The Apulo-Corinthian Helmet: A south-east Italic helmet type and what it can say about the social...

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The Apulo-Corinthian Helmet

A south-east Italic helmet type

and what it can say about

the social and cultural context

in which it was used

2013

Bachelor Thesis

By: Sander Kools

Studentnumber: 1016040

Tutor: Dr. Miguel John Versluys

University of Leiden, Faculty of Archaeology

Title page photo: Apulo-Corinthian helmet ex Blass-collection, now in the Metropolitan

Museum of Art in New York, number 2003.407.4 (the Metropolitan Museum of Art)

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Table of contents

Chapter I Introduction 005

I.1: The structure of this thesis 005

I.2: Previous research 006

I.3: The Apulians 007

I.4: Helmets 009

Chapter II From Corinthian helmet into the Apulo-Corinthian helmet 011

II.1 Corinthian helmet development 011

II.2 Apulo-Corinthian helmet development 012

Chapter III Morphological typology 017

III.1 Groups of Type A 017

III.2 Groups of Type B 023

III.3 Groups of Type C 031

III.4 Groups of Type D 037

III.5 Groups of Type E 039

Chapter IV The distribution of the Apulo-Corinthian helmet 041

IV.1 Overall spreading 041

IV.2 Spreading of Type A 043

IV.3 Spreading of Type B 044

IV.4 Spreading of Type C 045

IV.5 Spreading of Type D 046

IV.6 Spreading of Type E 046

IV.7 Spreading of the Unkown Type 047

Chapter V The context of the Apulo-Corinthian helmet 048

V.1 Banzi Tomb A 048

V.2 Cairano Tomb XVI 052

V.3 Ginosa Tomb 13-01-1935 056

V.4 Gravina in Puglia Tomb 4/II 059

V.5 Guglionesi-Santa Margherita 059

V.6 Larino 060

V.7 Lavello Tomb 56 060

V.8 Melfi-Chiucchiari Tomb A 061

V.9 Melfi-Chiucchiari Tomb F 062

V.10 Melfi-Leonessa Tomb 7 064

V.11 Miglionico 064

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V.12 Montescaglioso-Sterpinia 065

V.13 Ordona Tomb 25 066

V.14 Ripacandida Tomb 82 067

V.15 Rutigliano Tomb 03 068





V.20 Ruvo del Monte Tomb 43 070

V.21 Ruvo di Puglia Unknown Tomb 070

V.22 Ruvo di Puglia Tomb 002 070





V.27 Salapia Tomb 140 079

V.28 Satriano Tomb 2 080

V.29 Serra di Vaglio Tomb 108 081

V.30 Unknown Tomb (A38) 085

V.31 Unknown Tomb (C23) 085



V.34 Unknown Tomb (D05) 087

V.35 Unknown Tomb (E08) 088

V.36 Unknown Tomb (U02) 088

Chapter VI The use of the Apulo-Corinthian helmet 090

VI.1 Usage in life 090

VI.2 Usage after life 095

VI.3 Time of usage 096

Chapter VII Conclusion 099

VII.1 Research question 1 099

VII.2 Research question 2 100

VII.3 The bigger picture 101

Resume 103

Samenvatting 104

Word of thanks 105

Used websites 106

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Bibliography 111

List of Figures 115

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Chapter I

Introduction

I.1 The structure of this thesis

This thesis will describe and investigate a type of helmet, the Apulo-Corinthian

helmet, which has almost only been found in the Italian region of Puglia and parts of

surrounding provinces, most notably Basilicata.

First I will describe the type, the groups and the modern reconstructions of this type

of helmet. This is important, because in this way we get a good understanding of

how this helmet looks like and its variation. Also this will help to avoid future

incorrect depictions of this type of helmet.

Then I will look at the distribution of the helmets in order to find out what they can

say about their context and meaning. I will do this by investigating the spreading

(find places) and context (excavations) of these helmets.

Thirdly, I will try to understand the Apulo-Corinthian helmets in their social and

cultural context, as these helmets might provide insights into what the function of

these helmets was and by which kind of persons they were worn.

Lastly I will summarize the results and pay attention to the society of peoples living

in Apulia between the 6th

and 4th

century B.C. (hereafter called ‘Apulians’) and to

what extent they were influenced by their neighboring societies.

Therefore, this thesis has the following research questions:

- Where, when and in which contexts do these helmets occur?

- What is the meaning of this type helmet in these contexts and what does this

meaning of the helmets say about the cultural character of Apulia at the

time these helmets were used?

In this Chapter, Chapter I, I will give a summary of previous research as well as

giving a background of the history of Apulia and I will describe what helmets are. In

Chapter II I will explain how the Apulo-Corinthian helmet was developed and

which type’s there are. In Chapter III I will present something that has never been

done before: assigning some of the helmets to groups of the same craftsman. In

Chapter IV the spreading of the helmets will be investigated and in Chapter V the

tombs and their content. In Chapter VI I will try to understand what the use was of

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this helmet type and by whom they were worn. In Chapter VII I will try to

understand what this helmet type and its context can say about the society and

culture of the Apulians and The research questions will be answered in Chapter IV

and V (research question 1) and in Chapter VI and VII (research question 2).

I.2 Previous research

The earliest source I have found which describes an Apulo-Corinthian helmet is dated to

1890, however, this is only a description of one specimen and does not name other

helmets of this kind and neither does it give a name to this type of helmet. In 1966

Adamesteanu proposed the name Apulo-Corinthian helmet for this kind of helmets

(Paddock 1993, 78) and in 1983 Bottini was the first to make a classification for the

Apulo-Corinthian helmets (www.sas.upenn.edu) which he expanded in 1988 and 1990.

The list of helmets Bottini made in 1990 was further expanded by Diffendale in 2007.

Another classification was made by Paddock in 1993 but he only used helmets with a

known provenance, so not all helmets fit within his typology and some of the helmets he

drawn look different in real-life which was the reason for me not to use his typology.

Instead I used the expanded Bottini 1990 list from Diffendale, which I have also

expanded.

Bottini’s 1990 list included 26 helmets of Type A (of which one probably belongs to

Type C), 27 of Type B, 21 of Type C, 6 of Type D, 6 of Type E and 1 helmet was

indeterminable. Diffendale expanded this with 10 type A’s, 5 Type B’s, 8 Type C’s, 1

Type D, 2 Type E’s and another indeterminable helmet. Diffendale originally had more

helmets on his list, but after my quest for photo’s of all known Apulo-Corinthian helmets

I found out that there was some overlap with Bottini’s list. My expansion to this list

consists of 12 Type A’s, 15 Type B’s, 5 Type C’s, 1 Type D helmet, 4 Type E’s and 2 of

which I am uncertain to which type they belong, possibly U03 is a Type B helmet and

U04 might belong to Type A. What these types actually mean I will explain in Chapter II.

Thus, there existed a name for this helmet category, a typology and a list of known

specimens. I am going to take a step further by ordering them according to their maker,

investigating the find context and comparing these contexts.

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I.3 The Apulians

The Apulians were an indigenous people of Italy, called Iapygi by the Greeks, and were

subdivided into three tribal groups: Daunii, Peucetii and Messapii (De Juliis 1996, 549).

The Messapians where located in what is now Salento, the ‘heel’ of Italy. North of them

were located the Peucetii, probably in the area between the line Taranto-Gnathia and the

Ofanto river. Its western boundary is a bit more difficult to indicate. It consisted of the

boundary of today’s Puglia, but with the province of Matera included. Lastly there where

the Dauni, who occupied the region between the Fortore river and the Ofanto river (see

fig 3). The source of the wealth for the people living in Apulia was agriculture and, to

lesser extent, animal husbandry. Also crafts were a minor source of income (De Juliis

1996, 550).

Fig. 1: Map of south-eastern Italy. Indicated are the approximate territory boundaries of the three

Iapygian (Apulian) tribes. Also indicated is the place where the Spartans founded Taras (Taranto).

Dotted lines indicate imprecise boundaries (after www.mapsof.net).

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The Iapygi had known foreign influences since the late Bronze age, when they had

contacts with the Mycenaeans. Later they had contact with mainland Greeks as can be

seen by the Corinthian, Euboian and Cycladic pottery that had been found in Iapygian

settlements (De Juliis 1996, 549).

However of major influence to the Iapygians was the foundation of Taras (nowadays

Taranto) in 706 B.C. by Spartans. These Spartans landed near what is now Taranto and

destroyed two villages there, one on the place of what became Taras and the other being

Satyrion, a nearby lying settlement. The Greeks have tried often to penetrate more into

the Heartland of the Iapyges, Which never really succeeded and in 473 B.C. Taras and its

ally Rhegion even suffered a harsh defeat by the combined armies of the Peucetii and

Messapii (De Juliis 1996, 550). However, the Greek culture did invade the Iapygian

culture, leading to a mixture between local and Greek material culture. This mixture can

also be seen in the Apulian military equipment, particularly in the Apulo-Corinthian

helmet, but also in other ways.

Before the Spartans settled in the Tarentine area, the houses of the Iapygians were round

or oval planned houses made of branches or reed supported by wooden posts and

waterproofed by layers of clay. In the south-central area of Apulia there was a low dry

stone wall around the base of the house (De Juliis 1996, 549). The Iapygians began

building rectangular houses after the Spartans had settled in the Tarentine area. These

houses consisted of a dry stone wall base with mudbrick walls with a clay tile roofing a

building style which they had taken over from the Greeks (De Juliis 1996, 550). The

Greeks also brought the potter’s wheel to Apulia (De Juliis 1996, 550), the urban

fortifications were made after Greek models and the deities of the Greeks and Apulians

were merged (De Juliis 1996, 552).

The archaeological research into this period of Apulian history (6th to 4

th century B.C.)

today is scanty, there is a project at L’Amastuola (De Juliis 1996, 550) and the whole

Messapian area is being investigated by the University of Amsterdam (Attema et al.

2010). The Peucetian and Daunian territories are not being researched very intensively at

this moment, except for a few survey projects, most of the information is to be found in

past research and excavation, as is also the case for this thesis. For example; the most

recent excavation included in my investigation took place in 1994 at Serra di Vaglio.

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I.4 Helmets

Helmets are objects that are meant to be put on or over the head and should protect their

bearers from injury. Some of the earliest metal helmets are dated around 2600 B.C. but

probably they had leather predecessors. Unfortunately leather doesn’t preserve very well,

and there are no leather helmets found that date from before 2600 B.C. yet. These early

helmets were made of bronze and had a simple, semicircular form, like the helmet that

can be seen on the skull of a man that was buried near Ur in the Early Dynastic III period

(2600-2300 B.C.), which can now be seen at the British Museum in London as object

number 121414 (see fig. 1).

Since then helmets became very popular and apparently the need rose to have a more

protective helmet, since the semicircular type only protected the top of the head. One of

the helmet types that protects more parts of the face is the so called ‘Corinthian’ helmet,

named after a city in Greece where, according to Herodotus ( book IV, Chapter 180) a

certain type of helmet was originated from. Scholars thought that Herodotus’ helmet was

the helmet type that is now known as ‘Corinthian’ and so they named it the Corinthian

helmet (Pflug 1988, 65).

Fig. 2: Crushed skull and helmet of Soldier

no.46 on the ramp of "The King's Grave".

The grave of Pu-abi, Early Dynastic III from

Ur. As can be seen, this bronze helmet is

fairly simple; it consists of only a

semicircular globe (© Trustees of the

British Museum).

Fig. 3: A typical Corinthian helmet. Except

for the eye and mouth opening everything is

protected, even the ears haven’t got an

opening. From the sanctuary of Zeus at

Dodona (© Trustees of the British Museum).

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This Corinthian type of helmet covers the whole head and a part of the neck, but at the

front there is an opening so that the mouth and eyes of the wearer can be seen. Between

the two eyes there is a nose guard which, along with the mouth-eyes opening leads to the

characterizing appearance of this helmet (see fig. 2).

Wearing a helmet that is so closed off is not really comfortable. For instance, underneath

the helmet it would get very warm and the helmet did not have any ear openings so the

wearer couldn’t hear much. Hearing and feeling comfortable is not very important while

in battle in the close ranks of the Greek phalanx system, where you would be right next to

each other and only have to take care of what comes in directly in front of you. But out of

battle it is better to hear what happens around you and see more than what happens just in

front of you. So most scholars assume that when not in battle the soldiers who wore these

helmets would have shoved their helmet over their head, so it would function like a cap,

and then, when battle arrives, they would pull their helmet over their face again and fight

(Burns 2003, 68). This usage of the helmet as a cap would be taken over by the Apulians.

They transformed the Corinthian helmet into a helmet which couldn’t be worn to protect

the face anymore, but only the top of the head, as will be described and explained later on

in this thesis.

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Chapter II

From Corinthian into the Apulo-Corinthian helmet

II.1 Corinthian helmet development

When the Greeks invaded the Tarentine area they also brought with them their military

equipment, including the Corinthian helmet. The indigenous peoples of course saw these

helmets and other equipment and from archaeological evidence we can see they also

adopted this equipment, first only Greek import helmets but later also locally made

Corinthian helmets. These locally made ones gradually evolved into the Apulo-

Corinthian helmet but before the Corinthian helmet came to Italy it already had see some

change.

The helmet began as a very simple form, looking like a half globe with a cylinder under it

(see fig 4). This was its form in the beginning of the 7th century B.C. (Pflug 1988, 67). As

time passed the craftsmen changed its form. First they made an indentation on the

underside of the helmet’s edge, on the place where the cheek piece stops and the neck

guard begins (Pflug 1988, 75). After this they made the sides of the helmet curve inwards,

resulting in helmets similar to the helmet of figure 2 (Pflug 1988, 76).

Fig. 4: An early version of the Corinthian

helmet of unknown provenance. Note that

the nose guard is missing (© Trustees of the

British Museum).

Fig. 5: A Corinthian helmet of the ‘sharp

edge’ type, found in Corinth, note the sharp

edge between the face and the top of the

helmet(© Trustees of the British Museum).

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Then there came a split, around the last third of the 6th century B.C., there is one

Corinthian type which got a very pronounced edge on the forehead, resulting in a helmet

which looks like a Corinthian helmet with a cap on top of if, so sharp is this edge these

craftsmen made (see fig. 5).

The other type of Corinthian helmet in this phase also has a forehead modification, but

different than the one in figure 5. Here instead of making an edge above the eyes the

craftsmen made the forehead flat and near the top of the helmet there is a less heavy edge

after which the helmet has its semicircular form again (see fig. 6). This last form has only

been found in Italy so it is very good possible that this type was made in Italy. This Italic

version can be dated around the last quarter of the 6th Century B.C. (Pflug 1988, 96, 97,

101). Some examples of these Italian versions have holes above the indentation on the

sides, which are for the straps so that when it was worn on the head it would not fall off.

Fig. 6: A helmet of the ‘Italic’ Corinthian

type, note the difference in brow ridge with

the helmet of fig. 6. Found in Ruvo di Puglia

(© Trustees of the British Museum).

Fig. 7: An early version of a Type A Apulo-

Corinthian helmet, provenance unknown, ex

private collection in Switzerland. Note the

difference in the neck guard and eye

openings (Pflug 1988, 100).

II.2 Apulo-Corinthian helmet development

From this Italic version of the Corinthian helmet with the flat forehead there also came a

modification, the Apulo-Corinthian helmet. The first examples of the Apulo-Corinthian

helmets looked much like the Italic Corinthian helmet, they also had the flat forehead and

all of them have the strap holes. However, the neck guard was curving more and was also

longer and eventually there was no curve in the neck guard but a sharp angle. Also the

large eyeholes became smaller. (see fig 7). This form of Apulo-Corinthian helmets is

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called Type A and starts appearing at the end of the 6th century B.C. (Pflug 1988, 99).

Most of these Type A helmets have or had a crest-fixture and some even had two fixtures

for feathers next to the crest. A few had holes in the neck guard of the helmet, and some

other Apulo-Corinthian helmets had a ring on the neck guard, but where these served for

is unknown. Possibly it might have had the same function as the later Roman helmet

handles which were on the same place.

Just as in the transition between the Corinthian helmet and Type A, Type B and Type A

also have some intermediate helmets, which are included both in Type A and in Type B

in the lists of Bottini and Diffendale. It might be better to make a special group for these

helmets, since they all are basically Type A helmets with a modification; a bridge

between the two cheeks. This was done by making a hole in each cheek and placing a

small plate of metal behind these holes and then they drilled two holes in this plate as

well. After that the plate was riveted to the two cheeks. This was probably done to make

the helmet a bit stronger, although this did not always work, as can be seen in helmet A38

(Fig. 8), where the cheeks did deform and destroyed the bridge between them. Some of

the helmets still have this plate and the rivets on their place, others only have the two

holes in the cheeks, whether they removed the bridge because it didn’t help, looked ugly

or that it has just rusted away remains unknown.

Fig. 8: A38, where the riveted bridge did not prevent the deformation of the helmet (Hermann

Historica auctions, Munich).

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In this thesis it has been decided not to create an intermediate type and because this type

was not recognized before, the helmets of this type are included both in Type A as in

Type B. For clarity’s sake I will hereby give a list of the helmets that have or had such a

riveted bridge: A03, A04, A12, A29, A34, A38, A39, A41, A47 and B25. As I will

explain in Chapter VI, there is a problem with the chronology and the Types, and the

helmets that are in this group indeed seem not to fit in chronologically, there are some

early helmets included here as well as some that are the same as Type B helmets with the

only difference being the riveted bridge.

The next Apulo-Corinthian helmet type is Type B, where not only the forehead is flat, but

also the rest of the front of the helmet. There are also one or more ‘bridges’ between the

two cheeks, probably because the helmet would be to fragile without them, as can be seen

in some Type A helmets where the cheeks are deformed. The eye holes were even smaller

in this type and placed more near the nose guard, even so close that you can’t look

through them (see fig. 9 & 10). Also it would be very difficult to fit one’s head inside the

helmet so that the face would be protected and from paintings on vases and sculptures we

only see the Apulo-Corinthian helmet being worn on top of the head, as a cap.

Fig. 9 & 10: A typical Type B helmet, note the sharp angle the neck guard makes and the ring on

top of it. Provenance unknown, ex Guttmann-collection (Hermann Historica auctions, Munich).

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Type C is the next step in the ‘evolution’ of the Apulo-Corinthian helmet. In this type the

two cheeks have fully closed (see fig. 11). The shape of the helmet is more different in

this type, some resemble those of Type A, others look like Type B and some are more

rounded.

Fig. 11: A type C helmet, it’s form is

resembling a Type B helmet, note the closed

cheeks. Provenance unknown, ex Guttmann-

collection (Hermann Historica auctions,

Munich).

Fig. 12: A Type D helmet, it’s very clear

here that the nose is not raised anymore.

Provenance unknown, ex Guttmann-

collection (www.christies.com).

The fourth type is Type D, where the nose guards no longer jut out, but are inscribed. The

eyes are still open but do not have their function as in the normal Corinthian helmet (see

fig. 12).

