Material analysis and provenance of early medieval Spangenhelme of the Baldenheim type

• Applicant: Dr. Florian Ströbele
• Subject Area: Prehistory and World Archaeology ; Classical, Roman, Christian and Islamic Archaeology
• Term: from 2014 to 2016
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 257359323

Spangenhelme of the Baldenheim type belong to the most magnificent weaponry from middle European warrior tombs of the late 5th to early 7th century AD. Due to the decorational elements of Mediterranean style and some matching helmets found in Italy and the province of Illyricum it was thought that they were produced mainly in late Roman, Ostrogothic workshops in upper Italy. They might have inspired local copies after they came to the region north of the Alps. After the discovery of several, mostly fragmented helmet parts from settlement or fortress excavations on territory of the Eastern Roman Empire it became obvious that these helmets were byzantine products. They might have been bounty, weapons deliveries or brought to middle Europe by returning mercenaries. In middle Europe, local burial rites provided ideal preservation conditions. Based on investigation on the carved and punched decorative patterns, 4 to 5 workshop groups have been predicted in the last 20 years of research. Whilst for one of these groups upper italic production is still discussed, the others might be produced within the Byzantine Empire.Project start-up:The gilded frame of the helmets is commonly made from very pure copper that is hardly gained by recycling. This gives the possibility to determine the provenance of the material by means of lead isotope analysis. The distance of the resulting ore deposits to the production centers, which are known from written sources, will validate or rebut the possibility of a byzantine production. Some mints that are proven to be at the same locations open up another possibility: As the coins can be assigned to one mint by their picture, it is possible to trace back the source that provided the copper for the mints. As it is not very likely that two different copper consuming workshops with a great need for metal were supplied by two different sources, it is possible to ensure the location of the workshops even more. Additionally, information on the use and spread of metal as well as on the exploitation of copper deposits can be gained from the analysis of the coins.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Participating Institution: Landesmuseum Württemberg; Abteilung Archäologie; Badisches Landesmuseum Karlsruhe; Serbische Akademie der Wissenschaften und Künste ; Institut für Archäologie; Landesamt für Denkmalpflege und Archäologie Sachsen-Anhalt; Landesmuseum für Vorgeschichte
• Participating Persons: Dr. Jérémie Chameroy; Dr. Christian Miks