The Benty Grange helmet was made by covering an iron frame with horn.Шаблон:Sfn It probably weighed about Шаблон:Cvt, the weight of the Weston Park Museum's 1986 replica.Шаблон:Sfn The framework, which now exists in sixteen corroded fragments, originally consisted of seven iron strips, each between 1 and 2 millimetres thick.Шаблон:Sfn A brow band, Шаблон:Cvt long and Шаблон:Cvt wide, encircled the head.Шаблон:Sfn Two strips of the same width ran from front to back, and from side to side.Шаблон:Sfn The Шаблон:Cvt long nose-to-nape band extended Шаблон:Cvt in the front and Шаблон:Cvt in the back; the extension over the nose was straight, whereas the extension at the back was curved inwards, so as to fit the nape of the wearer.Шаблон:Sfn The lateral band ran from ear to ear; both ends are broken off slightly below the brow band, but it would have extended further as part of a cheek or ear protection.Шаблон:Sfn It was affixed to the outside of the dexter (wearer's right) side of the brow band, the inside of the sinister (wearer's left) side, and the outside of the nose-to-nape band.Шаблон:Sfn The four quadrants created by this configuration were each subdivided by a narrower subsidiary strip of iron, only one of which now survives.Шаблон:Sfn Each subsidiary strip was attached to the outside of the brow band Шаблон:Cvt from the centre of the lateral band.Шаблон:Sfn Here they were Шаблон:Cvt wide, and, while tapering towards a width of Шаблон:Cvt, rose at a 70° angle towards the lateral band, which they overlapped at a 50° angle just beneath the crest.Шаблон:Sfn The inside of the helmet was most likely originally lined with leather or cloth, since decayed.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn

Eight plates of horn, probably softened and bent and suggested to be from cattle,Шаблон:Refn were cut to fit the eight spaces created by the iron frame.Шаблон:Sfn No horn now survives, but mineralized traces on the iron strips preserve the grain pattern.Шаблон:Sfn The plates were fitted over the iron, thereby hiding it, and abutted at the centre of each strip.Шаблон:Sfn The joins were hidden by further pieces of horn that were cut to the width of the iron strips and placed on top.Шаблон:Sfn The three layers—iron at the bottom, followed by two layers of horn—were held together by a succession of rivets:Шаблон:Sfn iron rivets placed from inside the helmet, and rivets made of, or coated in, silver, with ornamental heads in the shape of a double-headed axe, placed from the outside, Шаблон:Cvt apart.Шаблон:Sfn Traces of horn on the rear extension of the nose-to-nape band, and on the rear brow band, suggest that the material was also used for a neck guard.Шаблон:Sfn These suggest that pieces of horn, extending Шаблон:Cvt from the centre of the brow band to the bottom of the rear nose-to-nape band, would have met each extension of the lateral band at a 5° angle, reaching them Шаблон:Cvt from the centre of the brow band.Шаблон:Sfn

In addition to the aesthetic elements incorporated into the basic construction of the helmet, two features provide added decoration: a cross on the nasal and a boar on the crest.Шаблон:Sfn The silver cross is Шаблон:Cvt long by Шаблон:Cvt wide, and consists of two parts.Шаблон:Sfn A silver strip was added underneath, elongating what was originally an equal-armed cross.Шаблон:Sfn It was placed atop a layer of horn and attached to the helmet with two rivets, one at the intersection of the two arms and one at the bottom.Шаблон:Sfn Around the cross in a zigzag pattern are twenty-nine silver studs, out of a suggested original forty, that were probably tapped into small holes drilled or bored into the horn.Шаблон:Sfn