The last of the Apulo-Corinthian helmet types is Type E, which do not have eye openings

anymore. In some of the Type E helmets the eyes and nose guards are inscribed (see fig.

13), while in others the eyes and noses are sculpted (see fig. 14). All of the helmets since

type B have got at least a crest-holder, but most do also have the two feather-fixtures.

Unlike the Corinthian helmets these types are difficult to date, we see that first there are

Type A and B ( around the end of the 6th century B.C.), after which is found type C

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(earliest found in the first half of the 5th century). we do not have any tombs that include

type D helmets and after the first few type C’s is dated already a helmet of type E (around

the middle of the 5th century B.C.). from that point off, every type was in use until the

first half of the 4th century B.C. (Bottini 1988, 112).

Fig. 13: Type E helmet with inscribed eyes

and nose. Note the holes in the skull roof

where the crest fixtures were once.

provenance unknown (Hermann Historica

auctions, Munich).

Fig. 14: An abundantly decorated Type E

helmet with sculpted nose and inlaid eyes.

Tomb 45, Ruvo di Puglia according to

Montanaro 2007, 347 (Bottini 1988, 114).

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Chapter III

Morphological typology

Beside the five Type’s (not counting the intermediates between A and B) we can also

distinguish different groups within them. These ‘groups’ consist of helmets that share

similarities with the other helmets inside each group. Some of these groups are large (up

to 10 helmets) and some are still very small (1 or 2 helmets). In the case of the latter it is

still unclear how big the variation inside the group is, because we have got only 1 or 2

helmets. Therefore, I will not describe these small helmet groups. Sometimes groups of 2

helmets will be described because they are very similar to each other and are probably

from the same craftsman. This whole idea of groups is based on the hypothesis that there

must have been craftsman who made these helmets and that they made each helmet in

their own style, while still making each helmet slightly different. Each helmet named here

is named after the list that Dan Diffendale made in 2007, based on Bottini’s list from

1990 (http://www.sas.upenn.edu/~dpd/italica/apcor/apcor.html). I expanded this list but

since I haven’t got photo’s of all the helmets on the list of Bottini and Diffendale, there

may be some overlap (Table 1).

III.1 Groups of Type A

Type A consists of the largest number of Apulo-Corinthian helmets, and also has the

biggest diversity of forms. Unfortunately this big diversity makes it difficult to establish

groups within this Type, because most of the helmets do not seem to have similarities

with other helmets inside Type A. If we count all the helmets that cannot be described on

their similarities (the groups of only one helmet) and those that can, I see a total of 34

groups which include a total of 42 helmets, which means that there are small and few

groups to be made inside this type.

Group 1

This group consists of A03, A34 and A39 but look very similar to helmets that are

intermediate between the Corinthian helmets and the Apulo-Corinthian helmets (Fig 15,

16 and 17). Therefore I think that the helmets in this group are one of the earliest Apulo-

Corinthian helmets. A09, A21, A28, A44 and A48 also seem to be very early, however

they are not similar enough in my opinion to be included inside this group nor do they

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form a group themselves. Perhaps A28 and A44 might be a group, however we need

more similar helmets to really know for sure. This diversity does show however, that it

was not just one craftsman who began making Apulo-Corinthian helmets.

Fig. 15: Italian Corinthian

helmet from Ruvo del

Monte, Tomb 147 (Bottini

1993, 113).

Fig. 16: Intermediate

helmet from Braida di

Vaglio, Tomb 107 (Bottini

and Setari 2003, Tav.

XXI).

Fig. 17: Intermediate

helmet from Braida di

Vaglio, Tomb 107 (Bottini

and Setari 2003, Tav.

XXIII).

Fig. 18: Intermediate or

Apulo-Corinthian helmet

(A39), find spot unknown.

Note the green rectangles

on top, which indicate that

Fig. 19: Apulo-Corinthian

helmet (A03), from a tomb

at Miglionico (Pflug 1988,

99)

Fig. 20: Apulo-Corinthian

helmet (A34), from tomb

108 (Bottini and Setari

2003, Tav. XXIV).

this helmet had crest

holders like those of fig.

15 and 16. (Hermann


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As can be seen, the characteristics of this group are the semicircular eyeholes, the

spatulate nose guard, the short neck guard and the incised eyebrows. In later forms these

eyebrows are more a ridge, like the forehead edge in these examples. Note that the

intermediate helmets had their crest immediately on the top of the helmet (Fig. 16, 17 &

18) and that the Apulo-Corinthian helmets have a crest holder so that the crest doesn’t

touch the helmet.

Group 2

This group consists of only two helmets, A13 and A16 but they are so similar that it is

very plausible that they come from the same craftsman. Just like Group 1 they have

spatulate nose guards and very flat eyebrow ridges. The helmet shape is very round when

compared to other helmets, because the forehead ridge is also not very pronounced. The

neck guard is longer than those of Group 1. Perhaps these helmets are a further

development of helmets from Group 1, but we need more helmets that fit between the two

groups to reveal a slight change, so for now I will group these two helmets in a different

group.

Fig. 21 & 22: A13. The two feather supports are still intact, only the main crest holder is lost.

Provenance unknown (Adam, 1984, 118).

Fig. 23 & 24: A16. Both feather supports are broken, as is the crest holder, but the basis of all

three are still visible, provenance is unknown (Von Hase 1982, 99 & 100).

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Group 3

The helmets of this group are so similar one might think they are both the same, But A41

is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art since 2002, and A46 was on sale at Christie’s in

2010. On closer inspection it is possible to see that the Christie’s example has a big dent

in the right forehead ridge, while A41is still intact. Also A46’s cheeks are pushed

together and it has green aptina on top of the helmet. A41 has got a dent on the right side

of the skull roof, while A46 does have a dent on the right side, but it’s more near the to

pof the skull roof. Both helmets have an incised decoration of two charging boars, one on

each each, facing each other and a herringbone decoration around the edges of the

cheecks, neckguard, eyeholes and on the nose guard.

No permission to use this photo

Fig. 25 & 26: A40. Crest holder is broken off, no sign of feather supports, provenance unknown

(The Metropolitan Museum of Art)

Fig. 27: A45. Crest holder is broken off, also no sign of feather supports, provenance unknown

(www.artfact.com)

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Group 4

This group consists of four helmets (A1, A11, A32 and A36), all characterised by their

fig shaped eyes, their browridges that have a semicircular form and their noseguards

which all have a lanceolate shape. All four helmets are decorated with two charging boars

and two have a zig-zag patrone along the edges of the cheecks and neckguard and

herringbone patrone decoration around the eyeholes and noseguard. The other two have a

herringbone patrone also at the edges of the cheecks and neckguard. They all have only a

crestholder (or at least its basis in the case of A1) and only the crest of A11 is

transversely placed on top of the helmet.

Also only A11 has heart shaped decorations incised near its eyecorners. When one

compares the way the boars are stylised, it becomes clear that these were made by the

same craftsman. Whether that was the same person as the one who made the helmet we

do not know.

Fig. 28: A11. Note the leaf shaped decoration at the eyecorners which is not seen in the other

helmets, just as the crest holder placed in a way that the crest itself would be transverse. Found in

Syracuse (Bottini et al. 1988, 420).

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Fig. 29: A01. A deformed helmet, with a

broken off crest holder. Found at Melfi in

the Chiucchiari necropolis in Tomb A

(Bloesch 1976, 86).

Fig. 30: A36. The style in which the boards

are made can be seen here very good.

Unknown provenance (www.christies.com).

Fig. 31: A32. Note the snapped crestholder which already was repaired while it was still in use,

and apparently snapped again. Unknown provenance (Hermann Historica auctions, Munich).

23

III.2 Groups of Type B

As explained in the previous chapter, there is a problem with the chronology of the

intermediate helmets between Type A and B. They have been modified with a bridge,

probably to make them stronger. The idea of an intermediate is that it is between two

other categories, but since the intermediate’s between Type A and B also contain very

early helmets (intermediates between Corinthian and Type A) this causes a problem with

the types and their chronology. These early helmets with the modification could be

modified later than they were made. This was possibly when other Type A helmets got

these riveted bridges, which means that these early helmets were still in use at the time

that Type B became in use.

Another problem is that groups of Type B often have their roots in Type A (or just a

variation without bridge, since it is difficult to date the helmets because of most their

context is unknown), and some of the Groups are also represented in Type C. I choose

here to include the full group, even if some of their helmets do not belong to Type B. The

groups included here are those with most of their helmets inside Type B.

Group 1

This is the largest group and it consists of 15 helmets; A38, B02, B04, B05, B25, B33,

B34, B36, B37, B40, B41, B43, C12, C30 and C31. It has 2 helmets that fit inside the

TypeA/B intermediates (A38 & B25), 10 that are typically Type B and 3 helmets that fit

inside Type C. characteristic of this group are the brow and forehead ridges which are

very elongated and laterally compressed. Also the semicircular eyeholes and a pointy

nose guard which becomes thinner near the eyeholes resulting in a elongated diamond

shape are characteristic but are not present in all helmets of this group, some have a more

pencil shaped nose guard and others have oval eyeholes. All helmets have (or had) two

feather supports and one crest holder, except A38 and B25, which seem to have had only

a crest holder, and the crest holder of C12 is of a very curious type, not seen in any other

Apulo-Corinthian helmet, but something that looks like it is depicted on a vase by the

Darius painter (Fig. 32).

The helmets are not decorated in the same style, which points to the fact that the

craftsman who made these rather similar looking helmets did not decorate them (or at

least not all of them), and that the helmets were not decorated by one craftsman, because

24

of the differences. Also not all the crest holders are the same, a fact that also points to

another craftsman who was the one to put on the crests.

Fig. 32: Close-up of a vase-painting by the Darius painter (dated between 340 and 330 B.C.)

which was found in Canosa. Note the crest holders of the two helmets that are curled instead of

resembling a two pronged (www.sas.upenn.edu).

Fig. 33: A38, one of the two Type A helmets

in this group with a riveted bridge.

Provenance unknown (Hermann Historica

auctions, Munich).

Fig. 34: B25, the other Type A helmet with

the modification. Note that in both helmets

the riveted bridge is not intact anymore. The

provenance of this one is also unknown

(Münzen und Medaillen AG 1975, 59).

25

Fig. 35: B34, note that the brow ridges in

this helmet still come together and point

downwards until the nose guard as in A38

and B25. In other helmets the two brow

ridges will come together at the beginning of

the nose guard and forming a kind of V in

the middle, whereas in this helmet it is more

of an Y. Provenance unknown, (Hermann


Fig. 36: B05, This helmet has been

decorated with a prancing horse on each

cheek, and has both of its feather holders

and the crest holder. Note the V shaped

brow ridge near the nose guard. It was found

at Lavello in tomb 56 (www.joinitaly.com).

Fig. 37: B43, Decorated with at least one

boar. Unfortunately the nose guard has been

broken off. Provenance unknown (L’Arab

1996, 758).

No permission to publish this photo

Fig. 38: B41, which is decorated with two

charging boars. Both feather supports and

the crest holder have broken off and the

helmet has a hole in its side. Provenance

Unknown (Detroit Institute of Arts

Museum).

26

No permission to use this photo

Fig. 39: B33, the feather supports are broken

off, but the rest of the helmet is complete,

This helmet and B02 are almost identical,

except for the fact that this one has one

bridge and B02 has two bridges. Provenance

unknown (Metropolitan Museum of Art).

Fig. 40: B02, has been decorated with two

charging boars. The two grey areas on its

right cheek are modern restorations. Found

at Melfi-Chiuchiari in tomb F (Bottini 1988,

131).

Fig. 41: B36, is also decorated with two

charging boars, but has, unlike most other

helmets of this group, oval eyeholes instead

of semicircular ones. A38, B04 and C12 also

have oval eyes. Unknown provenance

(Hermann Historica auctions, Munich).

Fig. 42: B04, the crest holder and one of the

feather supports have been broken off. It is

also decorated with two charging boars.

Found at Melfi-Leonessa tomb 7 (Bottini

1988, 111).

27

Fig. 43: B37 is decorated with two charging

boars and has two feather supports and a

crest holder. It also has a hole in the middle

of its brow ridge, the function of this hole is

unknown. Provenance unknown (Hermann


Fig. 44: B40. The top of the crest holder has

been broken off, just as the two feather

supports. Also this helmet is laterally

compressed. Provenance unknown


Fig. 45: C12. Although this helmet is of

Type C it still belongs to this group, the

form of the nose guard and the brow and

forehead ridges are the same, only the

eyeholes are smaller and the cheeks are

completely fused. Also the crest holder is

different. It is decorated with a lion and a

dog on its left cheek and a warrior on a horse

on its right cheek. Said to be from Taranto

(May 1968, fig. 31).

Fig. 46: C30 is almost similar in appearance

as C12 only the crest holder is of the normal

type and the decorations are not

determinable. The function of the two

protuberances on its cheeks is unknown

Provenance unknown (Hermann Historica

auctions, Munich).

28

Fig. 47: C31 looks more like the Type B helmets of the group, since the other Type C helmets of

this group have small eyes and this helmet has eyes that are somewhat bigger. Provenance

Unknown (Hermann Historica auctions, Munich).

Group 2

This group shows some similarities with Group 1 of Type B, so it could well be just a

variation of Group 1. However, the facts that the brow and forehead ridges are much less

higher and that there are no helmets with ridges that are intermediate between Group 1

and 2, are enough reason to put these three helmets in a separate group.

Fig. 48 & 49: B39 probably never had feather supports, although it could be that they were

removed with their whole base, leaving behind no evidence of them ever being there. Provenance

unknown (Seattle Art Museum).

29

Fig. 50: B12. The top of the crest holder has

broken off. Also seems to be undecorated,

just as the other two helmets in this group.

Found in Friuli (Von Lipperheide 1896, 70).

Fig. 51: B23. Both feather supports and the

crest holder are still intact. Note that the

crest holder has been bent. Undecorated.

Provenance unknown (Comstock and

Vermeule 1971, 495).

Group 3

Group 3 is composed of 5 helmets, of which one is a Type C helmet (C33). Characteristic

to this group is the relatively high forehead ridge which do not resemble a ‘normal curve’

as in Group 1 but look more like a parabola. Another characteristic of this group is that all

helmets have at least one lion inscribed on them (except for B30, where there are no sharp

pictures of its decoration). B16 and B21 have one on each cheek, B22 seems to have one

on its right cheek and on the back of the helmet and C33 has a lion on its left cheek.

These lions all look the same, with only a difference in their manes. The lions on B16 and

B22 have manes that look like fish scales and the manes on B21 and C33 look more like a

draught board. This group could be called the ‘Lions-group’, since every helmet has a

lion on it is the same style, but we know from other groups that the decoration is not

always done by the craftsman who made the helmet, so I will refer to this group as Type

B Group 3.

30

Fig. 52: B16. The nose guard is broken off,

just as the two feather supports and the

crestholder, which could be taken off, is lost.

Provenance unknown (Pirovano 1985, 50).

No Permission to use this photo

Fig. 53: B21. The end of the nose guard has

been broken off, and the crest holder has

been made to mount the crest transverse.

Provenance unknown (Jubelparkmuseum

Brussel).

Fig. 54: B22. The crest holder and a feather

support have been broken off, and it has

been found at Ruvo di Puglia in a tomb

known as ‘Tomba a sarcofago rinvenuta in

Piazza G. Matteotti, and Montanaro has

given it the number 2 (Montanaro 2007,

235).

Fig. 55: B30. Not much is known about this

helmet, this is the only photo, on which

cannot be seen if there are any lion

decorations. What we can see is that the

crestholder has been twisted. Provenance

unknown (www.sas.upenn.edu).

31

Fig. 56 & 57: C33. This helmet does not seem to have had any feather supports. Provenance

unknown (Museum zu Allerheiligen).

III.3 Groups of Type C

Group 1

This is the biggest group of Type C, it consists of 7 helmets which all have certain

similarities with each other. One of those are the nose guards, which, if present, are all

pencil shaped. The forehead ridge is high and above it is a double row of circles. Also all

helmets have (or had) a detachable crest holder and two feather supports. The forehead

ridge and the ridge on the back of the head are one fluid line and do not make a turn near

the temples. And the forehead ridge itself is decorated with inscribed curly hair like

decoration. Below the nose guard all helmets have a small incision that serves as a

separation of the two cheeks, although this incision doe not run all the way down to the

underside of the cheeks but stops about halfway down. The form of the eyeholes range

from perfect circles to oval but all eyeholes have got eye corners.

32

Fig. 58 & 59: C32. One of two ‘early’ helmets, where especially the brow ridges are not as finely

made as in the other helmets of the group. Also the eyes are places higher than in later examples.

Its left cheek is decorated with a charging bull and its right cheek has a lion on it. The back of the

helmet is decorated with two dolphins. Provenance unknown (Phoenix Ancient Art).

Fig. 60: C07. The other ‘early’ helmet, the eyeholes are already lower but there are still other early

characteristics, the long nose guard and the round eyes for example, which, as we will see later,

will become less long and the eyeholes will become more oval. It has been decorated on its cheeks

with two charging bulls and on the back of the helmet are two dolphins and a shell. Found at

Rutigliano in tomb 11 (thierry.jamard.over-blog.com).

33

Fig. 61: C16. The eyeholes of this helmet are

still round, but the brow ridge is already

more finely made and the ends curve more

upwards, in contrast with the brow ridges of

C07 and C32. Good to see here is that the

forehead ridge and the ridge on the back of

the helmet are one fluid line with the double

row of dots above it. Provenance unknown

(Weizinger 1918, Tafel 7).

Fig. 62: C03. The eyeholes of this helmet are

already not round anymore and the nose

guard is also shorter. Its left cheek is

decorated with a charging bull and its right

is decorated with a charging boar. The back

of the helmet has been decorated with two

sea serpents. Found at Canosa

(www.sas.upenn.edu).

Fig. 63: C23. The eyeholes are almond

shaped and both cheeks are decorated with

two sphinxes. The back of the helmet is

decorated with two reclining men with

between them a kantharos. Provenance

unknown (theancientworld.tumblr.com).

Fig. 64: C13. The nose guard of this helmet

has broken off so that now it is possible to

see how the two cheek pieces are separated

underneath the nose guard, as can be seen,

under the nose guard the two cheeks are not

fused together. It has been decorated with

two boars. Found at Capua (Hoffmann 1961,

Taf. XXXVII).

34

Fig. 65: C04. The eyeholes are the smallest of the whole group but other than that the rest of the

characteristics are present. The left cheek is decorated with a bull, the right one is decorated with a

lion. Found at Canosa (L’Arab 1996, 688).

Group 2

The characteristics of this group are the semicircular eyeholes and the brow ridge, which

runs underneath the temples and does not join the ridge on the back of the helmet. This

extended brow ridge is the longest of any group, since the brow ridge and forehead ridge

normally join each other around the temples or even before them. What is very strange to

this group is that none have their nose guard preserved and that they have two holes at the

end of what is left of the nose guard, or one hole in each cheek. Perhaps this was for

fastening a nose guard. They are all decorated with two crouching boars, except A16,

where we don’t know of whether it is decorated or not.

