Ancient Greek Battle helmet of an elite Illyrian warrior found in Croatia

Ancient Greek Battle helmet of an elite Illyrian warrior found next to a 2000-year old rock-cut tomb.

Experts restoring damaged ancient graves stumbled across a tomb belonging to a warrior. Inside was a Greek helmet dating back to the 4th Century. It is believed that the individual was an elite warrior who was buried in the 4th century BC. However, there was no presence of jewelry, pottery, or ancient weapons inside. Another set of remains found beside the slain warrior is believed to be that of a woman.

Ancient discovery

The ancient Greek war helmet is arguably an Illyrian piece of armor that bears the signature open-face design and become a hallmark of the Peloponnese region of Greece during the 8th and 7th centuries BC. The tomb rests on the side of a mountain in Zakotarac at the Peljesac peninsula in southern Dalmatia, Croatia. 

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This new discovery was made by archaeologists at Zagreb University who worked in hand with Dubrovnik’s Museums. This means that the grave was elite members of the Greek military. Illyrian helmets were relied upon by the ancient Greek Etruscans and Scythians and later adopted the ancient Illyrians. 

The Illyrians

Illyrians were a group of people who lived in ancient Europe’s Balkan Peninsula around the 6th Century BC. They are also mentioned in ancient Roman and Greek texts and renowned for their helmet design. It believed that the use of these helmets was abandoned by the Illyrians in 4BC. 

More discoveries

Archeologists also uncovered a trove of ancient weapons besides a set of remains of a woman buried with a bronze bracelet on her wrist. Popular consensus points to the grave belonging to that of an elite warrior. The helmet was quite popular in Italy and was mostly constructed from ivory.

Alongside the helmet that dates back to the Greco-Persian War, the team unearthed several other personal items buried with the dead. These were 15 silver and bronze fibulae, ten pins and needles, spiral bronze ornaments, pincers, glass paste, amber beads, and a lot more. 

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According to researchers, the warrior was buried while wearing the helmet as it rests where his skull once was. Over the years, its condition has drastically deteriorated. What is now described as the warrior mound is nine feet deep and six feet wide. The body was laid tourist in the West-East direction.