The most distinctive feature of the Benty Grange helmet is its boar, affixed to the apex of the helmet.Шаблон:Sfn The core of its body is made of two pieces of hollow D-sectioned bronze tubes, their flat sides approximately Шаблон:Cvt apart.Шаблон:Sfn The space between the two halves was filled in with a substance, likely horn or metal, which has now disintegrated; it perhaps projected upwards, forming the mane or spine of the boar,Шаблон:Sfn or, as has been interpreted on the replica, created a recess into which a mane of actual boar bristles could fit.Шаблон:Sfn On either side of the bronze core was affixed a plate of iron, forming the visible exterior of the boar.Шаблон:Sfn Four pear-shaped plates of gilded silver—cut down and filed from Roman silver, as evidenced by a classical leaf design on the reverse of the front left plate, and file marks on the obverse—acted as hips, through which passed two silver rivets, one atop the other, per end.Шаблон:Sfn These rivets held together the five layers of the boar, and were welded to the plates.Шаблон:Sfn Into the body of the boar were placed holes, probably punched, that held circular silver studs approximately Шаблон:Cvt in diameter.Шаблон:Sfn The studs, likely flush with the surface of the body, were filed down and gilded, and may have been intended to represent golden bristles.Шаблон:Sfn Eyes were formed with Шаблон:Cvt long pointed oval garnets set into gold sockets with filigree wire edging.Шаблон:Sfn The sockets were Шаблон:Cvt long by Шаблон:Cvt wide, and had Шаблон:Cvt long shanks, filled with beeswax, sunk into the head.Шаблон:Sfn Individual pieces of gilded bronze seem to have formed the tail, tusks, muzzle, jawline, and ears of the boar, but few traces of them now remain.Шаблон:Sfn Two sets of iron legs—probably solid originally, but rendered hollow by corrosion—attached the body to an elliptical bronze plate; both sets depict front legs, bent forwards without account for the anatomical differences between a boar's fore and hind limbs.Шаблон:Sfn The elliptical plate is Шаблон:Cvt long with a maximum width of Шаблон:Cvt, and matches the curvature of the helmet.Шаблон:Sfn Four holes indicate attachment points for the legs and another three connected the plate to the frame of the helmet, in addition to a large rivet hole slightly behind the centre.Шаблон:Sfn The plate was probably affixed directly to the frame, the legs passing through holes in the horn.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn

Function

The Benty Grange helmet would have both offered some protection if worn in battle, and indicated its wearer's status.Шаблон:Sfn As the Weston Park replica shows, it would have originally been an impressive object,Шаблон:Sfn and may have been intended for ceremonial use.Шаблон:Sfn Experiments using a mockup of the replica also showed that the helmet would have resisted blows with an axe, which damaged the horn without entirely breaking it.Шаблон:Sfn Arrows and spears pierced the horn, but they also pierced modern fibreglass and safety helmets.Шаблон:Sfn

Helmets were rare in Anglo-Saxon England, and the Benty Grange helmet, both by its richness and its scarcity, signified the high status of its owner.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn Such protection certainly seems to have been among the armour of the affluent.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn In the contemporary epic Beowulf, a poem about kings and nobles, they are relatively common,Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn while the helmeted Vendel and Valsgärde graves from the same period in Sweden, thought to be the burials of wealthy non-royals, suggest that helmets were not solely for the use of the elite.Шаблон:Sfn Yet thousands of furnished Anglo-Saxon graves have been excavated since the start of the 19th century and helmets remain rare;Шаблон:SfnШаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn this may partly reflect poor rates of artefact survival or even recognition, but their extreme scarcity indicates that they were never deposited in great numbers.Шаблон:Sfn

Discovery

Location

Green farmland on an overcast day, with a stone wall in the foreground, and somewhat dilapidated stone buildings bordered by trees in the background
Benty Grange Farm, near Monyash in the Derbyshire Dales

The helmet was discovered in a barrow on the Benty Grange farm in Derbyshire,Шаблон:Sfn in what is now the Peak District National Park.Шаблон:Sfn Thomas Bateman, an archaeologist and antiquarian who led the excavation,Шаблон:Refn described Benty Grange as "a high and bleak situation";Шаблон:Sfn its barrow, which still survives, is prominently located by a major Roman road,Шаблон:Sfn now roughly parallel to the A515 in the area,Шаблон:Sfn possibly to display the burial to passing travellers.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn The barrow is one of several tumuli in the vicinity, and may have also been designed to share the skyline with two other nearby monuments, Arbor Low stone circle and Gib Hill barrow.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn

The seventh-century Peak District was a small buffer province between Mercia and Northumbria, occupied, according to the Tribal Hidage, by the Anglo-Saxon Pecsæte.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:SfnШаблон:Refn The area came under the control of the Mercian kingdom around the eighth century;Шаблон:Sfn the Benty Grange and other rich barrows suggest that the Pecsæte may have had their own dynasty beforehand, but there is no written evidence for this.Шаблон:Sfn

Excavation

Bateman excavated the barrow on 3 May 1848.Шаблон:Sfn Although he did not mention it in his account, he was probably not the first person to dig up the grave.Шаблон:Sfn The fact that the objects were found in two clusters Шаблон:Convert apart, and that other objects that normally accompany a helmet, such as a sword and shield, were absent,Шаблон:Sfn suggests that the grave had previously been looted.Шаблон:Sfn Given the size of the mound, an alternative (or additional) explanation is that it originally contained two burials, only one of which Bateman discovered.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Refn