Fig. 66: C21. Provenance unknown (Galerie

Günther Puhze 1981, Taf. 33).

Fig. 67: C22. Note the unusual crouching

position of the boars and the long brow

ridge. Found at Ginosa in Tomb 13-01-1935

(Dell'Aglio and Lippolis 1992, 162).

35

Fig. 68 & 69: C25. Note the similarities between this helmet and the previous two. The only

differences are that this one has flower decorations above the boars and on its forehead and that

this is the only helmet of the group that still has its crest holder. Provenance unknown (Born 1993,

Beispiel XIII) & (www.sas.upenn.edu).

Fig. 70 & 71: A14. This helmet belongs to Type A according to Bottini (Bottini 1988, 134), but he

only knew it from fig. 69. Since then it has been restored and when we look at the semi circular

eyeholes and the long brow ridge, I can say with some confidence that this is actually a Type C

helmet where the connection between the two cheeks had been destroyed. Provenance unknown

(Pirovano 1985, 52) & (www.lombardiabeniculturali.it).

36

Group 3

This group is characterized by their brow ridges which join each other above the nose

guard and then run straight down to the tip of the nose guard. Also at both helmets their

eyeholes are a bit squinty and they are both decorated with two opposing boars.

Fig. 72: C24. Provenance unknown (www.sas.upenn.edu).

Fig. 73 & 74: C29. Provenance unknown. Note the similarities between this helmet and C24.

Whereas C24 has both prongs of the crest holder, C29 has only one left (www.sas.upenn.edu).

37

III.4 Groups of Type D

The helmets of type D all belong to just two different groups, one group has long cheeks,

the other one short cheeks. And both groups only have or had a crest holder.

Group 1

This group consists of 4 helmets, all of which have ‘long cheeks’ when compared to

Group 2. Another characteristic is the very low forehead ridge. All 4 helmets are

decorated with opposing boars, which are all in a different style except D07 and D08

where the boars look very similar. This style of boars can also be found on the helmets

E02, E03 and E10 which are very different helmets, so it seems again, that the one that

made the helmets did not make the decorations.

Fig. 75: D01. Found in Serra di Vaglio,

seems to have had a crest holder (Bertarelli

1962, 65).

Fig. 76: D04. This helmet has two opposing

boars as decoration, but because of the bad

photographs available, we cannot see in

which style these boars are inscribed.

Provenance unknown (www.uq.edu.au).

38

Fig. 77: D07. This helmet has the boars

inscribed in the same style as D08.

Provenance unknown (Sotheby's 2001, 60).

Fig. 78: D08. Provenance unknown


Group 2

The two helmets of this group both have shorter cheeks than Group 1 and their forehead

ridges are higher, they are not so close to the brow ridges as in Group 1.

Fig. 79: D02 is said to be found at Ponte

Cucchiaio (Pesce 1936, 436) & (Paddock

1993, 90), but where they have this

information from is not known to me. The

helmet has no crest anymore and never had

feather supports (Bottini 1988, 120).

Fig. 80: D05. Provenance unknown, note

that the two prongs of the crest holder have

been bent (http://www.christies.com).

39

III.5 Groups of Type E

The groups of type E consist of at least two groups of ‘normal’ Apulo-Corinthian helmets

and at least one group of sculpted Apulo-Corinthian helmets.

Group 1

The characteristics of this group are the relatively vertical front side and the ridge that

runs from the middle of the forehead ridge to the crest holder and from there to the ridge

on the back of the helmet. The helmets of this group are both decorated in the same style

as D07 and D08. Both helmets do not seem to have had feather supports.

Fig. 81 & 82: E02. Found at Cairano in tomb XVI. The crest holder has been removed, since there

are only two holes left on top of the helmet (Modesti 1980, Tav. 92).

Fig. 83 & 84: E03. Found at Vulci. The crest holder has been broken off (© Trustees of the British

Museum) & (Bottini 1988, 121).

40

Group 2

This group is characterised by their brow ridge that becomes flatter when it runs down the

inscribed nose guard.

Fig. 85: E10. Provenance unknown, the

boars are in the same style as those of Group

1, D07 and D08 (© Trustees of the British

Museum).

Fig. 86: E12. Provenance unknown, has

been compressed laterally and has two holes

near the nose bridge. Where these holes

severed for is unknown (Hermann Historica

auctions, Munich).

Group 3

This group is characterized by the fact that they do not have inscribed decorations but

they have their decoration in relief. Other than that, the hair curls look more like snail-

shells, because they consist of only the curls. Also the eyes and nose have the same

shape. The helmets of this group have had feather supports and crest holders, unlike other

Type E helmets, which only had the crest holder.

Fig. 87: E09. Perhaps from Ruvo di Puglia,

since it is housed in a museum with only

finds from that city (www.techvision.it).

Fig. 88: E11. Provenance unknown

(http://www.christies.com).

41

Chapter IV

The distribution of the Apulo-Corinthian helmet

IV.1 Overall spreading

When we put the find spots of the Apulo-Corinthian helmets (Table 1) as a dot on the

map, we see that most of the dots are in what is now Puglia, the Italian name for Apulia

(Fig. 89). When we look back at Fig. 3, we see that also pieces of the region called

Basilicata (south of Puglia) once belonged to the Apulian tribes. There are 48 helmets

with a exact find spot (including 4 that are still unsure; A26, B24, D02 and E09), and of

those 48 there have been only 14 found outside the old area of the Apulian tribes, of

which only 9 are found at a considerable distance away from the main concentration

which is around Apulia. Since 81% of the helmets has been found in or very close to

Apulia, I think that the name ‘Apulo-Corinthian’ is the best option, since there are other

modifications made on the Corinthian helmet (Piceno-Corinthian for example). I think

that the name Pseudo-Corinthian is not as clear as Apulo-Corinthian, because these other

modifications also could be meant when speaking of ‘Pseudo-Corinthian’ and the term is

also used in architecture which might create confusion.

Within the Apulian area it is remarkable that no Apulo-Corinthian helmet has been found

in Messapii territory, and in the northern half of the territory of the Dauni neither. There

also seem to be four centers where more than the half of these helmets were found, The

area of Melfi (5 within Melfi and 3 in the neighborhood), Canosa (5, of which 2

uncertain), Ruvo di Puglia (8 of which 1 is uncertain) and Rutigliano (5). Melfi and

Canosa fall within the Daunian territory but are close to Peucetian territory and Ruvo di

Puglia and Rutigliano are near the East coast of Peucetian territory. All four centers are

near water, Melfi and Canosa near the Ofanto river and Ruvo di Puglia and Rutigliano

near the coast, perhaps this is a coincidence, but also most of the other find spots are close

to water. This is probably just strategically placement of the settlements, for drinking

water and trade by ships, but perhaps these helmets were also transported by water. But

this is just a possibility, we will never know if it’s true, except when a ship is found with

some of these helmets on board, and then there is still the possibility that they were also

moved over land. Also very remarkable is that no helmets have been found at the Murgia

(the high area around which all the find spots in Apulia are situated).

42

Fig. 89: Spreading of the Apulo-Corinthian helmets with an exact find spot (including the 4 that

are uncertain). The one with an arrow is B14 which was found in Athens (after www.mapsof.net).

43

IV.2 Spreading of Type A

The spreading of Type A helmets resembles the spreading of the Apulo-Corinthian

helmets as a whole. The four centers are present, but only at Melfi and Ruvo di Puglia

more than one helmet has been found.

The helmets from Braida di Vaglio and Miglionico are both from Group 1, which are of

the intermediate Type. Perhaps the development from the Corinthian helmet to the

Apulo-Corinthian helmets took place outside Apulian territory. We have a known find

spot for only two helmets from this group, any new discovery can show us that this is not

the case.

Fig. 90: Map showing the spreading of Type A helmets (after www.mapsof.net).

The helmets of Group 4 were found at Melfi and Syracuse, the origin of this group is to

be sought in Apulia most probably, since there have only two helmets been found on

Sicily. But again as in Group 1 there are not many find spots known from this group, so

their origin also remains unknown, just as with Group 2 and 3 where we have got no idea

where they were found.

44

IV.3 Spreading of Type B

The spreading of type B helmets is, unlike Type A concentrated more in the area around

Melfi. Again also at Ruvo di Puglia more than one helmet has been found, but far more

are found at Melfi and its surroundings. Apparently there has been found a helmet in

Molise, near the north of Daunian territory, while in the whole north half of the Daunian

territory there have never been found an Apulo-Corinthian helmet at all. Perhaps these

will be found during future excavations.

Fig. 91: Map showing the spreading of type B helmets. The helmet C12 from Group 1 has been

included in Fig. 92 since it is a Type C helmet (after www.mapsof.net).

45

Of Group 1 we know the find spot of 4 helmets, these were found at Melfi, Leonessa,

Lavello and Taranto. Given the fact that 3 of these helmets were found around Melfi, it is

plausible that this is also the place where they were made.

From Group 2 we only know that one of these helmets was found in the Region of Friuli,

which is definitely not the place where these helmets were made.

From Group 3 again only one helmet has got a provenance, it was found in Ruvo di

Puglia. However, this does not mean that this is the place where the helmets of this group

were made.

IV.4 Spreading of Type C

In contrast with Type B, there is a complete lack of Type C helmets in the area of Melfi.

Instead, the areas of Canosa (3 helmets) and Rutigliano (4 helmets) are where most of the

Type C helmets have been found.

Fig. 92: Map showing the spreading of Type C helmets. The one found at Taranto is C12 from

Type B’s Group 1 (after www.mapsof.net).

The helmets of Group 1 are found in Rutigliano, Canosa, Capua and Canosa. It is clear

that the one from Capua is not found at the place where it was made, but the other three

are spreaded in a way that it is not sure where the helmets of this group were made, but it

is probably Rutigliano or Canosa.

46

From Group 2 there is only one find spot known, which is Ginosa, so not much can be

said about this Group, and the same counts for Group 3, where both helmets are of

unknown provenance.

IV.5 Spreading of Type D

Type D is the type with the least number of helmets, and it also has the least known find

spots. One has been found in Serra di Vaglio (D01), and another one is said to be found in

Ponte Cucchiaio (D02). Therefore no conclusion can be drawn about the spreading of this

type.

Fig. 93: Map showing the spreading of Type D helmets (after www.mapsof.net).

IV.6 Spreading of Type E

Although there are more helmet find spots known from this type than Type D, it still is

not much. Searching for a probable production centre cannot be done, only from group 1

we have more than one find spot (Vulci and Cairano) and both are outside the Apulian

territory. Of course it is possible that this type of helmet was not made in Apulia, but

these two find spots are too few to really point out a production centre which could as

well have been in Apulia.

47

Fig. 94: Map showing the spreading of Type E helmets (after www.mapsof.net).

IV.7 Spreading of the Unknown Type

This is the find spot of the only helmet of unknown Type, not much can be said about this

helmet since it is said to be in pieces and apparently it is in such a bad shape that

identification is not possible.

Fig. 95: Map showing the spreading of the unknown Type helmet (after www.mapsof.net).

48

Chapter V

The context of the Apulo-Corinthian helmet

This Chapter is the most important chapter for understanding what this helmet can say

about the culture and society in which it was used. Not much can be said about the form

of the helmets, except that the design was inspired by the Corinthian helmet. The same

applies for its spreading, which only shows us the region where it was produced. This

Chapter will investigate the context of these helmets, from which we can conclude more

than from its form and spreading. We will see in which combinations of equipment this

helmet was used, what the diversity and richness is of the tombs and where possible

compare them to neighboring tombs of the same time.

From the 49 helmets with a known provenance (out of 153), 29 were found in a tomb,

whereas for the other 20 we don’t know anything except their find spot. Also included are

the remains of 7 tombs which are very incomplete and were offered at several different

auctions. Unfortunately none of them have a provenance and also the bronze vessels and

pottery are missing, so only (part) of the panoply is known, nevertheless they can tell us

more about the combinations of armor between the 6th and 4

th century B. C., which is why

I decided to include them.

Note that I have not made a difference between long greaves, short greaves and ankle

guards, since short greaves and ankle guards sometimes turned out the same and my

sources are not always very clear about which type of greave was found, I decided to call

them greaves with no further distinction.

I will describe the tombs in an alphabetical order.

V.1 Banzi Tomb A (information from Pesce 1936, 428-439)

This tomb was found in 1934, along with three other tombs (B, C and D) in the village of

Banzi during excavations for the installation of sewer pipes. Tomb A B and C were made

of standing tufa slabs with a tufa lid on top. Tomb C was just a pit covered with two slabs

of tufa.

Tomb A was build using 10 slabs of tufa, two standing on each of the two long sides, and

at both short sides there was one slab. On top of these there lay two slabs which served as

the tomb cover (see Fig 96).

49

Fig. 96: Several views of Tomb A (Pesce 1936, 429).

The tomb was orientated NW-SE, with the head pointing to the north-west. When this

tomb was found, they had struck the pickaxe trough one of the short side slabs, and upon

doing so, they crushed part of the skeleton inside, which sat against this very slab they

broke. So the upper part of the skeleton was found all over the rest of the body.

Apparently this skeleton had a helmet on its head and had a golden necklace around its

neck. Except for these two objects there were found another 121 objects, making this

grave the richest of the four graves discovered in 1934 in Banzi, and also the richest of all

graves with Apulo-Corinthian helmets found inside. On the inside of the walls in this

tomb pottery hung on iron nails which were hammered into the tufa (Fig. 97).

50

Fig. 97: Reconstruction of the inside of Tomb A. note the wealth of this tomb with pottery stacked

upon each other and almost no space left for the diseased (Pesce 1936, 430).

Tomb contents:

- Militairy equipment: 1 bronze Apulo-Corinthian helmet B06 (Fig. 98) and

fragments of an iron sword.

- Bronze: a fragmentary brazier, the top side of a hydria, 2 fragmentary lebeti, 1

simpulum, 1 sieve, 2 olpa and 2 ollae.

- Attic vessels: 1 lekythos (Fig. 99).

- Other pottery: 1 Campanian krater (Fig. 100), 1 Apulo-Lucanian stamnos (Fig.

101), 1 stamnos of red clay, 1 black varnished stamnos, 1 brown varnished

oenochoe, 2 black varnished oenochoai (1 in Fig. 102), 15 black varnished

kylikes (1 in Fig. 103), 9 black varnished single-handled cups, 1 black varnished

patera, 5 rough black painted kylikes, 7 black varnished paterette’s, 2 kothon’s, 4

rough black cups with no-handle, 7 black varnished cups with no-handle (1 in

Fig. 104), 2 rough plates, 1 black varnished lekanis, 25 black varnished olpai, 1

rough olpe, 8 black varnished skyphoi (1 in Fig. 105), 1 black varnished

poculum, 1 black varnished krateriskos (Fig. 106), 1 black varnished Guttus (Fig.

51

107), 1 black varnished two-handled cup, 1 red matt-varnished olpe and 1 small

black varnished lekythos (Fig. 108).

- Other finds are: 1 golden necklace, 1 golden bead, 1 fragmentary silver fibula, 1

amber ring and 2 pieces of elephant tusk.

Fig. 98, 99 & 100: From left to right: Apulo-Corinthian helmet, lekythos and a crater. The Apulo-

Corinthian helmet is probably incomplete because of the tufa slab which was broken when the

tomb was discovered (Pesce 1936, 436, 432 & 431).

Fig. 101, 102 & 103: From left to right: stamnos, oenochoe and a kylix (Pesce 1936, 433 & 434).

52

Fig. 104, 105 &106: From left to right: no-handled cup, skyphos and a krateriskos (Pesce 1936,

434 & 435).

Fig. 107 & 108: A guttus and a lekythos (Pesce 1936, 435).

When we compare Tomb A with the other three tombs, Tomb A clearly stands out. It’s

the only one with military equipment and also the only tomb with attic import inside, as

well as having far out the most other pottery. Tomb A had 123 object inside, while Tomb

B had 7 objects, Tomb C had none and Tomb D held 6 objects. Unfortunately we have no

other tomb with a military equipment inside in Banzi to compare and to see how

exceptionally this tomb really is, but this probably belonged to a important person, who

had a weapon and a helmet (which he was wearing still in his grave), also gold, amber

and ivory in his tomb while the other tombs had up to a maximum of 6 local made

vessels. This must have been an important person. The four tombs are dated to the fourth

century B. C. and according to Bottini from the first half of the fourth century B. C. (400

– 350 B. C.)(Bottini 1988, 112).

V.2 Cairano Tomb XVI (information from Modesti 1980, 95-103, 147-180, Tav. 60,

Tav. 65, Tav. 91 & Tav. 92)

Cairano was an archaeological excavation where more of the surrounding graves were

also excavated, as well as a part of ancient Cairano. The excavation took place from 1970

to 1972 and again in 1976. 19 tombs were found, of which 7 in an excavation more to the

south of Cairano. From this southern find spot, 1 dated to the 9th century B. C., 1 between

53

the 8th and 6

th century B.C., 5 to the 6

th century B.C. (most to the first half), which is all

too old to include Apulo-Corinthian helmets which they, indeed did not include. The

northern necropolis however did include an Apulo-Corinthian helmet.

This northern necropolis lies east of Cairano and consisted of 2 tombs that could be dated

to the second quarter of the 6th century B. C., 3 to the second half of the 6

th century B. C.,

1 around the end of the 6th and beginning of the 5

th century B.C., 1 from the begin of the

5th century, 2 from the first half of the 5

th century and 3 from the 5

th century B. C.

One of the tombs that date to the 5th century B. C. was Tomb XVI.

This tomb was also orientated NW-SE, with the head in the north-west. Unlike the tombs

in Banzi, those of Cairano were not made out of tufa, but were just a hole in the ground.

The skeleton was almost complete with only the feet and lower legs missing, probably

because of ploughing. Also the helmet was not found on the skeleton’s head, but near his

left upper leg and the pottery was found to the left and right of the skull (Fig. 109 & 110),

in total 13 objects were found in this tomb.

Fig. 109 & 110: Views of Tomb XVI. Note that the helmets is located near the left thigh, with its

‘face’ almost to the north (Modesti 1980, Tav. 60 & 65).

54

Tomb contents:

- Military equipment: 1 bronze Apulo-Corinthian helmet E02 (Fig. 111, 1) and

fragments of an iron knife (Fig. 112, 2).

- Other pottery: 1 black varnished kantharos (Fig. 111, 7), 2 brown kantharoi (Fig.

111, 8 & 9), 1 fragment of a brown oinochoe (Fig. 111, 10), 1 blackish brocca

(Fig. 111, 11), 1 yellowish brocchetta (Fig. 111, 12) and 1 black varnished askos

(Fig. 111, 13).

- Other finds: 10 fragmented iron rods, perhaps pieces of fibulae (Fig. 112, 3-6).

Fig. 111: Content of Tomb XVI (Modesti 1980, Tav. 92).

