Battersea Shield

The Battersea Shield is a shield of bronze dating from around 300 BC and one of the most important Celtic art objects of the British Isles. He is actually not a complete shield, but only the cover of a non -preserved wooden shield and is now exhibited in the space 50 of the British Museum.

History

The production time is controversial, as is probably true a creation time between 1st and 3rd centuries BC, whereby the 1st century AD has been proposed. The shield was in 1857, when construction of the first Chelsea Bridge, found in the mud of the River Thames near Battersea Bridge in London. Many other Roman and Celtic weapons still have not found (including the Waterloo helmet) and Skeletons in the surrounding area, suggesting many historians have here in 54 BC Julius Caesar's crossing place of the River Thames as part of its UK campaigns.

Description

Was made ​​of the sign in the repoussé technique. The three round ornament discs consist of several spirals and circles with 27 inlays of red enamel, the largest on the hump of the middle disc. The ornaments are typical of the La Tène period. It probably involves be purely ornamental artifact that was not designed for warlike purposes, since it is too short to effectively provide protection in battle. Since he also has no traces of battle damage, he may have been deliberately deposited as a votive offering in the Thames.