The barrow comprises a circular central mound approximately Шаблон:Cvt in diameter and Шаблон:Cvt high, an encircling fosse about Шаблон:Cvt wide and Шаблон:Cvt deep, and outer penannular earthworks around Шаблон:Cvt wide and Шаблон:Cvt high.Шаблон:Sfn The entire structure measures approximately Шаблон:Cvt.Шаблон:Sfn Bateman suggested a body once lay at its centre, flat against the original surface of the soil;Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn what he described as the one remnant, strands of hair, is now thought to be from a cloak of fur, cowhide or something similar.Шаблон:Sfn The recovered objects were found in two clusters.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn One cluster was found in the area of the supposed hair, the other about Шаблон:Cvt to the west.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn In the former area Bateman described "a curious assemblage of ornaments", which were difficult to remove successfully from the hardened earth.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn This included a cup identified as leather but probably of wood,Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn approximately Шаблон:Cvt in diameter at the mouth.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn Its rim was edged with silver,Шаблон:Sfn while its surface was "decorated by four wheel-shaped ornaments and two crosses of thin silver, affixed by pins of the same metal, clenched inside".Шаблон:Sfn Also found were the remnants of three hanging bowl escutcheons,Шаблон:SfnШаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn as well as "a knot of very fine wire", and some "thin bone variously ornamented with lozenges &c."Шаблон:Sfn attached to silk, but that soon decayed when exposed to air.Шаблон:Sfn

Approximately Шаблон:Cvt to the west of the other objects was found a jumbled mass of ironwork.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn Separated, this mass included a collection of chainwork, a six-pronged piece of iron resembling a hayfork, and the helmet.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn As Bateman described it:

Colour image of a Llewellynn Jewitt watercolour depicting the Benty Grange helmet and associated finds
Watercolour by Llewellynn Jewitt depicting the Benty Grange helmet and associated finds

Шаблон:Quotation

Bateman closed his 1849 account of the excavation by noting the "particularly corrosive nature of the soil",Шаблон:Sfn which by 1861 he said "has generally been the case in tumuli in Derbyshire".Шаблон:Sfn He suggested that this was the result of "a mixing or tempering with some corrosive liquid; the result of which is the presence of thin ochrey veins in the earth, and the decomposition of nearly the whole of the human remains."Шаблон:Sfn Bateman's friend Llewellynn Jewitt, an artist and antiquarian who frequently accompanied Bateman on excavations,Шаблон:Sfn painted four watercolours of the finds, parts of which were included in Bateman's 1849 account.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Refn This was more than Jewitt produced for any other of their excavations, a mark of the importance that they assigned to the Benty Grange barrow.Шаблон:Sfn

The helmet entered Bateman's extensive collection, where it attracted interest.Шаблон:Sfn On 27 October 1848 he reported his discoveries, including the helmet, cup, and hanging bowl, at a meeting of the British Archaeological Association,Шаблон:SfnШаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn and in 1855 it was catalogued along with other objects from the Benty Grange barrow.Шаблон:Sfn In 1861 Bateman died at age 39,Шаблон:Sfn and in 1876 his son, Thomas W. Bateman, loaned the objects to Sheffield.Шаблон:Sfn They were displayed at the Weston Park Museum through 1893, at which time the museum purchased objects, including the helmet, from the family; other pieces were dispersed elsewhere.Шаблон:Sfn As of 2021, the helmet remains in the collection of the museum.Шаблон:Sfn From 8 November 1991 to 8 March 1992 it joined the Coppergate helmet at the British Museum for The Making of England: Anglo-Saxon Art and Culture, AD 600–900.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn

The Benty Grange barrow was designated a scheduled monument on 23 October 1970.Шаблон:Sfn The list entry notes that "[a]lthough the centre of Benty Grange [barrow] has been partially disturbed by excavation, the monument is otherwise undisturbed and retains significant archaeological remains."Шаблон:Sfn It goes on to note that further excavation would yield new information.Шаблон:Sfn The surrounding fields were designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest in 2013, and see agricultural use.Шаблон:Sfn The nearby farmhouse was renovated between 2012 and 2014;Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn as of 2023 is used as a holiday cottage.Шаблон:Sfn

Conservation

In 1948, the helmet was brought to the British Museum to undergo cleaning and study.Шаблон:Sfn Permission to carry out the work had been requested the previous year,Шаблон:Sfn when Rupert Bruce-Mitford, recently returned from World War II service in the Royal Signals to an assistant keepership at the museum,Шаблон:Sfn spent time in Sheffield examining the Benty Grange grave goods.Шаблон:Sfn A 1940 letter from T. D. Kendrick to Bruce-Mitford's army camp had assigned him his position, and responsibility for the Sutton Hoo discoveries—"Brace yourself for the task", the letter concluded.Шаблон:Sfn Upon his return, he therefore took to studying the comparison material; his work in 1947 included the excavation of the Valsgärde 11 boat-grave in Sweden alongside Sune Lindqvist,Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn and the trip to Sheffield, intended to shed light on the Sutton Hoo helmet through comparison with the only other Anglo-Saxon helmet then known.Шаблон:Sfn Permission was obtained from the curator and trustees of the Weston Park Museum for the proposed work, and, by February 1948—when, shortly before the centennial of its excavation, Bruce-Mitford exhibited it to the Society of Antiquaries of London—the Benty Grange helmet was brought to London.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn

Work at the British Museum was overseen by keeper of the research laboratory Harold Plenderleith, who in some cases, particularly with the boar, did the work himself; additional input was provided by Bruce-Mitford, the technical attaché and authority on ancient metalwork Herbert Maryon, and the archaeologist and art historian Françoise Henry.Шаблон:Sfn In the hundred years following its exposure to the air the helmet had continued to corrode, and certain parts had become indiscernible.Шаблон:Sfn The boar was unrecognizable, and the silver rivets and cross were almost completely obscured.Шаблон:Sfn A strong needle was used to pick off the encrustation, revealing the underlying features.Шаблон:Sfn During this process, the boar, hitherto thought solid, snapped in two.Шаблон:Sfn Bruce-Mitford termed this occurrence "fortunate", for it revealed the boar's inner structure.Шаблон:Sfn Frederic Charles Fraser examined the remnants of horn at the Natural History Museum, and conducted experiments softening and shaping modern horn.Шаблон:Sfn

Typology

Шаблон:See also The Benty Grange helmet is dated to the first half of the 7th century AD, on the basis of its technical construction and decorative style.Шаблон:Sfn It is one of six Anglo-Saxon helmets, joined by the subsequent discoveries from Sutton Hoo, York, Wollaston, Shorwell, and Staffordshire.Шаблон:Sfn These are all, other than the Frankish Shorwell helmet,Шаблон:Sfn examples of the "crested helmets" known in Northern Europe in the 6th through 11th centuries AD.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn Such helmets are characterized by prominent crests and rounded caps, traits shared by the Benty Grange example,Шаблон:Sfn and other than a Viking Age fragment found in Kiev, uniformly originate from England or Scandinavia; contemporary continental helmets were primarily spangenhelm or lamellenhelm.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn

The ultimate form of the helmet is unparalleled among surviving Anglo-Saxon and crested helmets, although individual characteristics are shared.Шаблон:Sfn While other Anglo-Saxon helmets were typically formed with wide perpendicular bands and four infill plates,Шаблон:SfnШаблон:SfnШаблон:SfnШаблон:Refn their Swedish counterparts from Vendel and Valsgärde display similar use of thin iron frameworks.Шаблон:Sfn The complicated construction of the Benty Grange boar, which combines garnet, filigree, gold, silver, iron, and bronze, is unique across ornamental Anglo-Saxon objects,Шаблон:Sfn but the general boar-crest is paralleled by the Wollaston and Guilden Morden boars.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn One other helmet exhibits the use of horn, but it is the spangenhelm-type helmet of a high-status child, discovered in Cologne.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn

Iconography

Шаблон:See also The helmet was made during the nascent days of Christianity in Anglo-Saxon England, and exhibits both Christian and pagan motifs.Шаблон:Sfn The boar invoked a pagan traditionШаблон:Sfn and the cross a Christian belief. Roman Britain had been officially converted to Christianity in the fourth century, although Celtic paganism remained strong. In the fifth century Ireland was converted by British missionaries and in 563 Irish missionaries based in the monastery of Iona off the western coast of Scotland embarked on the conversion of the Picts. Christianity almost disappeared in southern Britain after its conquest by the pagan Anglo-Saxons in the fifth and sixth centuries, apart from the surviving Celtic areas of southwest England and Wales. In 597 Pope Gregory the Great sent the Gregorian mission to Kent to embark on the conversion of the Anglo-Saxons. It rapidly converted kingdoms as far north as Northumbria, but initial success was often followed by a period of apostasy and in several cases the final conversion was carried out by Irish missionaries from Iona. It is not known whether the Pecsæte were converted by adherents of the Roman or Irish Celtic tradition.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn

The Benty Grange helmet was made during this time of change, as evidenced by its syncretic display.Шаблон:Sfn It emphasises the pagan element, a large boar dominating a small cross.Шаблон:Sfn The cross may not necessarily be an indication of Christian belief; it may have instead been chosen for its amuletic effect.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn Whatever the politics behind religious conversion, the battlefield was not a place to discriminate against gods.Шаблон:Sfn

Notes

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References

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Bibliography

Шаблон:Helmets