55

Fig. 112: Content of Tomb XVI continued (Modesti 1980, Tav. 91).

Bottini dated this tomb to the middle of the 5th century B. C. (475-425 B. C.) (Bottini

1988, 112).

Other tombs that date to the 5th century are Tomb XIII, XIV, XV, XVII and XVIII.

Tomb XIII held 37 objects, and only a knife as a weapon and no Attic imports and dated

to the beginning of the 5th century.

Tomb XIV held 78 objects, one of those were fragments of an iron blade and again no

Attic imports and it also dated to the beginning of the 5th century B. C.

Tomb XV held 2 objects, no weapons and military equipment and no Attic import and

this tomb was dated to the first half of the 5th century B. C.

Tomb XVII held 76 objects, 1 bronze Negau helmet, 1 bronze belt, 1 bronze greave, 3

iron spearheads and a iron sword with scabbard, no Attic imports were found and this

tomb was dated to the 5th century B. C.

Tomb XVIII held 7 objects, with no weapons, other military equipment or Attic imports

found.

When we compare Tomb XVI with other tombs from its time, it appears that here it is not

a very rich tomb, after Tomb XV and XVIII it is the tomb with the least objects inside.

Also the only military equipment is the helmet and a knife. When we compare this to the

other tomb where military equipment was found, Tomb XVII, we see that Tomb CVI was

a relatively poor tomb, it had no greaves, spears and swords, and also the 13 objects are

very few when compared to Tomb XVII (76) and Banzi’s Tomb A (123). Why this

person was buried with this few objects stays unknown, although it might have been more

since a piece of the tomb is missing with the objects placed there as well.

56

V.3 Ginosa Tomb 13-01-1935

This tomb was found during the building of a wine cellar in Ginosa at the Via Vittorio

Emanuele II nr. 132. After investigation three tombs were found. One was dated to the

Roman time, the other two which were a few meters under street level, were plastered and

painted tombs (www.concadellegravine.nbit.it).

The smallest of the two is Tomb 13-01-1935.

Not much his known about how the grave gifts laid in their tomb, we only know what

was inside and also nothing is known about the paintings.

Tomb contents: (D'Amicis 1994, 332-340)

- Military equipment: 1 bronze Corinthian helmet (Fig. 113), 1 bronze Apulo-

Corinthian helmet C22 (Fig. 114), a bronze cuirass of short type (Fig. 115), 1

bronze belt (Fig. 116), 2 bronze greaves (Fig. 117), 2 bronze prometopidia (Fig.

118), 2 bronze prosternidia (Fig. 119) and a fragment of an iron spearhead.

- Bronze: 1 lebes (Fig. 120), 1 podanipter (Fig. 121), 1 basin (Fig. 122), 1 olpe

(Fig. 123), 2 sieves (Fig. 124 & 125), 1 fragment of an olpe, one mouthpiece

(Fig. 126) and 1 spatula (Fig. 127).

- Attic vessels: 1 lekythos (Fig. 128).

- Other pottery: 1 black varnished oinochoe (Fig. 129), 1 black varnished kylix

(Fig. 130), 3 black varnished skyphoi (Fig. 131, 132 & 133), 1 brown varnished

kantharos (Fig. 134) and 1 chytra (Fig. 135).

- Other finds: 1 bronze ring.

Fig. 113 & 114: An Corinthian helmet and an Apulo-Corinthian helmet (Dell'Aglio and Lippolis

1992, 162).

57

Fig. 115 & 116: Front and back view of the cuirass and a rear view of the belt (D'Amicis 1994,

334 & 335).

Fig. 117 & 118: Front and side views of the greaves and front view of the prometopidia (D’Amicis

1994, 336 & 338).

Fig. 119: Front view of the porsternidia (D’Amicis 1994, 338).

Fig. 120, 121 & 122: A lebes, a podanipter and a basin (D’Amicis 1994, 336 & 337).

58

Fig. 123, 124 & 125: An olpe, a sieve and another sieve (D’Amicis 1994, 337).

Fig. 126, 127, 128 & 129: A mouthpiece, a spatula, an Attic lekythos and an oinochoe (D’Amicis

1994, 337).

Fig. 130, 131, 132 & 133: A kylix and three skyphoi (D’Amicis 1994, 337 & 338).

Fig. 134 & 135: A kantharos and a chytra (D’Amicis 1994, 338).

This tomb is dated to the beginning of the 5th century B. C. (500-475 BC) (D’Amicis

1994, 340). Unfortunately there is nothing known about the other tomb that was found.

When we compare the content of this grave with the other two graves in which Apulo-

Corinthian helmets were found, it becomes clear that it is much richer in military

equipment and bronze vessels. On the other hand it is poor in pottery, one might expect

more pottery for such an otherwise rich tomb. Also unusual are the two helmets, perhaps

the Corinthian helmet was used in battle while the Apulo-Corinthian helmets served

another function (see next chapter). There was no evidence for a chariot, but there were

59

found 2 headpieces and 2 sternum pieces for a horse. Since there are no clues for a

chariot, perhaps this was a soldier (maybe of a high rank) who rode on a horse, for which

he had a reserve armor, with a spear in his hand.

V.4 Gravina in Puglia Tomb 4/II

Unfortunately I was not able to find any information about this tomb, except that inside it

a Type C helmet was found, C11.

V.5 Guglionesi-Santa Margherita

Also for this tomb I could not find very much information, only its content is known by

me. It is dated to the middle of the 5th century B. C. (475-425 B. C.). the Picenian helmet

dated to the 6th century B. C. so it was already very old when it was placed inside this

grave.

Tomb contents: (Capini and Di Niro 1991, 89)

- Military equipment: 1 bronze Picenian helmet (Fig. 136) and 1 bronze Apulo-

Corinthian helmet E07 (Fig. 137).

- Bronze: 1 stamnos handle (Fig. 138).

Fig. 136 & 137: A Picenian helmet and a Apulo-Corinthian helmet (Capini and Di Niro 1991, 98)

(http://www.archeologicamolise.beniculturali.it).

Fig. 138: Stamnos handle (Capini and Di Niro, 1991, 376).

60

V.6 Larino

Also about this tomb is not much known, other than the content.

Tomb contents: (Capini and Di Niro 1991, 89 & 90)

- Military equipment: 1 bronze Apulo-Corinthian helmet B28 (Fig. 139).

- Bronze: 1 stamnos (Fig. 140).

- Other finds: 1 statuette of Mars (Fig. 141).

Fig. 139, 140 & 141: An Apulo-Corinthian helmet, a bronze stamnos and a bronze statuette of

Mars (Capini and Di Niro 1991, 98 & 383).

The strange thing about this tomb and that of Guglionesi is that there are just 3 bronze

objects inside, and all other material categories are not present, which is very strange. I

think my information is incomplete. Still, this tomb is dated to the 4th century B. C. (400-

300 B. C.) (Capini and Di Niro 1991, 90).

V.7 Lavello Tomb 56

Tomb 56 was excavated in 1968. This tomb was a pit covered with tufa slabs. Inside it

were found the remains of two skeletons. The tomb is dated to the 5th century B. C. (500-

400 B. C.) (Adamesteanu et al. 1971, 130) and by Bottini to the end of the 5th and begin

of the 4th century B. C. (425-375 B. C.) (Bottini 1988, 112) and by Giorgi, Martinelli,

Osanna and Russo to after 375 B. C. (Giorgi, Martinelli, Osanna and Russo 1988, 71).

Tomb contents: (Adamesteanu et al. 1971, 130 & 131)

- Military equipment: 1 bronze Apulo-Corinthian helmet B05 (Fig. 142), 2 bronze

belts, an iron spearhead (Fig. 142) and an iron sauroter (Fig. 142).

61

- Bronze: 1 basin (Fig. 142).

- Other pottery (Fig. 142): 1 black varnished calice, 1 black varnished kylix, 1

black varnished brocchetta, 1 reddish single-handled bowl, 5 brown and red

brocchetta’s, 1 reddish krateriskos, 1 reddish brown oinochoe, 1 reddish brown

kyathos, 1 two-handled bowl with red and brown paint, 1 brown and red painted

askos and 1 olla.

- Other finds: 4 rectangular bronze plates with curved sides and a nail on each

corner of which 1 has wood underneath and fragmented iron rods.

Fig. 142: Most of the tomb content, from left to right, back row first: olla, oinochoe, Apulo-

Corinthian helmet, 3 brocchetta’s, kyathos, calice, brocchetta, askos, 2 brocchetta’s, krateriskos,

two-handled bowl, bronze basin, single-handled bowl, kalyx, iron spearhead and an iron sauroter

(Adamesteanu et al. 1971, Tav. LVII).

The combination of an Apulo-Corinthian helmet a belt and a spear seems to be very

common. Unfortunately we have no map where we can see the place these objects had

inside the tomb.

V.8 Melfi-Chiucchiari Tomb A

This tomb was excavated in 1960. One skeleton was found inside. Also from this tomb

there is scarce information. The grave inventory presented below is incomplete.

Tomb contents: (Emiliozzi 2000, 311).

- Military equipment: 2 bronze Apulo-Corinthian helmets A01 & A02 (Fig. 143 &

Fig. 144) and 2 iron wheel rims.

This Tomb is dated to the end of the 6th and the beginning of the 5

th century B. C. (525-

475 B. C.) (Bottini 1988, 112).

62

Fig. 143 & 144: 2 Apulo-Corinthian helmets, A01 and A02 (Bloesch 1976, 86) (Adamesteanu

1974, 182).

V.9 Melfi-Chiucchiari Tomb F

This tomb was excavated in 1956. It was not much more than a hole in the ground

covered with stone slabs. Inside lay the skeletons of a man and a woman and around them

lay many gravegifts. From this tomb I did not find a map were the spreading of the

objects can be seen. This tomb is dated to the end of the 6th and the beginning of the 5

th

century B. C. (525-475 B. C.) (Bottini 1988, 112).

Tomb contents: (Bottini 1988, 132-133)

- Military equipment: 2 bronze Apulo-Corinthian helmets B01 & B02 (Fig. 145 &

146), 2 bronze belts, 6 bronze greaves, 1 bronze shield (fig. 147), 2 iron wheel

rims (Fig. 147) and bronze chariot decoration in the form of a serpent and a lion.

- Bronze: 1 stamnos, 2 lebes, 2 basins, 1 oinochoe, 1 oinochoe fragment, 1

perirrhanterion, 1 tripod, 3 paterae, 1 simpulum, 1 thymiaterion, 1 andiron

- Attic vessels: 2 kylixes.

- Other pottery: 4 oinochoe, 1 two-handled cup, 1 plate, 2 brocca’s, 1 olla.

- Other finds: 2 golden hair needles, 4 silver fibulae, 2 bronze handles, 1 bronze

ring, hooks in omega-form, 4 amber beads and 1 terracotta tablet with two holes.

This tomb is the richest of all tombs with Apulo-Corinthian helmets inside on the military

and bronze categories.

63

Fig. 145 & 146: Apulo-Corinthian helmets B01 and B02 (Bottini 1988, 130 & 131).

Fig. 147: Two iron wheel rims, and a bronze shield in the middle, 3 of the 6 greaves to the right

with a belt behind them. In the back ground a stamnos, basins and lebetes (www.joinitaly.com).

64

V.10 Melfi-Leonessa Tomb 7

This tomb was excavated in 1973. It consisted of a pit with its walls reinforced with rows

of stones. It was covered by large blocks of limestone. From the skeleton were found only

a few traces. Also from this tomb the excavation map is missing. This tomb is dated to

the end of the 6th century B. C. (525-500 B. C.) by Adamesteanu (Adamesteanu et al.

1971, 114).

Tomb contents: (Adamesteanu et al. 1971, 114 & 115)

- Military equipment: 1 bronze Apulo-Corinthian helmet B04 (Fig. 148) parts of

bronze studded armor, 4 iron spearheads and 1 bronze belt.

- Other pottery: 1 olla (Fig. 149) and 1 simpulum.

Fig. 148 & 149: An Apulo-Corinthian helmet B04 and an olla (Adamesteanu et al. 1971, Tav.

XLVI).

Just as Tomb 56 in Lavello this warrior had the combination of helmet + belt + spear.

Another characteristic is the low amount of pottery, only Tomb A in Banzi has got a high

number of pottery, all other tombs have 15 or less pieces.

V.11 Miglionico

Not much is known about this tomb, it is said that it is the tomb of a warrior, but all that

is known of this tomb is the Apulo-Corinthian helmet A03 (Fig. 150).

Fig. 150: Apulo-Corinthian helmet A03 (Pflug 1988, 99).

65

V.12 Montescaglioso-Sterpinia

This tomb was excavated in 1953 and it has been dated to the first half of the 4th century

B. C. (400-350 B. C.) (Bottini 1993, 193).

Tomb content: (Bottini 1993, 187-193)

- Military equipment: 1 bronze Apulo-Corinthian helmet C01 (Fig. 151) and a

bronze belt (fig. 152).

- Attic vessels: 1 skyphos (Fig. 153).

- Other pottery: 1 brown varnished single handled cup (Fig. 153), 1 krater (Fig.

154), 1 oletta (Fig. 153), 1 lebes (Fig. 153).

- Other finds: 1 bronze ring shaped spiral (Fig. 155).

Fig. 151 & 152: Apulo-Corintihan helmet C01 and a belt, the four loose objects on the right are the

hooks and eyes to fasten the belt (www.sas.upenn.edu) (Bottini 1993, 190).

Fig. 153: A lebes, Attic skyphoi, oletta and a one-handled cup (Bottini 1993, 191).

66

Fig. 154: A Campanian crater (Bottini 1993, 192).

Fig. 155: A bronze ring shaped spiral (Bottini 1993, 190).

V.13 Ordona Tomb 25

Also from this tomb only the inventory is known, it was excavated in 1876. Bottini dated

this tomb to the first half of the 5th century B. C. (500-450 B. C.) (Bottini 1988, 112).

Tomb contents: (Mayer 1914, 67)

- Military equipment: 1 bronze Apulo-Corinthian helmet B09 (Fig. 156), 2 bronze

greaves, 1 bronze belt and an iron spearhead.

- Other finds: 1 bronze armband and small bronze pince-nez shaped objects.

67

Fig. 156: An Apulo-Corinthian helmet B09 (www.sas.upenn.edu).

Also this tomb is missing the pottery, according to the excavation list there was none in it.

V.14 Ripacandida Tomb 82

Only the inventory of this tomb is known to me, Bottini dated this tomb to the first half of

the 5th century B. C. (500-450 B. C.) (Bottini 1988, 112).

Tomb contents:

- Military equipment: 1 bronze Apulo-Corinthian helmet B07 (Fig. 157).

- Other pottery (Fig. 158): 1 kylix, 1 patera, 1 oinochoe, 3 brocca’s, 1 askos, 1 olla

and 2 bowls.

Fig. 157 & 158: An apulo-Corinthian helmet and from left to right beginning at the back row: a

brocca, kylix, patera, bowl, brocca, askos, brocca, bowl, olla, oinochoe (Bottini 1988, 113).

68

V.15 Rutigliano Tomb 03

Other than that Type C Apulo-Corinthian helmet C08 was found in this tomb, I haven’t

found any information. Bottini dated this tomb to the end of the 5th century B. C. and the

beginning of the 4th century B. C. (425-375 B. C.) (Bottini 1988, 112).


This tomb is dated to the third quarter of the 5th century B. C. (450-425 B. C.)

The Apulo-Corinthian helmet found inside is said to still have some leather work inside

(Lo Porto 1976, 740). There were 66 objects found within this tomb, which make it one

of the richer tombs. Bottini dated this tomb to the last quarter of the 5th century B. C.

(425-400 B. C.) (Bottini 1988, 112).

Tomb contents:

- Military equipment (Fig. 159): 1 bronze Apulo-Corinthian helmet C07, 2 bronze

belts and 2 bronze greaves.

- Bronze (Fig. 159): 1 lebes, 1 basin, 1 patera and 2 strigilae.

- Attic vessels (Fig. 160): 1 krater, 1 lekythos, 3 kylixes and 1 pelike.

- Other pottery (Fig. 160): 2 oinochoe, 3 kylixes, 1 no-handled cup, 3 single-

handled cups, 3 two-handled cups, 1 oletta, 1 skyphos, 5 brocca’s, 1 askos, 3

bowls, 1 lebes, 1 bowl with grease spout and 2 spouted pitchers.

- Other finds (Fig. 159): 4 bronze (maybe iron) curled fragments, 9 straight bronze

fragments and a bronze fragment of plate work.

Fig. 159: Metal objects form Tomb 11. From left to right beginning at the upper row: Apulo-

Corinthian helmet, basin, lebes, 2 greaves, basin handles, bronze fragments, sieve, bronze plate

work, metal fragments, fragment of a belt, an unidentified object, 2 strigilae, a fragment of a belt, a

belt and a patera (Bottini 1988, 122).

69

Fig. 160: Ceramic objects from Tomb 11. From left to right starting at the upper row: bowl with

grease spout, brocca, lebes, crater, oletta, pelike, oinochoe, two-handled cup, brocca, lekythos,

single handled cup, spouted pitcher, brocca, brocca, oinochoe, bowl, kylix, kylix, kylix, spouted

pitcher, two handled cup, one-handled cup, two handled cup, bowl, askos, bowl, brocca, skyphos,

no handled cup, single handled cup, single handled cup, kylix, kylix (Bottini 1988, 122).



found any information. Bottini dated this tomb to the last quarter of the 5th century B. C.

(425-400 B. C.) (Bottini 1988, 112).


Tomb 24 is dated around the same time as Tomb 11 from Rutigliano. The tomb was made

from slabs of rock with the top edges provided with notches for the frame of wooden

beams to support the roofing sheets. The tomb measured 1.80 X 0,86 X 0,90 the inside of

the tomb contained a decorative band of about 4 cm painted red (Lo Porto 1976, 741).

Bottini dated this tomb to the last quarter of the 5th century B. C. (425-400 B. C.) (Bottini

1988, 112).

Tomb contents:

- Military equipment (Fig. 161): 1 bronze Type A helmet A07, 1 bronze belt, 2

bronze greaves, 1 iron spearhead, 1 iron sword and 1 iron knife.

- Bronze (Fig. 161): 2 lebes, 2 sieves, 2 paterae and 1 iron thymiaterion

- Attic vessels: 1 crater, 1 pelike, 1 rhyton, 1 amphora and 1 oinochoe.

70

Fig. 161: Metal finds from Tomb 24. From left to right, starting in the back: lebes, oinochoe,

patera, unknown, lebes, lebes tripod, thymiaterion, unknown, parts of a sword and knifes, kylix, 2

sieves, a patera, 2 greaves a belt, Apulo-Coritnmihan helmet and 2 strigilae as well as bronze

fragments of unknown identity (Lo Porto 1976, Tav. CXII).

I could not find evidence for the other pottery category, but in such a rich tomb there

must have been some.



found any information. Bottini dated it to the second half of the 5th century B. C. (450-

400 B. C.) (Bottini 1988, 112).

V.20 Ruvo del Monte Tomb 43

Other than that a fragmented Apulo-Corinthian helmet was found in this tomb, I haven’t

found any information.

