This thesis is concerned with the defensive armour of
the Celtic tribes on the continent of Europe (exclusive of
Iberia and much of Italy) from the 5th to approximately the 1st
century B.C., or to the date of their subjugation to Roman
authority. British helmets, shields and examples of body
armour are, wherever possible, discussed in this context and
their continental analogies noted. The evidence provided by
the arms themselves has been complemented by an examination of
the representations of barbarian weaponry in classical sculpture
and of the descriptions by Greek and Roman writers of battles
with the Celts.The helmets are divided into three main groups; the
first consists of the conical helmets of La Tene I date which
may owe their origin to local Bronze Age types. The second,
which includes the types here labelled Castelrotto and Batina,
dates mainly to the 3rd and 2nd centuries B.C., and the
armourers appear to have adapted Italian helmet types current
during the Celtic invasions of Northern Italy. The third
group is of 1st century B.C. to 1st century A.D. date and
consists of helmets of the Men and Coolus types, the former
found in Southern Prance, the Alps and in Slovenia, and the
latter in Eastern Prance and Rhineland Germany. Some of the
helmets of Agen type may show a number of features which may be
compared to Roman pieces of Haguenau-Weisenau types; other
features, such as the use of enamel are more distinctly Celtic.
The lack of associated finds makes it difficult to date the
Coolus type firmly, but it is important because it is the class
with which the British helmets have most affinity, although each
British example is unique in some respect. Finally horned
helmets are shown to be much rarer than was previously thought,
and it is suggested that some of them were not intended for
the battle-field.The adoption of the shield also appears to result from
the experience of the Celts in Italy and shields are found
North of the Alps only from about 300 B.C. The diversity of
the surviving remains of shields does not allow such a useful
division into types as was possible in the case of helmets,
and the chronological groupings are also less clear-cut. The
British shields, because of their frequent use of elaborate
bronze decoration, are distinct from the continental examples,
but an examination of the structural features of these shields
and of the art styles of their decoration has made possible
their inclusion into the general European framework. The
representations of barbarian shields on Roman auxiliary grave
stelai of the 1st century A.D. show that the long oval shape
seems to have been the most common form of practical shield at
this time. From the 2nd century A. D., however, in North
Britain a new group of shields, more rectangular in shape with
a round central boss, is isolated here for the first time;
the adoption of this type may be due to the influence of both
Roman and Belgic ideas.Three types of body armour are found in Celtic contexts,
namely mail shirts, leather cuirasses and bronze corslets.
Both mail shirts and cuirasses have the same shape and seem to
have been secured by shoulder straps, decorated by some form
of knob. The frequency with which this type of decoration
appears on sculpture and figurines might make it possible to
interpret the small decorated roundels found at the shoulders.Warriors in this light. Because of the use of
perishable materials for the inner linings and crests of
helmets, for shields and for many types of body armour, a
number of features, such as the painted decoration on shields,
can only tentatively be discussed. But the use of leather
was probably much more widespread than the surviving evidence
suggests. It is clear however, from the small number of
helmets and of traces of body armour that the wearing of such
arms was the prerogative of the chieftains and the leaders of
the bands of warriors
