Spangenhelmet from Novakovo, Asenova fortress. V-X century AD.
€ 190
Europe
V-X century
The helmets found in Bulgaria are very similar to the helmets from Novae. Thus, it can be assumed that they all came from the same workshop, apparently somewhere in the territory of present-day Bulgaria. In total, three similar helmets were found in Bulgaria. One helmet was discovered in the Byzantine fortress of Asenova in Bulgaria in 1946. It has not been exhibited in any museum exposition for 80 years and was originally mistakenly dated to the 12th-14th centuries, but thanks to new finds from Novae, the dating was revised. Mavrodinov attributes this helmet to a date between the 7th and 10th centuries.
The second one was found among the ruins of a late Antique fortress of the 5th-6th centuries near the village of Novakovo, the region of Varna. This helmet was discovered 30 cm underground, and unfortunately without an archaeological context. Veselin Parushev, who published it, dates it to the 14th century, based on similar objects found in the Asenov fortress. Which is also most likely a big mistake.
The third helmet, which has not yet been published or described anywhere, comes from Šabla and has a shape close to Novakovo, consisting of eight segments, but more elaborately made and decorated.
The helmets are made of four wide rib plates connected to iron sub-triangular sheets inside. The top of the helmet has a round pommel.
