The ancient civilizations that existed on our planet left behind many artifacts. Today we'll talk about one of them. This is the famous Crosby Garrett helmet. It was made on the territory of the Roman Empire in about 1-3 centuries AD.
Found it in our time - in the spring of 2010, in England. It was found not by a professional archaeologist, but by a simple amateur with the help of a metal detector. The shape of the helmet is very strange - it really does not look like the clothes of the Roman legionaries.
Archaeologists suggest that it had an exclusively ceremonial significance and was used at ceremonial events. Similar helmets have been found in England before - this is the third in a row.
Despite not being a combat prototype, the man who discovered the helmet managed to sell it for over $ 3.5 million at Christie's. The name of the lucky artifact discovered will remain a mystery.
Personally, I understand him, because getting so much money for a given find and then showing your name can really be dangerous. Where the helmet was found is also unknown. According to one of the versions, they found it in the town of Crosby-Garrett, which is reflected in its name.
In this area, archaeologists have never found ruins or other artifacts that have anything to do with the Roman Empire. Nevertheless, in ancient times, a Roman road passed here, which was of great strategic importance.
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Unfortunately, time did not spare the find, and the helmet was broken into more than 60 parts. But the man managed to find them all and glue them together. Traces of white metal were visible on some pieces of the helmet, and archaeologists have suggested that in ancient times it may have been covered with silver, which once again indicates its exclusively ceremonial significance.
The artifact itself consists of two parts - the helmet itself and the mask. In the upper part of the helmet you can see the image of a winged sphinx, which is very unusual - nowhere have such images been seen on Roman helmets before.
According to researchers, the helmet could represent the face of the deity Mithra, the cult of worship of which was very widespread at that time.
In theory, it should have been immediately recognized as a treasure. However, he never received this status.
This is due to the law, according to which objects made of bronze (and the helmet is made of it), are recognized as treasure only in one piece. The helmet was found broken into many parts.
However, this has its advantages - after all, if he were still recognized as a treasure, then the UK museums would have the priority right to buy a helmet, and this person would probably be paid much less.
And so it turned out very well - I sold it to some private collector for a considerable fee. Moreover, the representatives of official science gave a rating to the helmet much less than the amount for which it was sold.