V.21 Ruvo di Puglia Unknown Tomb


found any information. Bottini dated it to the first half of the 5th century B. C. (500-450

B. C.) (Bottini 1988, 112).

V.22 Ruvo di Puglia Tomb 002

Found under the Piazza G. Matteotti in 1907. The tomb was a monolithic sarcophagus

placed in a pit at around 2.20m deep. The tomb was covered by two slabs of tufa upon

71

which a single slab of limestone was placed. The tomb is dated to the first quarter of the

5th century B. C. (490-475 B. C.) (Montanaro 2007, 222).

Tomb contents: (Montanaro 2007, 223-235)

- Military equipment: 1 bronze Apulo-Corinthian helmet B22 (Fig. 162), bronze

cuirass fragments, 2 bronze belts (Fig. 163 & 164), 1 iron sword (Fig. 165), 2

iron spearheads (Fig. 166 & 167), 2 iron cusps (Fig. 166 & 168), 1 iron sauroter

(Fig. 167) and 1 iron knife (Fig. 169).

- Bronze: 1 lebes (Fig. 170), 2 basins (Fig. 171, 172 and 173), 1 iron tripod (Fig.

174), 1 tripod (Fig. 175), 2 tripod feet (Fig. 176), 1 sieve (Fig. 177), 1 keagra

(Fig. 178), and 1 lead andiron (Fig 179).

- Attic vessels: 1 krater (Fig. 180), 1 lekythos (Fig. 181) and 3 kylixes (Fig. 182,

183 & 184).

- Other pottery: 2 oinochoe’s, 1 kylix, 1 patera, 2 olpe’s and 1 calice acromo.

- Other finds: 1 lead lanceolate object (Fig. 185).

Fig. 162 & 163: Apulo-Corinthian helmet B22 and a bronze belt (Montanaro 2007, 235 & 227).

Fig. 164 & 165: A bronze belt and an iron sword. All swords found in tombs with Apulo-

Corinthian helmets were of this crucifix-form type (Montanaro 2007, 227 & 230).

72

Fig. 166 & 167: Iron cusp and spear points and an iron spearhead and sauroter (Montanaro 2007,

232).

Fig. 168 & 169: Iron cusp and an iron knife (Montanaro 2007, 232).

Fig. 170, 171 & 172: Bronze lebes and 2 basins (Montanaro 2007, 224 & 225).

Fig. 173, 174 & 175: Bronze handle from a basin, an iron tripod and a bronze tripod (Montanaro

2007, 227, 232, 227).

Fig. 176 & 177: Bronze feet of a tripod and a bronze sieve (Montanaro 2007, 228 & 227).

73

Fig. 178 & 179: Lead keagra and lead parts of an andiron (Montanaro 2007, 229).

Fig. 180, 181 & 182: Attic crater with a depiction of the departure of a warrior, an Attic lekythos

and a kylix with eyes (Montanaro 2007, 234).

Fig. 183, 184 & 185: Attic kylix with eyes, a black varnished Attic kylix and a lanceolate lead

object (perhaps part of the lead keagra) (Montanaro 2007, 234 & 229).


Found under the Corso A. Jatta in 1924, The tomb consisted of two sarcophagi, one was

empty and in the other one remains of armor was found. It was said that it included

greaves, but none have been found in the museum where it should be. This tomb has been

dated to the last quarter of the 5th century B. C. (425-400 B. C.) (Montanaro 2007, 341).

74

Apparently only red figured pottery and a helmet have been found, the normal pottery as

well as the greaves are lost.


- Military equipment: 1 bronze Apulo-Corinthian helmet E01 (Fig. 186, 187, 188

& 189) and is said to have also held 2 bronze greaves.

- Attic vessels (Fig. 189): 1 skyphos and 1 askos.

- Other pottery (Fig. 189): 1 oinochoe, 1 skyphos, 1 kantharos, 1 askos, 1 krater

and 2 amphora’s.

Fig. 186, 187 & 188: Apulo-Corinthian helmet E01 (De Juliis 1983, Tav. 81),

(www.atlantedellarteitaliana.it) & (De Juliis 1983, Tav. 81).

Fig. 189: From the upper left corner to the lower right corner: panathenaican amphora,

protolucanian krater, panathenaican amphora, attic askos, attic skyphos, protolucanian skyphos,

protolucanian askos, protolucanian oinochoe, Apulo-Corinthian helmet E01 and a protolucanian

kantharos (Montanaro 2007, 341).

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This tomb was found under the Corso Cotugno in 1834. The tomb was made of several

slabs of tufa. It contained 2 greaves, but 1 was probably stolen from the grave. The tomb

was dated to the first half of the 5th century B. C. (500-450 B.C.) (Monataro 2007, 542-

546). This tomb was not dug scientifically, like the other tombs from Ruvo di Puglia it

may lack some finds. Most notably missing from all the tombs from Ruvo are the

unpainted pottery, only Greek-looking pottery is preserved if there is any ceramics at all.


- Military equipment: 1 bronze Apulo-Corinthian helmet A06 (Fig. 190), 1 bronze

Corinthian helmet (Fig. 191), 1 greave (the other one is lost) (Fig. 192) and 2

prosternidia (Fig. 193).

- Bronze: 2 paterae.

Fig. 190 & 191: Apulo-Corinthian helmet A06 and a partial Corinthian helmet. Note the unusual

noseguard of A06 (Montanaro 2007, 546 & 545).

Fig. 192 & 193: A greave for the right leg and two prosternidia (Montanaro 2007, 546 & 544).

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This tomb was found under the Piazza Bovio, in 1814. The tomb was made from various

slabs of tufa, and was plastered inside and decorated with parallel bands of different

colors caught between two black meandering bands. It can be dated to 420-410 B. C. by

the vases found inside (Montanaro 2007, 606-633).


- Military equipment: 1 bronze Apulo-Corinthian helmet B47 (Fig. 194 & 195), 1

cuirass and 1 iron sword.

- Attic vessels: 3 kylixes (Fig. 196, 197 & 198), 1 krater (Fig. 199), 2 amphorae

(Fig. 200 & 201), 2 oinochoe’s (Fig. 202 & 203), 1 askos (Fig. 204), 1 kantharos

(Fig. 205) and 1 rhyton (Fig. 206).

- Other pottery: 1 oinochoe (Fig. 207), 1 krater (Fig. 208), 3 amphorae (Fig. 209,

210 & 211) and 2 hydria’s (1 of which is depicted on Fig. 212).

- Other finds: 1 golden necklace with ram head ends (Fig. 213) and 1 golden fibula

(Fig. 214).

Fig. 194 & 195: Apulo-Corinthian helmet B47 (Montanaro 2007, 632).

Fig. 196, 197 & 198: 3 Attic kylixes (Montanaro 2007, 623, 625 & 626).

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Fig. 199, 200 & 201: An Attic bell krater and two Attic amphorae (Montanaro 2007, 627, 632 &

633).

Fig. 202, 203 & 204: 2 Attic oinochoe’s and an Attic askos (Montanaro 2007, 621, 631, 630).

Fig. 205, 206 & 207: An Attic kantharos, an Attic rhyton and a protolucanian oinochoe

(Montanaro 2007, 622, 634 & 631).

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Fig. 208, 209 & 210: A protoapulian krater and two panathenaican amphorae (Montanaro 2007,

612, 618 & 620).

Fig. 211 & 212: A panathenaican amphora and a protolucanian hydria (Montanaro 2007, 629 &

615).

Fig. 213 & 214: A golden necklace with ramhead ends and a golden fibula (Montanaro 2007, 627

& 628).

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This tomb was found under the crossroad of the Via S. Barbara and Via Oberdan in 1834.

It is reported to have held several vessels and parts of a warriors panoply. Unfortunately

only 2 objects are known to exist today and it has been dated to the beginning of the 4th

century B. C. (400-375 B. C.) (Monanaro 2007, 667).

Tomb contents: (Montanaro 2007, 667 & 668)

- Military equipment: 1 bronze Apulo-Corinthian helmet A04 (Fig. 215), 1 bronze

belt (lost), and 1 cuirass of long type (Fig. 216).

- Other finds: various oxidized lead objects.

Fig. 215 & 216: Apulo-Corinthian helmet A04 and its associated cuirass (www.sheshen-

eceni.co.uk), (© Trustees of the British Museum).

V.27 Salapia Tomb 140

Other than that Type A Apulo-Corinthian helmet A08 (Fig. 217) was found in this tomb,

I haven’t found any information.

Fig. 217: Apulo-Corinthian helmet A08 (Fazia 1984, 25).

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V.28 Satriano Tomb 2

This tomb was excavated in 1987. It can be dated to the second half of the 5th century B.

C. (450-400 B. C.) (Bottini 1993, 121).

Tomb contents: (Bottini 1993, 119-122)

- Military equipment: 1 bronze Apulo-Corinthian helmet C02 (Fig. 218) and one

iron sword.

- Other pottery: 1 stamnos (Fig. 218), 2 kylixes (Fig. 218), 1 no-handled cup (Fig.

218), 1 single-handled cup (Fig. 218), 1 patera, 1 krater (Fig. 218), 1 nestoris

(Fig. 218) and 2 brocca’s (Fig. 218).

Fig. 218: Tomb content of Tomb 2, without the sword. From left to right, starting above: brocca,

Apulo-Corinthian helmet C02, stamnos, brocca, no-handled-cup, single-handled cup, crater,

nestoris, kylix and another kylix (Bottini 1993, 117).

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V.29 Serra di Vaglio Tomb 108

This tomb was excavated in 1994. It contained a single burial in a wooden case which

was covered up by stones and the tomb was orientated south-west north-east. The person

buried in this tomb was a male of about 60 years old. The buried lay curled up on his

right side, with his head pointing to the south. In front of him were placed a spear and

helmet, associated with various metallic and ceramic pottery, the latter was, as usual,

placed at the feet on the bottom half of the tomb, while the skewers were placed

transversely in the tomb, partly resting on the ceramic. On the body, at the waist and

chest, two bronze belts were found; the wide one is placed at the waist, while the longer

and narrower belt at the chest and shoulder, which seems to be the end of the suspension

of the sword resting on his chest (Fig. 219). This tomb has been dated to the end of the 6th

century and the first half of the 5th century B.C. (525-450 B.C.) (Bottini and Setari 2003,

75).

Fig. 219: Excavation map of Tomb 108. Note that the belts lay flat and loose on the floor,

suggesting that when the man was buried he didn’t wear them, but that they were placed below or

on top of him (Bottini and Setari 2003, 76).

82

Tomb contents: (Bottini and Setari 2003, 75-80).

- Military equipment: 1 bronze Apulo-Corinthian helmet A34 (Fig. 220, 221 &

222), 2 bronze belts (Fig. 223 & 224), 1 iron sword (Fig. 225) and 2 iron

spearheads.

- Bronze: 2 basins and 1 iron tripod.

- Attic vessels: 2 kylixes.

- Other pottery: 3 no-handled cups (1 can be seen in Fig. 226), 2 single-handled

cups, 1 kantharos, 1 krater and 1 oletta (Fig. 227).

- Other finds: several iron rods and 1 fragmented iron blade.

Fig. 220 & 221: Apulo-Corinthian helmet A34 (Bottini and Setari 2003, Tav. XXIV).

Fig. 222: Reconstruction of A34 (Bottini and Setari 2003, 78).

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Fig. 223 & 224: Bronze belts. The big one was usually worn around the waist while the thinner

one has been determined as being a strap where the sword was attached to (Bottini and Setari

2003, Tav. XXIX & XXX).

Fig. 225, 226, 227: The iron blade of a crucifix-form sword, a no-handled cup and an oletta

(Bottini and Setari 2003, 79 & 77).

Beside this tomb, 8 other tombs were excavated.

Tomb 101: male, around 60 years, 31 pieces of pottery found inside, also a crest holder, a

shield, 2 greaves, 3 belts, 2 prometopidia, 2 prosternidia, 3 spearheads, 1 blade point, 2

blade fragments and 2 swords.

Tomb 102: Tomb of a 7 year old girl, 28 ceramic pots, 8 metal vessels, and 132 other

objects.

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Tomb 103: Tomb of a 40 year old man and a 12 year old boy. 40 ceramics, 16 bronze

vessels, 2 Corinthian helmets, 1 shield, 2 greaves, 5 belts, 2 prometopidia, 2 spearheads, 6

rings, and 6 other objects.

Tomb 104: Tomb of a boy who was less than a year old. 32 ceramics, 3 metal vessels and

4 other objects.

Tomb 105: Tomb of a man of about 50 years old, 16 ceramics, 6 metal vessels, 2 helmets,

a shield, 3 belts, 2 spearheads, 1 sword, 1 blade fragment, parts of a chariot and 2 other

objects.

Tomb 106: Tomb of a 60 year old female. 12 ceramics, 4 metal vessels, and 107 other

objects.

Tomb 107: Tomb of a 40 year old man. 10 ceramics, 5 metal vessels, 2 helmets, 2

greaves, 5 spearheads and a sword, and 4 other objects.

Tomb 109: Tomb of a male, between 30 and 40 years old. 8 ceramics, 2 metal vessels, a

crest holder and a belt, 3 spearheads, 1 fragment of a sword and two other objects.

As can be seen, Tomb 108 was not the most richest of the tombs that were excavated.

Also when we compare it to the other male burials it still not the most richest and when

we compare it with tombs where the diseased were around the same age when they died,

it is the most poor burial. Also all male burials contain weapons and armor, and except

for Tomb 108 and Tomb 109 they all contain parts of horse armor or chariots. We get the

idea here that the buried person with a Apulo-Corinthian helmet was not the most

important person. Another strange thing is that all males were relatively old for an army,

from the 5 warrior burials here, 3 belong to men of 50 and above, two of those were very

rich, more rich than the younger persons graves, except for Tomb 108 which was

relatively poor. The reason for the old person of Tomb 108 to have less objects and less

military equipment is unknown to me.

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V.30 Unknown Tomb (A38)

Tomb contents:

- Military equipment (Fig. 228): 1 bronze Apulo-Corinthian helmet (A37) and 2

bronze greaves

Fig. 228: All that remains of an unknown tomb: Apulo-Corinthian helmet A37 and two greaves

(http://www.hermann-historica.de).

V.31 Unknown Tomb (C23)

Tomb contents:

- Military equipment (Fig. 229): 1 bronze Apulo-Corinthian helmet C23 and 2

greaves.

Fig. 229: Apulo-Corinthian helmet C23 and 2 accompanying greaves

(http://www.flickr.com/photos/taimoo/2966023440/).

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Tomb contents:


triple-disc cuirass plate, 1 bronze belt and 2 bronze greaves.

Fig. 230: The remains of an unknown tomb, an Apulo-Corinthian helmet C25, a triple-disc cuirass

plate, a belt and two greaves (www.sas.upenn.edu).


Tomb contents:


rectangular cuirass and 2 bronze greaves.

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Fig. 231: Apulo-Corinthian helmet C25, both halves of a rectangular anatomical cuirass and two

greaves (www.sas.upenn.edu).

V.34 Unknown Tomb (D05)

Tomb contents:

- Military equipment (Fig. 232): 1 bronze Apulo-Corinthian helmet D05 (Fig. 232

& 233), 1 bronze cuirass of long type and 2 bronze greaves.

Fig. 232 & 233: Apulo-Corinthian helmet D05, a long anatomical cuirass and two greaves

(www.artfact.com), (Eisenberg 2004, 7).

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V.35 Unknown Tomb (E08)

Tomb contents:

- Military equipment: 1 bronze Apulo-Corinthian helmet E08 (Fig. 234) and 2

bronze greaves.

Fig. 234: Apulo-Corinthian helmet E08 (www.christies.com).

V.36 Unknown Tomb (U02)

From this tomb we also know the weapons and utensils, apparently they have not been

separated since their discovery.

Tomb contents:

- Military equipment: 1 bronze Apulo-Corinthian helmet U02 (Fig. 235), 2 bronze

greaves (Fig. 236), 4 iron lance heads (1 in Fig. 237), 4 iron spearheads (1 in Fig.

237) and 1 iron knife (Fig. 237).

- Other finds: 6 iron obeloi, 1 iron gripper (Fig. 237), 1 iron strigilis (Fig. 237) and

1 iron four pronged toaster (Fig. 237).

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Fig. 235 & 236: Apulo-Corinthian helmet U02 and two greaves (Eisenberg 2004, 6).

Fig. 237: Iron utensils, from upper left corner to the lower right corner: 4-pronged toaster, knife,

lance head, gripper, strigilis and a spearhead (Eisenberg 2004, 6).

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Chapter VI

The use of the Apulo-Corinthian helmet

VI.1 Usage in life

In this Chapter I will investigate the use of the Apulo-Corinthian helmet. As I have

mentioned in chapter I, The Apulo-Corinthian helmet could not fit over the whole head. It

seems strange why the Apulian craftsmen made this type of helmet in a way that it could

not fit over the whole head, leaving the face unprotected. One would think that they must

have had hinged cheek pieces to protect the sides of the face. This hinged cheek pieces

idea is seen in many ‘reconstructions’ of Roman legionnaires in non-scientific books and

in games (Fig. 238). But the fact is, that not even one Apulo-Corinthian helmet has ever

been found with hinged cheek pieces, not even a fragment of a hinge on the helmet itself,

as can be seen in the previous chapters and in Table 1.

Still, there are holes in the sides of each helmet, but that is just one on each side. For

cheek pieces to be stable you need at least two on each side, (although hinges are better)

while for a chinstrap you need only one. So the holes in the sides of the Apulo-Corinthian

helmets are for chinstraps (Fig. 239).

Fig. 238: A Roman soldier wearing an Apulo-Corinthian helmet with cheek parts, one of many

examples of wrong portrayal of this type of helmet (Warry 1980).

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Fig. 239: A correct reconstruction of the Apulo-Corinthian helmet worn by a soldier, although the

helmet is correct, the sword is a falcata, while the sword used by the Apulians is of the crucifix-

form (Fig. 165). Also the long greaves were not very popular in Apulia and we know of only 1

occasion where a shield and Apulo-Corinthian helmet were found together (Connolly 1998, 88).

But if the Apulo-Corinthian helmets were not protective, what then, could be the reason

that that the Iapygian craftsmen made this helmet in such a form? As seen in the previous

chapters, all helmets had a crest and most also had feather supports and the majority of

the helmets are wealthily decorated. Perhaps this helmet is not intended for usage in

battle. This helmet might have been some kind of parade helmet, with its crest, feathers

and decorations it is a lot more impressive than a helmet that does not have such

attributes. Even today helmets with plumes and wealthy decorations are in use as parade

helmets, while the more protective helmets are used in battle.

