The Yarm Helmet

Caple, C.

Abstract

THE YARM HELMET, unearthed in the 1950s by workmen at Yarm (North Yorkshire, England), is a composite construction ‘crested’ helmet of riveted, undecorated, thin iron plates. Without close parallel at the time it was found, it could not be confidently attributed to a specific date or culture. This paper records, analyses and reassesses the helmet, demonstrating that it is not a later copy, but an original 9th–11th-century helmet, comparable with the helmet at Gjermundbu (Norway). Its materials and construction speak to the growing pragmatism of arms and armour production, which was necessary to supply the increasing numbers of armed warriors present in this period.

Citation

Caple, C. (2020). The Yarm Helmet. Medieval Archaeology, 64(1), 31-64. https://doi.org/10.1080/00766097.2020.1755126

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Online Publication Date: Jul 2, 2020
• Publication Date: 2020
• Deposit Date: May 24, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 2, 2022
• Journal: Medieval Archaeology
• Print ISSN: 0076-6097
• Electronic ISSN: 1745-817X
• Publisher: Taylor and Francis Group
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 64
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 31-64
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00766097.2020.1755126
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1247649