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Archaeologists in Croatia have discovered a 2,500 - class - old metal helmet within an Illyrian entombment mound that may have been a votive offering or part of a fad drill .
The helmet was unearth in a gem body structure within a burial mound at the Gomile archaeological web site . It dates to sometime between the end of the sixth one C B.C. and the start of the 4th hundred B.C.,Hrvoje Potrebica , an archaeology professor at the University of Zagreb who is lead the excavation , told Live Science in an e-mail .
The 2,500-year-old helmet was found upright in a stone structure on the burial mound.
The site of Gomile has multiple burial pitcher’s mound and is place near the village of Zakotorac , on the Pelješac Peninsula near the Adriatic Sea . " Each cumulation [ contains ] multiple Robert Ranke Graves and each tomb contain[s ] multiple burials , " Potrebica allege .
concord to ancient Greek records , a people the Greeks called the Illyrians flourished in the area around the time the helmet was made . The Illyrians were divided among different tribes and realm and were step by step appropriate by theRomansin a serial publication of wars that occurred between 229 and 168 B.C.
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This 3D model shows the burial mound where the helmet was discovered by archaeologists.
While the fresh incur helmet has yet to undergo conservation , it " seems to be in pure condition " Potrebica said . The stone structure holding the helmet is freestanding from all the grave in the burial mound , which suggests it was intended as a votive oblation " to deceased ancestors or part of some cult practice related to the whole cumulus and not [ a ] particular somebody or a grave accent , " Potrebica say .
If the newly found helmet was used in fight , it may have had a psychological effect on the enemy , Domagoj Perkić , film director of the Archaeological Museum , which is a part of Dubrovnik Museums , and a investigator working on the excavation , tell Live Science in an email . " Just stress to imagine a warrior with a shiny [ helmet ] on his head , in the sun , on the evening of a struggle … that bit alone causes awe in the enemy . "
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An aerial photo showing the mound where the helmet was found.
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In 2020 , archeologist found another helmet in a I. F. Stone structure in a nearby burial cumulus , Potrebica said . Like the newly found helmet , it likely was n’t intend for any one person or tomb .
The Centre for Prehistoric Research in Zagreb , which Potrebica is president of , is coordinate research at the Gomile internet site and collaborate with scientist from Dubrovnik Museums and the Institute of Archaeology in Croatia .