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This usage of different helmets for different purposes might be seen in the tomb at

Ginosa, which included a Corinthian helmet (which has cheeks and thus is more

protective for the face) and an Apulo-Corinthian helmet, which has inscribed decorations

and once had a crest but not much face protection. Although the Corinthian helmet has

some decoration on it (the edges of the helmet and on top of the helmet) it is not as

wealthily as the Apulo-Corinthian helmet, and the Corinthian helmet also did not have a

crest. The other finds in the tomb at Ginosa point out that this was a warrior on

horseback, so perhaps he wore the Apulo-Corinthian helmet while he was riding on a

horse, because when you are riding a horse you need good sight, and the Corinthian

helmet does close of quite a lot of the surroundings. This combination of Corinthian

helmet and Apulo-Corinthian helmet with horse armor has also been found at Ruvo di

Puglia’s Tomb 115, proving that the case of Ginosa is not just one of a kind, but is it still

exceptionally.

Other tombs where more than one helmet was found were found at Melfi and Guglionesi,

although I think the inventory of the Guglionesi tomb is incomplete and the inventory of

Melfi Tomb A is incomplete, the inventory of Tomb F is not. Both Tomb A and Tomb F

had 2 Apulo-Corinthian helmets and no Corinthian or other type helmet. This is rather

strange, why would one have two parade helmets? In both tombs were also found the

wheels of a two-wheeled chariot, of which all the wood has been lost unfortunately.

Perhaps these were ‘leaders’ who oversaw the battlefield and gave directions from their

chariot and were not expected to fight in the battle itself. The fact that all tombs with

horse armor posses two helmets is also remarkable, although this does not work around

the other way since the tomb of Guglionesi also held 2 helmets, but no evidence of

horses, armor or chariots. Since only the bronze objects are known to me, objects like

iron wheel rims as in both tombs at Melfi are still a possibility, although it remains

strange why they were not included in the description of Capini and Di Niro of 1991 if

that is the case.

When we compare the other tombs and their contents (Table 2, 3, 4, 5, 6), we see that

most tombs are not very rich and when we compare the tombs in which Apulo-Corinthian

helmets have been found with other tombs of that necropolis, in two of the three it is one

of the poorest warrior tomb (Braida di Vaglio and Cairano) while in the other one it is the

richest of its necropolis, but there are no warrior tombs there to compare with (Banzi).

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Also the tombs of women contain a lot more objects than those of men, but military

equipment is restricted to tombs with male deceased.

When we look in what number armor and weapons were found, we see that out of 28

tombs (left out are Salapia, Gravina and Miglionico, tombs where I have found no

information from, other than that they included a helmet), only in 14 tombs greaves were

found. One or more belts were found in 12 tombs, in 8 tombs cuirasses were found,

spearheads also in 8, swords in 6 tombs and a shield in just one tomb.

Next we look at the combinations of the armor pieces.

- Helmet: 7 tombs, of which only 3 had a weapon, but since weapons are from iron

they may have rusted away since in these tombs no other iron objects have been

found.

- Helmet + greaves: 6 times, of which only 1 had weapons.

- Helmet + belt: 3 times, 2 of which had weapons.

- Helmet + belt + greaves: 3 times, 2 of them had weapons.

- Helmet + belt + cuirass: 3 times, 2 had weapons.

- Helmet + belt + greaves + cuirass: 2 times, 1 of them included weapons.

- Helmet + greaves + cuirass: 2 times, no weapons included.

- Helmet + belt + greaves + shield: 1 time, no weapons.

- Helmet + cuirass: 1 time, with a weapon.

We know that the tombs in which Apulo-Corinthian helmets were found normally were

poor, in comparison with the other tombs from their necropolis (although that is only

based on two cases), and when we look at the numbers above, we see that the

combinations with few armor are dominant: only helmet, helmet + belt and helmet +

greaves are 57% of the total. The combinations with cuirasses are more rare (28.5%) and

those with a shield are exceptionally (3.5%).

It might look strange to have only a helmet, or a belt or greaves or a combination of

those, since they do not protect the rump. But at the time there also existed the

‘linothorax’ which is a cuirass made of many layers of linen. And this linen does not

preserve, like leather in the tombs of the Mediterranean area. But when we look at tomb

paintings from the 4th century B. C. from Samnium, Lucania and Campania, we see that a

lot of soldier depiction have no armor besides the helmet, or just a helmet and belt or

94

greaves or both, while wearing a tunic (Weege 1909, Fig. 15, Fig. 18, Taf. 8, Taf. 9, Taf.

10 and Taf. 11). This proves that indeed not all, if not most of the soldiers did not wear a

cuirass. What we also see is what seems to be wicker shields (Weege 1909 Fig. 18), a

find category that also does not or scarcely preserve, which could be the reason for the

low amount of shields found in the tombs. This does, of course, not mean that the tombs

without bronze cuirasses and shields are suddenly rich because of the perishable materials

which might have been in them. Bronze cuirasses and shields are a lot harder to make

than linen and wicker, and they were probably also a lot more expensive because of that.

The tomb paintings I referred to have all not been found in Apulia, apparently the

Apulians did not paint warriors on their tombs (in Ginosa there was a painted tomb but

painted there were just colored bands), and only very few have been seen on painted

vessels, and of those only one can be of use here because they were actually worn in that

painting. This painting is the vase showing Patroklos’ funeral by the Darius painter (Fig.

240).

Fig. 240: Patroklos’funeral by the Darius painter, for a close up see Fig. 32 (www.hellados.ru).

Depicted is the funeral of Patroklos where a prisoner is being sacrificed and another

person is making a libation on the funeral pyre of Patroklos. If we look at what equipment

Patroklos had, we see 2 greaves, 1 shield, 2 cuirasses, 1 helmet and 1 sword. The other

person libating, is wearing another Apulo-Corinthian helmet, a cuirass and a spear, this is

perhaps Achilles. This depiction at least shows us that high ranking persons wore the

Apulo-Corinthian helmet too, and they also had a cuirass, which could mean that the

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tombs in which an Apulo-Corinthian helmet was found along with a cuirass were also of

high ranking soldiers, although more than a quarter of the warriors would have been such

a person if we assume that.

Of course the fact that high ranking persons wore cuirasses does not mean that lower

ranks did not (if there even were ranks in the Apulian military system), perhaps if lower

ranks wore it too, the percentage of 28.5% doesn’t seem so big anymore. But

unfortunately we cannot prove that. What this painting does prove is that high ranking

persons did also wear them, so that unlike what we see from the few necropolis

comparisons, not all warriors wearing the Apulo-Corinthian helmet were more poor than

others of their time, so the few number of available necropolis comparisons were a bias, it

seems now that the Apulo-Corinthian helmet was used by the more common men, but

also by high ranking persons.

Apparently this ‘parade’ helmet was available to the lower classes too, who must have

used it in combat, because they did not have another more protective helmet to switch to.

Also we see in the tomb paintings that most of the soldiers, also those without a cuirass,

wear helmets with crests and feathers (Weege 1909, Fig. 15, Fig. 18) and they also wore

them during battles, although there are also scene’s of warriors fighting without a crest

and feather (Weege 1909, Taf. 11). So the Apulo-Corinthian helmet might not be only a

parade helmet after all, since most of its users had only this helmet and no other helmet to

switch to. Those that had 2 helmets, of which one does offer more facial protection,

probably did switch their helmet before battle and did not use the Apulo-Corinthian

helmet during the battle.

VI.2 Usage after life

The Apulo-Corinthian helmet is only known from a burial context. Because of the poor

documentation during the excavations of the tombs in which these helmets lay, not much

is known about the position these helmets took inside the graves. From the more than 150

helmets, we know of only 2 how the helmets were positioned in the grave and from 1

other we know only a possible position. In Cairano the helmet lay besides the skeleton,

who laid stretched on his back. The helmet was positioned next to the left femur. In

Braida di Vaglio the skeleton lay crouched on its right side, with the helmet in front of

him, between a spearpoint and metal vessels, on the left (south-east) side of the grave. In

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Banzi the skeleton sat against one of the tufa slabs, and according to Pesce the helmet was

probably still on his head, although they knocked the skeleton over when they broke the

slab against which the skeleton rested. Because these 3 cases are they only ones known, I

can’t see a tradition of where the Apulo-Corinthian helmet should be placed inside the

grave nor how the skeleton should be laid down. In 2 of the 3 tombs the helmet lay next

to the skeleton, while in the third tomb the helmet was also found on the tomb ground,

but the excavator thought it would originally have rested on the head of the deceased. In

all three tombs the deceased was not cremated but was laid to rest inside the tomb,

although in all three tombs that was done in a different way. From this scanty information

it is not possible to conclude anything about rules of object placement in the Apulian

culture and society, also because two tombs were not inside Apulian territory at that time

(Cairano and Braida di Vaglio).

VI.3 Time of usage

As said in earlier chapters the chronology of the helmets is interesting, one would expect

that type A was the first type, then B, after that C etc. But the fact is that this was a much

faster development than we would expect. We see that from 525 until 500 Type A and B

were both in use at the same time. The first type C helmet is known from between 500-

475 and the earliest Type E helmet from 475 to 450 B.C. (Fig. 241). No Type D helmet is

known from a datable context, but probably they were first made between 500 and 450

B.C.

Very interesting is that Type A and B remain in use for almost the whole period that

Apulo-Corinthian helmets were worn and that they developed around the same time.

Type C has only one early example, the rest of the Type C helmets are found in contexts

later than 450 B.C. Type A and B were apparently less popular after 450 B.C. but

remained in use while the dominant Type became Type C, which was not very popular in

earlier times.

Type E was only found in contexts dating to the middle part of the time span, from 475

until 400 B.C. Apparently Type A and B were the most popular helmets, Type C took a

while to become popular and Type E was the latest development in the Apulo-Corinthian

helmets but was also the first type that stopped appearing.

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Fig. 241: Graph showing the distribution over time of the Apulo-Corinthian helmets. The dating of

the tomb at Larino is very broad and might be 400-350, as it is the only tomb dated this broad and

also being the most recent dated one of the 25 tombs which have been dated.

When we count the number of helmets found in each period (Fig. 242), we see that two

spikes arise, one between 500 and 475 B.C. and the other one between 425 and 375 B.C.

this could mean two things. One is that the popularity of these helmets came in two

waves, first a wave were Type A and B were popular and the second wave when Type C

was the most popular, followed by Type B and A. The reason for this may be that around

475 the helmet lost its popularity due to a conflict with the Taras and Rhegium, which the

Messapians and Peucetians won. The second option is that it should resemble one peak,

but by coincidence there have not been found a representative number of Apulo-

Corinthian helmets for the period between 475 and 425 B.C.

Although these graphs are very clear, they are based on 25 dated tombs, which are

sometimes dated very broad, and were counted in more than one period. A narrower

dating could show if there really are two waves of popularity. Also future excavations

might change the chronology of the Apulo-Corinthian helmet and hopefully some Type D

helmets will be unearthed in a datable context so that we know when this type was in use.

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Fig. 242: Graph showing the number of Apulo-Corinthian helmets trough time. Note that because

in the period of 475 until 425 B.C. there have been found much lesser helmets two peaks arise on

both sides of this period.

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Chapter VII

Conclusion

In this final Chapter I will look back at the research questions posed in the beginning and

I will explain what the knowledge received from my investigation can add to the ongoing

debate about the interaction of ‘locals’ and ‘Greeks’. I will start with the most basic

research question:

VII.1 Research question 1

Where, when and in which contexts do these helmets occur?

As can be seen in chapter IV, except for a few exceptions, all helmets were found within

the borders of ancient Peucetia and Daunia, some have been found just over this border in

Molise and Basilicata, areas which belonged to the Frentani and the Lucani at that time.

So we can state that this is an Apulian helmet, especially because the cities where more

than one helmet were found lie around the Ofanto river and the east coast of Apulia,

which are definitely Apulian cities and not Greek or Lucanian.

The question when they were used was answered in Chapter V and in greater detail in

Chapter VI. The tombs in which the Apulo-Corinthian helmets were found date from 525

to 350 B. C. with 1 dated to 400-300 B. C. which is a very rough dating (Larino).

Remarkable is that around the time when the battle between the combined forces of Taras

Rhegium against Messapians and Peucetians took place (473 B.C.) we see that the

number of Apulo-Corinthian helmets decline. However 50 years later the helmet type was

more popular than it ever was. Of course we must take into account that this image of

rise, decline, rise again and decline forever is very easy to change when future

excavations will reveal more Apulo-Corinthian helmets from the period between 475 and

425 B.C.

The context in which the Apulo-Corinthian helmets were found has also been explained

in Chapter V and VI. From the few we know where they are found, they were found in

tombs. This fact however does not mean that they were only intended as grave gifts, we

have depictions of alive persons that wear them and some seem to have been used and

then repaired before they were deposited. Other places where one might expect these

helmets to occur are sanctuaries where they would have been devoted to a god for giving

them the victory, as in the case of the Etruscan helmets found at Olympia. Another place

100

to find helmets are battlefields, but most of these fields were cleaned after the battle. Until

now no Apulo-Corinthian helmets have been found in these contexts yet, but perhaps

future excavations will change this.

VII.2 Research question 2

What is the meaning of this type helmet in these contexts and what does this

meaning of the helmets say about the cultural character of Apulia between the end

of the 6th

and the end of the 4th

century B.C.?

When comparing the pictorial remains of warrior equipments in the 5th-4

th century B. C.

we see that the combinations of armor found inside the tombs are also depicted in

paintings where soldiers are fighting or riding a horse. This means they were not random

grave gifts that other people gave to the deceased for in the afterlife, but that they were

actually their own equipment which they had owned during their life. This type of helmet

could have belonged to any kind of warrior, high ranks and low, so it is not possible to

say, when one finds such a helmet, that it was of a high ranking soldier. Even the fact that

this person would have been a warrior is debatable. If we look at the necropolis in which

they were found, all men which are older than 12 have got warrior equipment, so this

means that all men were warriors, or that one was supposed to have some sort of military

equipment even when someone was not a professional soldier.

Another thing that can be said about the cultural character is that the Apulians took over

quite a lot elements of surrounding cultures, especially those to their south (Greeks) and

to their west (Lucanians and Campanians). Firstly, the Apulo-Corinthian helmet which

was based on the Greek Corinthian helmet was invented by the Apulians, and was not a

product of smithies from Taras, since only one has been found there and many more in

the four centers indicated in chapter IV. Secondly, when we look at what was found

inside the tombs, we see Attic vases, Lucanian vases, Campanian ware (black varnished)

as well as pottery of local production. Which means that the Apulians did not took over

everything from other cultures, since they kept making their own pottery and their own

helmets. Thus the tombs show an international society, in which there still was room for

local products. The Apulians did not live in a closed off culture that kept their product to

themselves but had contacts with their neighboring cultures. In that respect, their culture

looks like that of ours, we also import non local objects, although the distances of today

101

are bigger. We also modify foreign ideas to our liking, as the Apulians did with the

Corinthian helmet.

The last thing that can be said about the inventory of the tombs is that in only one of the

tombs a religious object was found, in Larino, the statuette of Mars. In the rest of the

tombs no religious objects have been found, which is remarkable. However this does not

mean that they did not have a religion, it only shows us that it was not usual to take

religious objects in the grave.

VII.3 The bigger picture

What can the information from this thesis add to the ongoing debate about what the

relations between the Greek colonies and the local inhabitants was?

According to Burgers (Burgers 1999, 20) the idea that the Greek colonies were an island

of civilization in a marginal world should be rejected. In the research of the Salento

peninsula (Messapic territory) performed by the University of Amsterdam, Burgers saw

that before the Spartans founded Taras the Messapic area was already becoming more

densely populated. They also saw that more areas of the landscapes became in use and

that some settlements became bigger than surrounding settlements (Burgers 1999, 23).

This was linked to expansion and the reshaping of territories in the area. Because of the

material culture of this region being similar this was not seen earlier. With the arrival of

the Spartans it was possible to see Taras’ expansion because of the different material

culture, and so it was assumed that Taras was dominating and that the indigenous peoples

of Apulia were being dominated by Taras (Burgers 1999, 23). Burgers found out that that

this was not the case and that the indigenous peoples were actually on par with Taras

when looking at the central organization of territory and military sphere (Burgers 1999,

26).

When we compare this with the Peucetian and Daunian area we can draw the same

conclusions. Although this thesis did not investigate the centralization and spreading of

Apulian cities, we can still see by looking at the Apulo-Corintihan helmets and its

contexts that this area was certainly not undeveloped. We know the Apulians produced

their own weapons (e.g. crucifix-form sword and Apulo-Corinthian sword) that they

imported pottery from elsewhere (Attic vases, Lucanian and Campanian vessels) but also

produced their own pottery which have also been found outside their territory. So they

had contacts with surrounding cultures but were certainly not being dominated by them,

102

the amount of imports was in most tombs lesser than the amount of local made objects.

Another piece of evidence is the fact that the necropoles in which the Apulo-Corinthian

helmets were found include much warrior equipment. Almost every man found in these

necropoli had military equipment which indicates a military developed organization (an

army). Also the spreading of the Apulo-Corinthian helmets indicate at least 4 centres

(Melfi, Canosa, Ruvo di Puglia and Rutigliano) all well known for big amounts of

military equipment found in their necropoli. This might suggest that these 4 cities were

centres like those found on the Salento peninsula, indicating that this area of Apulia was

also in the same state of development as were the Messapians and Taras. Also the

historical evidence that the Messapians and Peucetians defeated Taras and Rhegium

seems to point out that Taras was on par with the other local cities in a struggle for

power. The fact that the Messapians and Peucetians could amass an army also points to a

certain degree of centralization.

So the image we get from Peucetia and Daunia is the same as for Messapia when looking

at the military sphere. A well developed military system with many warriors and good

equipment, which could compete and even win battles against the Greeks, and certainly

not a marginal world outside the island of civilization.

103

Resume

This thesis has the subject of the Apulo-Corinthian Helmet, a south-east Italian helmet

type and what it can say about the culture in which it was used. After establishing what an

apulo-Corinthian helmet exactly is and which Type’s there are, I went on and found out

that we can also order these helmets by Groups that were made by the same craftsman.

After this I investigated the spreading, which very clearly pointed out Apulia was the

region were these helmets originate from. Then I explained that to helmets with a known

context were all from tombs, some very rich, some of them poorer than other graves of

their time, but most of the tombs had the same objects within them; military equipment,

metal vessels, Lucanian, Campanian and local pottery, and some had Attic pottery. In the

conclusion I answered the research questions, Where, when and in which contexts do

these helmets occur? And What is the meaning of this type helmet in these contexts

and what does this meaning of the helmets say about the cultural character of

Apulia between the end of the 6th

and the end of the 4th

century B.C.?

The answers on the first question are: Apulia, between 525 and 350 B. C. and in tombs.

The answer on the second question is: This type of helm might have been a parade helm,

but it was also used in combat. It was available to everyone, if they could afford it, and so

it was not only for high ranking persons. Looking at the tomb inventory we see that the

Apulians had quite a network with their neighboring tribes, as well as the Greeks, on

whose helmets they base the Apulo-Corinthian helmet.

