An ancient Celtic helmet—the first of its kind to be found in Poland—was recently unearthed by an archaeological team at the Mazovia region’s Łysa Góra site. Over the course of a year, the team—hailing from the State Archaeological Museum and Warsaw University—also discovered hundreds of other artifacts related to farming, logging, and animal husbandry.
Celtic Helmet Dates Back 2,400 Years
When the ancient Celtic helmet was discovered, archaeologists first assumed “it might be some kind of ancient vessel, because bronze vessels are much more common on Polish soil than helmets,” explained excavation leader Bartłomiej Kaczyński to Science in Poland. “It was only during the discovery of one of the characteristic elements, the so-called neck piece—an arched plate near the edge—that Dr. Andrzej Maciałowicz of the UW Department of Archaeology pointed out that it could be a helmet.”
Kaczyński continued, “The helmet is an example of the most advanced Celtic metallurgy and it seems that it may have been in the possession of a Celt. It was probably not given to this population, which existed at that time on the outskirts of any ancient world. The discovery therefore changes the previous perception of the scale of contacts with the Celtic world in the earlier pre-Roman period.”
Celtic Helmet Likely Linked to La Tène Culture
Archaeologists believe the ancient Celtic helmet is linked to the La Tène culture. This was a group of European Celts who lived during the Late Iron Age. La Tène originated during the 5th century BCE when Celts first came into contact with Etruscan and Greek civilizations. The culture existed for hundreds of years, spreading across Europe and encompassing various local differences. The La Tène style of Celtic art typically features curving decorative lines, especially in metalwork.
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The Long History of the Łysa Góra Site
Łysa Góra, where the Celtic helmet was unearthed, translates to “Bald Mountain” in Polish. At 1,952 feet, it is the second-tallest mountain in Poland‘s Mazovia region. In prehistoric Poland, it was likely a sacred site with a pagan temple. Łysa Góra is also at the center of a local legend about witches’ sabbaths.
Today, the archaeological site contains the ruins of a pagan wall from the 9th century and a Benedictine monastery that originated in the 11th century. The hill is also home to the 20th-century Święty Krzyż TV Tower, which is Poland’s tallest free-standing TV tower. Archaeological investigations at Łysa Góra have yielded La Tène artifacts since the 1970s, most of which were small fragments.
