2,400 Year-Old Celtic Helmet Excavated in Poland—Is it Older Than Romans?

Archeologists from Warsaw's state Archeological Museum and Warsaw University's Department of Archeology unearthed a "very rare" celtic helmet in Poland's Mazovia region which is believed to be over 2,400 years old.

ART News shared that the artifact was found in the Łysa Góra archeological site and while it's not the first out of 300 historic ancient artifact to be found, it was still heavily regarded as "very rare" since it's the first of its kind.

What makes it interesting for archeologists is the chance to further study the Celtic metallurgy. Initially, it was thought to be a vessel since they are more commonly found in Poland. However, one representative told Archaeology Magazine that they eventually thought of it as a helmet because of "the so-called neck piece - i.e., an arched plate near the edge."

Celtic Helmet's Possible History

Per ART News, experts believe that it came from the La Tène culture, which existed between 4 to 3 BCE and from Europe during the end of the Iron Age.

According to the British Museum, the La Tène culture has been around since the middle of 5 BCE, specifically when the Celts met Etruscan and Greeks traveling back and forth from South Andes. Then the culture lasted for hundreds of years before evolving into different phases.

Eventually, possibly around 1 BCE, the Romans captured their territories.

If any of their assumptions proved to be true, it could change the way history found how Celtic people made contact with different people and if their materials were influenced before or after the early Roman period. This is after it was found that the helmet was made from advanced Celtic metallurgy and was most likely not given to the Celtic population on Polish soil.