What also comes forth from this thesis is that the area where this type of helmet was worn

was a centralized area with a big army, so well organized that they could take on the

struggle with Taras as is also the case for Messapia, shown in the regional pathways to

complexity project of the University of Amsterdam.

104

Samenvatting

Deze scriptie heeft als onderwerp de Apulo-Corinthische helm, een zuidoost Italiaanse

helm type en wat dit type ons kan vertellen over de cultuur waarin deze werd gebruikt.

Nadat ik heb uitgelegd wat deze helm precies is en welke typen er zijn, ben ik

verdergegaan met deze helmen in te delen in groepen van dezelfde maker. Hierna

onderzocht ik de verspreiding, die vrij duidelijk wees naar Apulië als zijnde het gebied

van oorsprong. Vervolgens heb ik onderzocht uit welke context deze helmen afkomstig

zijn, wat allemaal tombes bleken te zijn. Sommige waren rijkelijk gevuld, andere juist

niet, maar bijna alle tombes hadden ongeveer dezelfde vondstcategorieën: militaire

uitrustingsstukken, bronzenvaatwerk, Lucanisch, Campanisch en lokaal aardewerk, en in

sommige gevallen ook nog Attisch aardewerk. In de conclusie probeerde ik de volgende

vragen te beantwoorden: Waar, wanneer en in wat voor context komen deze helmen

voor? En Wat is de betekenis van deze helmen in deze context en wat zegt deze

betekenis over het culturele karakter van Apulië tussen het eind van de 6e en het

eind van de 4e eeuw v. Chr.?

De antwoorden op de eerste vraag luiden; Apulië, tussen 525 en 350 v. Chr. en in

graftombes.

Het antwoord op de tweede vraag is dat dit type helm waarschijnlijk een parade helm

was, maar werd ook gebruikt in de strijd. Blijkbaar was dit type helm beschikbaar voor

iedereen, dus niet alleen hoog geplaatste personen. Kijkend naar de graf inventaris zien

we dat de Apuliërs waarschijnlijk goede banden onderhielden met hun buren, en daar ook

dingen van af keken en gebruikten zoals de Apulo-Corinthische helm zelf.

Wat ook uit deze thesis voortkomt is het beeld dat de regio waar deze helmen werden

gedragen gecentraliseerd was en zo goed georganiseerd en uitgerust was dat ze de strijd

met Taras aankonden en daar zeker niet de mindere waren, maar gelijken, een conclusie

die ook al werd getrokken in het pathways to complexity project van de Universiteit van

Amsterdam.

105

Word of thanks

Firstly, I want to thank my tutor, Dr. Miguel John Versluys, who had the confidence in

me that I could handle this subject, and for giving me advice and time to get this thesis

ready. Secondly, I want to thank Prof. Angelo Bottini and Grad student Dan Diffendale

for giving me advice and help. Thirdly, I want to thank my parents for the patience they

had while I occupied the computer and my sisters for not occupying the computer for

some weeks.

My thanks also go out to Andrea Celestino Montanaro, Werner Rutishauser, Iva

Lisikewycz, the Trustees of the British Museum and Cecile Evers for sending me

information and photo’s.

106

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Weapons, Warriors and Warfare in the Ancient Civilisations of Greece and Rome.

London: Salamander Books Ltd.

Weege, F., 1909. Oskische Grabmalerei. Berlin: Georg Reimer.

Weizinger, F. X., 1918. Sammlungen Ludwig Marx-Mainz, Albert Sieck-München.

München.

115

List of Figures

Figure 1: Map of south-eastern Italy. Indicated are the approximate territory boundaries

of the three Iapygian (Apulian) tribes. Also indicated is the place where the Spartans

founded Taras (Taranto). Dotted lines indicate imprecise boundaries (after

www.mapsof.net). 7

Figure 2: Crushed skull and helmet of Soldier no.46 on the ramp of "The King's Grave".

The grave of Pu-abi, Early Dynastic III from Ur. As can be seen, this bronze helmet is

fairly simple; it consists of only a semicircular globe (© Trustees of the British Museum).

9

Figure 3: A typical Corinthian helmet, as can be seen, except for the eye and mouth

opening everything is protected, even the ears haven’t got an opening. From the sanctuary

of Zeus at Dodona (© Trustees of the British Museum). 9

Figure 4: An early version of the Corinthian helmet of unknown provenance. Note that

the nose guard is missing (© Trustees of the British Museum). 11

Figure 5: A Corinthian helmet of the ‘sharp edge’ type, found in Corinth, note the sharp

edge between the face and the top of the helmet(© Trustees of the British Museum). 11

Figure 6: A helmet of the ‘Italic’ Corinthian type, note the difference in brow ridge with

the helmet of fig. 6. Found in Ruvo di Puglia (© Trustees of the British Museum). 12

Figure 7: An early version of a Type A Apulo-Corinthian helmet, provenance unknown,

ex private collection in Switzerland. Note the difference in the neck guard and eye

openings (Pflug 1988, 100). 12

Figure 8: A38, where the riveted bridge did not prevent the deformation of the helmet

(Hermann Historica auctions, Munich). 13

Figure 9: A typical Type B helmet, note the sharp angle the neck guard makes and the

ring on top of it. Provenance unknown, ex Guttmann-collection (Hermann Historica

auctions, Munich). 14

Figure 10: A typical Type B helmet, note the sharp angle the neck guard makes and the

ring on top of it. Provenance unknown, ex Guttmann-collection (Hermann Historica


116

Figure 11: A type C helmet, it’s form is resembling a Type B helmet, note the closed

cheeks. Provenance unknown, ex Guttmann-collection (Hermann Historica auctions,

Munich). 15

Figure 12: A Type D helmet, it’s very clear here that the nose is not raised anymore.

Provenance unknown, ex Guttmann-collection (www.christies.com). 15

Figure 13: Type E helmet with inscribed eyes and nose. Note the holes in the skull roof

where the crest fixtures were once. provenance unknown (Hermann Historica auctions,

Munich). 16

Figure 14: A wealthily decorated Type E helmet with sculpted nose and inlaid eyes.

Tomb 45, Ruvo di Puglia according to Montanaro 2007, 347 (Bottini 1988, 114). 16

Figure 15: Italian Corinthian helmet from Ruvo del Monte, Tomb 147 (Bottini 1993,

113). 18

Figure 16: Intermediate helmet from Braida di Vaglio, Tomb 107 (Bottini and Setari

2003, Tav. XXI). 18

Figure 17: Intermediate helmet from Braida di Vaglio, Tomb 107 (Bottini and Setari

2003, Tav. XXIII). 18

Figure 18: Intermediate or Apulo-Corinthian helmet (A39), find spot unknown. Note the

green rectangles on top, which indicate that this helmet had crest holders like those of fig.

15 and 16. (Hermann Historica auctions, Munich). 18

Figure 19: Apulo-Corinthian helmet (A03), from a tomb at Miglionico (Pflug 1988, 99)

18

Figure 20: Apulo-Corinthian helmet (A34), from tomb 108 (Bottini and Setari 2003, Tav.

XXIV).18

Figure 21: A13. The two feather supports are still intact, only the main crest holder is

lost. Provenance unknown (Adam, 1984, 118).19

Figure 22: A13. The two feather supports are still intact, only the main crest holder is

lost. Provenance unknown (Adam, 1984, 118). 19

Figure 23: A16. Both feather supports are broken, as is the crest holder, but the basis of

all three are still visible, provenance is unknown (Von Hase 1982, 99 & 100). 19

117

Figure 24: A16. Both feather supports are broken, as is the crest holder, but the basis of

all three are still visible, provenance is unknown (Von Hase 1982, 99 & 100). 19

Figure 25: A40. Crest holder is broken off, no sign of feather supports, provenance

unknown (The Metropolitan Museum of Art) 20

Figure 26: A40. Crest holder is broken off, no sign of feather supports, provenance

unknown (The Metropolitan Museum of Art) 20

Figure 27: A45. Crest holder is broken off, also no sign of feather supports, provenance

unknown (www.artfact.com) 20

Figure 28: Note the leaf shaped decoration at the eyecorners which is not seen in the other

helmets, just as the crest holder placed in a way that the crest itself would be transverse.

Found in Syracuse (Bottini et al. 1988, 420). 21

Figure 29: A01. A deformed helmet, with a broken off crest holder. Found at Melfi in the

Chiucchiari necropolis in Tomb A (Bloesch 1976, 86). 22

Figure 30: A36. The style in which the boards are made can be seen here very good.

Unknown provenance (www.christies.com). 22

Figure 31: A32. Note the snapped crestholder which already was repaired while it was

still in use, and apparently snapped again. Unknown provenance (Hermann Historica


Figure 32: Close-up of a vase-painting by the Darius painter (dated between 340 and 330

B.C.) which was found in Canosa. Not the crest holders of the two helmets that are curled

instead of resembling a two pronged (www.sas.upenn.edu). 24

Figure 33: A38, one of the two Type A helmets in this group with a riveted bridge.

Provenance unknown (Hermann Historica auctions, Munich). 24

Figure 34: B25, the other Type A helmet with the modification. Note that in both helmets

the riveted bridge is not intact anymore. The provenance of this one is also unknown

(Münzen und Medaillen AG 1975, 59). 24

Figure 35: B34, note that the brow ridges in this helmet still come together and point

downwards until the nose guard as in A38 and B25. In other helmets the two brow ridges

will come together at the beginning of the nose guard and forming a kind of V in the

118

middle, whereas in this helmet it is more of an Y. Provenance unknown, (Hermann

Historica auctions, Munich). 25

Figure 36: B05, This helmet has been decorated with a prancing horse on each cheek, and

has both of its feather holders and the crest holder. Note the V shaped browridge near the

nose guard. It was found at Lavello in tomb 56 (www.joinitaly.com).25

Figure 37: B43, Decorated with at least one boar. Unfortunately the nose guard has been

broken off. Provenance unknown (L’Arab 1996, 758). 25

Figure 38: B41, which is decorated with two charging boars. Both feather supports and

the crest holder have broken off and the helmet has a hole in its side. Provenance

Unknown (Detroit Institute of Arts Museum). 25

Figure 39: B33, the feather supports are broken off, but the rest of the helmet is complete,

This helmet and B02 are almost identical, except for the fact that this one has one bridge

and B02 has two bridges. Provenance unknown (Metropolitan Museum of Art). 26

Figure 40: B02, has been decorated with two charging boars. The two grey areas on its

right cheek are modern restorations. Found at Melfi-Chiuchiari in tomb F (Bottini 1988,

131). 26

Figure 41: B36, is also decorated with two charging boars, but has, unlike most other

helmets of this group, oval eyeholes instead of semicircular ones. A38, B04 and C12 also

have oval eyes. Unknown provenance (Hermann Historica auctions, Munich). 26

Figure 42: B04, the crest holder and one of the feather supports have been broken off. It

is also decorated with two charging boars. Found at Melfi-Leonessa tomb 7 (Bottini

1988, 111). 26

Figure 43: B37 is decorated with two charging boars and has two feather supports and a

crest holder. It also has a hole in the middle of its brow ridge, the function of this hole is

unknown. Provenance unknown (Hermann Historica auctions, Munich). 27

Figure 44: B40. The top of the crest holder has been broken off, just as the two feather

supports. Also this helmet is laterally compressed. Provenance unknown (Hermann

Historica auctions, Munich). 27

Figure 45: C12. Although this helmet is of Type C it still belongs to this group, the form

of the nose guard and the brow and forehead ridges are the same, only the eyeholes are

smaller and the cheeks are completely fused. Also the crest holder is different. It is

119

decorated with a lion and a dog on its left cheek and a warrior on a horse on its right

cheek. Said to be from Taranto (May 1968, fig. 31). 27

Figure 46: C30 is almost similar in appearance as C12 only the crest holder is of the

normal type and the decorations are not determinable. The function of the two

protuberances on its cheeks is unknown Provenance unknown (Hermann Historica


Figure 47: C31 looks more like the Type B helmets of the group, since the other Type C

helmets of this group have small eyes and this helmet has eyes that are somewhat bigger.

Provenance Unknown (Hermann Historica auctions, Munich). 28

Figure 48: B39 probably never had feather supports, although it could be that they were

removed with their whole base, leaving behind no evidence of them ever being there.

Provenance unknown (Seattle Art Museum). 28

Figure 49: B39 probably never had feather supports, although it could be that they were

removed with their whole base, leaving behind no evidence of them ever being there.

Provenance unknown (Seattle Art Museum). 28

Figure 50: B12. The top of the crest holder has broken off. Also seems to be undecorated,

just as the other two helmets in this group. Found in Friuli (Von Lipperheide 1896, 70).

29

Figure 51: B23. Both feather supports and the crest holder are still intact. Note that the

crest holder has been bent. Undecorated. Provenance unknown (Comstock and Vermeule

1971, 495). 29

Figure 52: B16. The nose guard is broken off, just as the two feather supports and the

crestholder, which could be taken off, is lost. Provenance unknown (Pirovano 1985, 50).

30

Figure 53: B21. The end of the nose guard has been broken off, and the crest holder has

been made to mount the crest transverse. Provenance unknown (Jubelparkmuseum

Brussel). 30

Figure 54: B22. The crest holder and a feather support have been broken off, and it has

been found at Ruvo di Puglia in a tomb known as ‘Tomba a sarcofago rinvenuta in Piazza

G. Matteotti, and Montanaro has given it the number 2 (Montanaro 2007, 235). 30

120

Figure 55: B30. Not much is known about this helmet, this is the only photo, on which

cannot be seen if there are any lion decorations. What we can see is that the crestholder

has been twisted. Provenance unknown (www.sas.upenn.edu). 30

Figure 56: C33. This helmet does not seem to have had any feather supports. Provenance

unknown (Museum zu Allerheiligen). 31

Figure 57: C33. This helmet does not seem to have had any feather supports. Provenance

unknown (Museum zu Allerheiligen). 31

Figure 58: C32. One of two ‘early’ helmets, where especially the brow ridges are not as

finely made as in the other helmets of the group. Also the eyes are places higher than in

later examples. Its left cheek is decorated with a charging bull and its right cheek has a

lion on it. The back of the helmet is decorated with two dolphins. Provenance unknown

(Phoenix Ancient Art). 32

Figure 59: C32. One of two ‘early’ helmets, where especially the brow ridges are not as

finely made as in the other helmets of the group. Also the eyes are places higher than in

later examples. Its left cheek is decorated with a charging bull and its right cheek has a

lion on it. The back of the helmet is decorated with two dolphins. Provenance unknown

(Phoenix Ancient Art). 32

Figure 60: C07. The other ‘early’ helmet, the eyeholes are already lower but there are still

other early characteristics, the long nose guard and the round eyes for example, which, as

we will see later, will become less long and the eyeholes will become more oval. It has

been decorated on its cheeks with two charging bulls and on the back of the helmet are

two dolphins and a shell. Found at Rutigliano in tomb 11 (thierry.jamard.over-blog.com).

32

Figure 61: C16. The eyeholes of this helmet are still round, but the brow ridge is arealdy

more finely made and the ends curve more upwards, in contrast with the brow ridges of

C07 and C32. Good to see here is that the forehead ridge and the ridge on the back of the

helmet are one fluid line with the double row of dots above it. Provenance unknown

(Weizinger 1918, Tafel 7). 33

Figure 62: C03. The eyeholes of this helmet are already not round anymore and the nose

guard is also shorter. Its left cheek is decorated with a charging bull and its right is

decorated with a charging boar. The back of the helmet has been decorated with two sea

serpents. Found at Canosa (www.sas.upenn.edu). 33

121

Figure 63: C23. The eyeholes are almond shaped and both cheeks are decorated with two

sphinxes. The back of the helmet is decorated with two reclining men with between them

a kantharos. Provenance unknown (http://theancientworld.tumblr.com). 33

Figure 64: C13. The nose guard of this helmet has broken off so that now it is possible to

see how the two cheek pieces are separated underneath the nose guard, as can be seen,

under the nose guard the two cheeks are not fused together. It has been decorated with

two boars. Found at Capua (Hoffmann 1961, Taf. XXXVII). 33

Figure 65: C04. The eyeholes are the smallest of the whole group but other than that the

rest of the characteristics are present. The left cheek is decorated with a bull, the right one

is decorated with a lion. Found at Canosa (L’Arab 1996, 688). 34

Figure 66: C21. Provenance unknown (Galerie Günther Puhze 1981, Taf. 33). 34

Figure 67: C22. Note the unusual crouching position of the boars and the long brow

ridge. Found at Ginosa in Tomb 13-01-1935 (Dell'Aglio and Lippolis 1992, 162). 34

Figure 68: C25. Note the similarities between this helmet and the previous two. The only

differences are that this one has flower decorations above the boars and on its forehead

and that this is the only helmet of the group that still has its crest holder. Provenance

unknown (Born 1993, Beispiel XIII) & (www.sas.upenn.edu). 35

Figure 69: C25. Note the similarities between this helmet and the previous two. The only

differences are that this one has flower decorations above the boars and on its forehead

and that this is the only helmet of the group that still has its crest holder. Provenance

unknown (Born 1993, Beispiel XIII) & (www.sas.upenn.edu). 35

Figure 70: A14. This helmet belongs to Type A according to Bottini (Bottini 1988, 134),

but he only knew it from fig. 69. Since then it has been restored and when we look at the

semi circular eyeholes and the long brow ridge, I can say with some confidence that this

is actually a Type C helmet where the connection between the two cheeks had been

destroyed. Provenance unknown (Pirovano 1985, 52) &

(http://www.lombardiabeniculturali.it). 35

Figure 71: A14. This helmet belongs to Type A according to Bottini (Bottini 1988, 134),

but he only knew it from fig. 69. Since then it has been restored and when we look at the

semi circular eyeholes and the long brow ridge, I can say with some confidence that this

is actually a Type C helmet where the connection between the two cheeks had been

122

destroyed. Provenance unknown (Pirovano 1985, 52) &

(http://www.lombardiabeniculturali.it). 35

Figure 72: 72: C24. Provenance unknown (www.sas.upenn.edu). 36

Figure 73: C29. Provenance unknown. Note the similarities between this helmet and C24.

Whereas C24 has both prongs of the crest holder, C29 has only one left

(www.sas.upenn.edu). 36

Figure 74: C29. Provenance unknown. Note the similarities between this helmet and C24.

