Coppergate helmet 2b

Treatment and analysis - part 2

A detailed study of the surface of the helmet under low magnification and using small hand tools was then carried out. It was manufactured from thin iron sheets riveted together and bound with copper alloy strips, some highly decorated. Originally it must have had a padded lining of textile or leather to help protect the wearer, but no trace survived.

Every join and rivet was recorded using flexible X-ray film placed against the inner surface of the helmet. The X-rays revealed many important construction details such as the fact that the animal head on the top of the nasal (nose protector) was cast separately and riveted onto the eyebrows. The corrosion products indicated that the helmet had lain in waterlogged conditions where little oxygen was available; this accounts for its remarkably good condition.

The layers of soil and excess corrosion products were carefully removed using brushes, scalpels and air abrasive equipment. Not all the corrosion products were removed since they had replaced the original surface of the object and it is this surface which contains the most information. Fine scratches relating to the manufacture and use of the helmet survived in the replacement corrosion surface.

The mail neck curtain found inside the helmet was a crumpled mass of rings covered in dirt and corrosion. Link by link, each ring was eased apart from its neighbour and gradually the mail was opened out and could ultimately be re-attached. Each stage was photographed to record the way it had been folded. After many hours of painstaking work a total of 1,938 iron and three copper alloy rings were revealed.

After conservation, the curatorial staff at the Castle Museum, York, where the helmet was to be displayed, decided that it should be reconstructed as far as possible to its original appearance. It was sent to the Conservation Division of the British Museum, which has the necessary expertise in the reshaping and reconstructing of ancient metal artefacts.

Mail neck curtain before conservation (above) and after (below)

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