Negau helmet
A Negauer helmet is an Iron Age helmet shape, named after the helmet depot in 1811 discovered Ženjak near the hamlet Obrat, in the former rule Negau, today Negova, Slovenia.
Locality
In the depot there were 26 helmets from the 5th to 2nd century BC, so that the time of origin of these helmets is more than 300 years apart.
Development and dissemination
This helmet shape of the Iron Age developed around the middle of the 6th century BC from the hump helmets with throat that were produced and distributed mainly in Picenum. Later, the production of Negauer helmets but moved to Etruria, in the Alps and Slovenia. Excavations in Idrija in Bača showed that the helmets in the Southeastern Alpine region BC were until the last century in use. Meanwhile, about 340 helmets and helmet fragments of the different types of Negauer helmets are known.
Form and decoration
The Negauer helmets are almost always made of bronze, the majority was cast and even expelled additionally inside the helmet. Your plate thickness varies from 1 to 3 mm. Typical features are the brim, the throat at the base and a separate stiffener inside the helmet. The most important change compared to the pre-forming is provided with a semi-circular ridge cap.
In addition to some helmets with inscriptions, most of the helmets with rows of circular eyes, spiral eyes, rectangles, trees, palmettos is decorated in ornamental stamp or with plaits.
On the basis of occurrence, production characteristics and decorative features Negauer helmets are divided into regional groups and assigned types:
Negauer helmets in Central Italy ( Etruria, Picenum, Emilia- Romagna)
- Type Belmonte
- Type Volterrra
- Type Vetulonia
- Type Ventulonia related ceremonial helmets
Negauer helmets in Slovenia ( Carniola )
- Italo- Slovenian Type
- Slovenian Type
Negauer helmets in the Alpine region (Upper Italian Lakes, the headwaters of the Adige River, the Inn, the Rhine and its side valleys )
- Italic - Alpine Type
- Alpine Type
Inscription
On the helmet B of Negau is one of the oldest surviving text documents Germanic language was completed with sound shift: " harigasti Teiva ... ", which refers to the Germanic name Harigast. The helmet probably dates already from the 5th century BC, but was laid down until the 2nd or early 1st century BC Negau. The dating of the inscription is uncertain, but is believed likely towards the end of its useful life of the helmet.