Whereas C24 has both prongs of the crest holder, C29 has only one left

(www.sas.upenn.edu). 36

Figure 75: D01. Found in Serra di Vaglio, seems to have had a crest holder (Bertarelli

1962, 65). 37

Figure 76: D04. This helmet has two opposing boars as decoration, but because of the bad

photographs we cannot see in which style these boars are inscribed. Provenance unknown

(http://www.uq.edu.au). 37

Figure 77: D07. This helmet has the boars inscribed in the same style as D08. Provenance

unknown (Sotheby's 2001, 60). 38

Figure 78: D08. Provenance unknown (Hermann Historica auctions, Munich). 38

Figure 79: D02 is said to be found at Ponte Cucchiaio (Pesce 1936, 436) & (Paddock

1993, 90), but where they have this information from is not known to me. The helmet has

no crest anymore and never had feather supports (Bottini 1988, 120). 38

Figure 80: D05. Provenance unknown, note that the two prongs of the crest holder have

been bent (http://www.christies.com). 38

Figure 81: E02. Found at Cairano in tomb XVI. The crest holder has been removed, since

there are only two holes left on top of the helmet (Modesti 1980, Tav. 92). 39

Figure 82: E02. Found at Cairano in tomb XVI. The crest holder has been removed, since

there are only two holes left on top of the helmet (Modesti 1980, Tav. 92). 39

Figure 83: E03. Found at Vulci. The crest holder has been broken off (© Trustees of the

British Museum) & (Bottini 1988, 121). 39

Figure 84: E03. Found at Vulci. The crest holder has been broken off (© Trustees of the

British Museum) & (Bottini 1988, 121). 39

123

Figure 85: E10. Provenance unknown, the boars are in the same style as those of Group 1,

D07 and D08 (© Trustees of the British Museum). 40

Figure 86: E12. Provenance unknown, has been compressed laterally and has two holes

near the nose bridge. Where these holes severed for is unknown (Hermann Historica


Figure 87: E09. Perhaps from Ruvo di Puglia, since it is housed in a museum with only

finds from that city (http://www.techvision.it). 40

Figure 88: E11. Provenance unknown (http://www.christies.com). 40

Figure 89: Spreading of the Apulo-Corinthian helmets with an exact find spot (including

the 4 that are uncertain). The one with an arrow is B14 which was found in Athens (after

www.mapsof.net). 42

Figure 90: Map showing the spreading of Type A helmets (after www.mapsof.net). 43

Figure 91: Map showing the spreading of type B helmets. The helmet C12 from Group 1

has been included in Fig. 92 since it is a Type C helmet (after www.mapsof.net). 44

Figure 92: Map showing the spreading of Type C helmets. The one found at Taranto is

C12 from Type B’s Group 1 (after www.mapsof.net). 45

Figure 93: Map showing the spreading of Type D helmets (after www.mapsof.net). 46

Figure 94: Map showing the spreading of Type E helmets (after www.mapsof.net). 47

Figure 95: Map showing the spreading of the unknown Type helmet (after

www.mapsof.net). 47

Figure 96: Several views of Tomb A (Pesce 1936, 429). 49

Figure 97: Reconstruction of the inside of Tomb A. note the wealth of this tomb with

pottery stacked upon each other and almost no space left for the diseased (Pesce 1936,

430). 50

Figure 98: From left to right: Apulo-Corinthian helmet, lekythos and a crater. The Apulo-

Corinthian helmet is probably incomplete because of the tufa slab which was broken

when the tomb was discovered (Pesce 1936, 436, 432 & 431). 51

124

Figure 99: From left to right: Apulo-Corinthian helmet, lekythos and a crater. The Apulo-

Corinthian helmet is probably incomplete because of the tufa slab which was broken

when the tomb was discovered (Pesce 1936, 436, 432 & 431). 51

Figure 100: From left to right: Apulo-Corinthian helmet, lekythos and a crater. The

Apulo-Corinthian helmet is probably incomplete because of the tufa slab which was

broken when the tomb was discovered (Pesce 1936, 436, 432 & 431). 51

Figure 101: From left to right: stamnos, oenochoe and a kylix (Pesce 1936, 433 & 434).

51


51


51

Figure 104: From left to right: no-handled cup, skyphos and a krateriskos (Pesce 1936,

434 & 435). 52


434 & 435). 52


434 & 435). 52

Figure 107: A guttus and a lekythos (Pesce 1936, 435). 52

Figure 108: A guttus and a lekythos (Pesce 1936, 435). 52

Figure 109: Views of Tomb XVI. Note that the helmets is located near the left thigh, with

its ‘face’ almost to the north (Modesti 1980, Tav. 60 & 65). 53

Figure 110: Views of Tomb XVI. Note that the helmets is located near the left thigh, with

its ‘face’ almost to the north (Modesti 1980, Tav. 60 & 65). 53

Figure 111: Content of Tomb XVI (Modesti 1980, Tav. 92). 54

Figure 112: Content of Tomb XVI continued (Modesti 1980, Tav. 91). 55

Figure 113: An Corinthian helmet and an Apulo-Corinthian helmet (Dell'Aglio and

Lippolis 1992, 162). 56

125

Figure 114: An Corinthian helmet and an Apulo-Corinthian helmet (Dell'Aglio and

Lippolis 1992, 162). 56

Figure 115: Front and back view of the cuirass and a rear view of the belt (D'Amicis

1994, 334 & 335). 57

Figure 116: Front and back view of the cuirass and a rear view of the belt (D'Amicis

1994, 334 & 335). 57

Figure 117: Front and side views of the greaves and front view of the prometopidia

(D’Amicis 1994, 336 & 338). 57

Figure 118: Front and side views of the greaves and front view of the prometopidia

(D’Amicis 1994, 336 & 338). 57

Figure 119: Front view of the porsternidia (D’Amicis 1994, 338). 57

Figure 120: A lebes, a podanipter and a basin (D’Amicis 1994, 336 & 337). 57



Figure 123: An olpe, a sieve and another sieve (D’Amicis 1994, 337). 58



Figure 126: A mouthpiece, a spatula, an Attic lekythos and an oinochoe (D’Amicis 1994,

337). 58


337). 58


337). 58


337). 58

Figure 130: A kylix and three skyphoi (D’Amicis 1994, 337 & 338). 58



126


Figure 134: A kantharos and a chytra (D’Amicis 1994, 338). 58

Figure 135: A kantharos and a chytra (D’Amicis 1994, 338). 58

Figure 136: A Picenian helmet and a Apulo-Corinthian helmet (Capini and Di Niro 1991,

98) (http://www.archeologicamolise.beniculturali.it). 59

Figure 137: A Picenian helmet and a Apulo-Corinthian helmet (Capini and Di Niro 1991,

98) (http://www.archeologicamolise.beniculturali.it). 59

Figure 138: Stamnos handle (Capini and Di Niro, 1991, 376). 59

Figure 139: An apulo-Corinthian helmet, a bronze stamnos and a bronze statuette of Mars

(Capini and Di Niro 1991, 98 & 383). 60





Figure 142: Most of the tomb content, from left to right, back row first: olla, oinochoe,

Apulo-Corinthian helmet, 3 brocchetta’s, kyathos, calice, brocchetta, askos, 2

brocchetta’s, krateriskos, two-handled bowl, bronze basin, single-handled bowl, kalyx,

iron spearhead and an iron sauroter (Adamesteanu et al. 1971, Tav. LVII). 61

Figure 143: 2 Apulo-Corinthian helmets, A01 and A02 (Bloesch 1976, 86) (Adamesteanu

1974, 182). 62

Figure 144: 2 Apulo-Corinthian helmets, A01 and A02 (Bloesch 1976, 86) (Adamesteanu

1974, 182). 62

Figure 145: Apulo-Corinthian helmets B01 and B02 (Bottini 1988, 130 & 131). 63

Figure 146: Apulo-Corinthian helmets B01 and B02 (Bottini 1988, 130 & 131). 63

Figure 147: Two iron wheel rims, and a bronze shield in the middle, 3 of the 6 greaves to

the right with a belt behind them. In the back ground a stamnos, basins and lebetes

(www.joinitaly.com). 63

Figure 148: An Apulo-Corinthian helmet B04 and an olla (Adamesteanu et al. 1971,

Tav. XLVI). 64

127

Figure 149: An Apulo-Corinthian helmet B04 and an olla (Adamesteanu et al. 1971,

Tav. XLVI). 64

Figure 150: Apulo-Corinthian helmet A03 (Pflug 1988, 99). 64

Figure 151: Apulo-Corintihan helmet C01 and a belt, the four loose objects on the right

are the hooks and eyes to fasten the belt (www.sas.upenn.edu) (Bottini 1993, 190). 65

Figure 152: Apulo-Corintihan helmet C01 and a belt, the four loose objects on the right

are the hooks and eyes to fasten the belt (ww.sas.upenn.edu) (Bottini 1993, 190). 65

Figure 153: A lebes, Attic skyphoi, oletta and a one-handled cup (Bottini 1993, 191). 65

Figure 154: A Campanian crater (Bottini 1993, 192). 66

Figure 155: A bronze ring shaped spiral (Bottini 1993, 190). 66

Figure 156: An Apulo-Corinthian helmet B09 (www.sas.upenn.edu). 67

Figure 157: An apulo-Corinthian helmet and from left to right beginning at the back row:

a brocca, kylix, patera, bowl, brocca, askos, brocca, bowl, olla, oinochoe (Bottini 1988,

113). 67

Figure 158: An apulo-Corinthian helmet and from left to right beginning at the back row:

a brocca, kylix, patera, bowl, brocca, askos, brocca, bowl, olla, oinochoe (Bottini 1988,

113). 67

Figure 159: Metal objects form Tomb 11. From left to right beginning at the upper row:

Apulo-Corinthian helmet, basin, lebes, 2 greaves, basin handles, bronze fragments, sieve,

bronze platework, metal fragments, fragment of a belt, an unidentified object, 2 strigilae,

a fragment of a belt, a belt and a patera (Bottini 1988, 122). 68

Figure 160: Ceramic objects from Tomb 11. From left to right starting at the upper row:

bowl with grease spout, brocca, lebes, crater, oletta, pelike, oinochoe, two-handled cup,

brocca, lekythos, single handled cup, spouted pitcher, brocca, brocca, oinochoe, bowl,

kylix, kylix, kylix, spouted pitcher, two handled cup, one-handled cup, two handled cup,

bowl, askos, bowl, brocca, skyphos, no handled cup, single handled cup, single handled

cup, kylix, kylix (Bottini 1988, 122). 69

Figure 161: Metal finds from Tomb 24. From left to right, starting in the back: lebes,

oinochoe, patera, unknown, lebes, lebes tripod, thymiaterion, unknown, parts of a sword

128

and knifes, kylix, 2 sieves, a patera, 2 greaves a belt, Apulo-Coritnmihan helmet and 2

strigilae as well as bronze fragments of unknown identity (Lo Porto 1976, Tav. CXII). 70

Figure 162: Apulo-Corinthian helmet B22 and a bronze belt (Montanaro 2007, 235 &

227). 71

Figure 163: Apulo-Corinthian helmet B22 and a bronze belt (Montanaro 2007, 235 &

227). 71

Figure 164: A bronze belt and an iron sword. All swords found in tombs with Apulo-

Corinthian helmets were of this crucifix-form type (Montanaro 2007, 227 & 230). 71

Figure 165: A bronze belt and an iron sword. All swords found in tombs with Apulo-

Corinthian helmets were of this crucifix-form type (Montanaro 2007, 227 & 230). 71

Figure 166: Iron cusp and spear points and an iron spearhead and sauroter (Montanaro

2007, 232). 72

Figure 167: Iron cusp and spear points and an iron spearhead and sauroter (Montanaro

2007, 232). 72

Figure 168: Iron cusp and an iron knife (Montanaro 2007, 232). 72

Figure 169: Iron cusp and an iron knife (Montanaro 2007, 232). 72

Figure 170: Bronze lebes and 2 basins (Montanaro 2007, 224 & 225). 72



Figure 173: Bronze handle from a basin, an iron tripod and a bronze tripod (Montanaro

2007, 227, 232, 227). 72


2007, 227, 232, 227). 72


2007, 227, 232, 227). 72

Figure 176: Bronze feet of a tripod and a bronze sieve (Montanaro 2007, 228 & 227). 72

Figure 177: Bronze feet of a tripod and a bronze sieve (Montanaro 2007, 228 & 227). 72

Figure 178: Lead keagra and lead parts of an andiron (Montanaro 2007, 229). 73

129

Figure 179: Lead keagra and lead parts of an andiron (Montanaro 2007, 229). 73

Figure 180: Attic crater with a depiction of the departure of a warrior, an Attic lekythos

and a kylix with eyes (Montanaro 2007, 234). 73





Figure 183: Attic kylix with eyes, a black varnished Attic kylix and a lanceolate lead

object (perhaps part of the lead keagra) (Montanaro 2007, 234 & 229). 73





Figure 186: Apulo-Corinthian helmet E01 (De Juliis 1983, Tav. 81),

(www.atlantedellarteitaliana.it) & (De Juliis 1983, Tav. 81). 74





Figure 189: From the upper left corner to the lower right corner: panathenaican amphora,

protolucanian krater, panathenaican amphora, attic askos, attic skyphos, protolucanian

skyphos, protolucanian askos, protolucanian oinochoe, Apulo-Corinthian helmet E01 and

a protolucanian kantharos (Montanaro 2007, 341). 74

Figure 190: Apulo-Corinthian helmet A06 and a partial Corinthian helmet. Note the

unusual noseguard of A06 (Montanaro 2007, 546 & 545). 75

Figure 191: Apulo-Corinthian helmet A06 and a partial Corinthian helmet. Note the

unusual noseguard of A06 (Montanaro 2007, 546 & 545). 75

Figure 192: A greave for the right leg and two prosternidia (Montanaro 2007, 546 &

544). 75

130

Figure 193: A greave for the right leg and two prosternidia (Montanaro 2007, 546 &

544). 75

Figure 194: Apulo-Corinthian helmet B47 (Montanaro 2007, 632). 76

Figure 195: Apulo-Corinthian helmet B47 (Montanaro 2007, 632). 76

Figure 196: 3 Attic kylixes (Montanaro 2007, 623, 625 & 626). 76



Figure 199: An Attic bell krater and two Attic amphorae (Montanaro 2007, 627, 632 &

633). 77


633). 77


633). 77

Figure 202: 2 Attic oinochoe’s and an Attic askos (Montanaro 2007, 621, 631, 630). 77



Figure 205: An Attic kantharos, an Attic rhyton and a protolucanian oinochoe

(Montanaro 2007, 622, 634 & 631). 77


(Montanaro 2007, 622, 634 & 631). 77


(Montanaro 2007, 622, 634 & 631). 77

Figure 208: A protoapulian krater and two panathenaican amphorae (Montanaro 2007,

612, 618 & 620). 78


612, 618 & 620). 78


612, 618 & 620). 78

131

Figure 211: A panathenaican amphora and a protolucanian hydria (Montanaro 2007, 629

& 615). 78

Figure 212: A panathenaican amphora and a protolucanian hydria (Montanaro 2007, 629

& 615). 78

Figure 213: A golden necklace with ramhead ends and a golden fibula (Montanaro 2007,

627 & 628). 78

Figure 214: A golden necklace with ramhead ends and a golden fibula (Montanaro 2007,

627 & 628). 78

Figure 215: Apulo-Corinthian helmet A04 and its associated cuirass (www.sheshen-

eceni.co.uk), (© Trustees of the British Museum). 79

Figure 216: Apulo-Corinthian helmet A04 and its associated cuirass (www.sheshen-

eceni.co.uk), (© Trustees of the British Museum). 79

Figure 217: Apulo-Corinthian helmet A08 (Fazia 1984, 25). 79

Figure 218: Tomb content of Tomb 2, without the sword. From left to right, starting

above: brocca, Apulo-Corinthian helmet C02, stamnos, brocca, no-handled-cup, single-

handled cup, crater, nestoris, kylix and another kylix (Bottini 1993, 117). 80

Figure 219: Excavation map of Tomb 108. Note that the belts lay flat and loose on the

floor, suggesting that when the man was buried he didn’t wear them, but that they were

placed below or on top of him (Bottini and Setari 2003, 76). 81

Figure 220: Apulo-Corinthian helmet A34 (Bottini and Setari 2003, Tav. XXIV). 82

Figure 221: Apulo-Corinthian helmet A34 (Bottini and Setari 2003, Tav. XXIV). 82

Figure 222: Reconstruction of A34 (Bottini and Setari 2003, 78). 82

Figure 223: Bronze belts. The big one was usually worn around the waist while the

thinner one has been determined as being a strap where the sword was attached to (Bottini

and Setari 2003, Tav. XXIX & XXX). 83

Figure 224: Bronze belts. The big one was usually worn around the waist while the

thinner one has been determined as being a strap where the sword was attached to (Bottini

and Setari 2003, Tav. XXIX & XXX). 83

132

Figure 225: The iron blade of a crucifix-form sword, a no-handled cup and an oletta

(Bottini and Setari 2003, 79 & 77). 83





Figure 228: All that remains of an unknown tomb: Apulo-Corinthian helmet A37 and two

greaves (http://www.hermann-historica.de). 85

Figure 229: Apulo-Corinthian helmet C23 and 2 accompanying greaves

(http://www.flickr.com/photos/taimoo/2966023440/). 85

Figure 230: The remains of an unknown tomb, an Apulo-Corinthian helmet C25, a triple-

disc cuirass plate, a belt and two greaves (www.sas.upenn.edu). 86

Figure 231: Apulo-Corinthian helmet C25, both halves of a rectangular anatomical

cuirass and two greaves (www.sas.upenn.edu). 87

Figure 232: Apulo-Corinthian helmet D05, a long anatomical cuirass and two greaves

(www.artfact.com), (Eisenberg 2004, 7). 87

Figure 233: Apulo-Corinthian helmet D05, a long anatomical cuirass and two greaves

(www.artfact.com), (Eisenberg 2004, 7). 87

Figure 234: Apulo-Corinthian helmet E08 (www.christies.com). 88

Figure 235: Apulo-Corinthian helmet U02 and two greaves (Eisenberg 2004, 6). 89

Figure 236: Apulo-Corinthian helmet U02 and two greaves (Eisenberg 2004, 6). 89

Figure 237: Iron utensils, from upper left corner to the lower right corner: 4-pronged

toaster, knife, lance head, gripper, strigilis and a spearhead (Eisenberg 2004, 6). 89

Figure 238: A Roman soldier wearing an Apulo-Corinthian helmet with cheek parts, one

of many examples of wrong portrayal of this type of helmet (Warry 1980). 90

Figure 239: A correct reconstruction of the Apulo-Corinthian helmet worn by a soldier,

although the helmet is correct, the sword is a falcata, while the sword used by the

Apulians is of the crucifix-form (Fig. 165). Also the long greaves were not very popular

133

in Apulia and we know of only 1 occasion where a shield and Apulo-Corinthian helmet

were found together (Connolly 1998, 88). 91

Figure 240: Patroklos’funeral by the Darius painter, for a close up see Fig. 32

(www.hellados.ru). 94

Figure 241: Graph showing the distribution over time of the Apulo-Corinthian helmets.

The dating of the tomb at Larino is very broad and might be 400-350, as it is the only

tomb dated this broad and also being the most recent dated one of the 25 tombs which

have been dated. 97

Figure 242: Graph showing the number of Apulo-Corinthian helmets trough time. Note

that because in the period of 475 until 425 B.C. there have been found much lesser

helmets two peaks arise on both sides of this period. 98

The Apulo-Corinthian Helmet: A south-east Italic helmet type and what it can say about the social...

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