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+--- Thread: Bronze helmets on Albenga shipwreck? (/showthread.php?tid=1415)
Bronze helmets on Albenga shipwreck? - richsc - 10-27-2004
While looking through the Abyssoblu database, I noticed this reference to a cache of bronze shipboard helmets: are there any images of these around? Type?<br>
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The Albenga ship was one of the largest Roman trade vessel wrecks known, about 40m long.<br>
It belonged to the type called myriaphora, meaning that the ship could carry more than 10000 amphorae (about 450 tons).<br>
The cargo was composed mostly of wine amphorae, Dressel 1 type (above). The ship sunk at the beginning of the first Century B.C., probably in consequence of adverse weather conditions: the bow still heads to the coast. The wreck lies at a depth of -42m, on a muddy bottom off Albenga.<br>
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.Among the most interesting findings there are some bronze helmets possibly used by the crew as a defense against pirates attacks, some fragments of the hull with its lead cover and some lead anchor stocks.<br>
Part of the cargo was recovered and its disposition rebuilt (right) by Professor Nino Lamboglia in the Naval Museum in Albenga.<br>
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. Albenga helmets <p>Legio XX<br>
Caput dolet, pedes fetent, Iesum non amo<br>
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Re: Bronze helmets on Albenga shipwreck? - Anonymous - 10-30-2004
Interesting, michael feugere, a french archaeologist, has recorded at least a dozen such wrecks containing military kit, mostly dating around the first century B.C, so this find is not too surprising, but simply adds to the evidence that arms and armour could be, and often was carried by civillians.<br>
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The Porto Novo find instantly springs to mind, a very interesting sword scabbard which was found in a shipwreck along with two of the sword belts's plates. Again the hypotheses was that this probably belonged to either the crew or an armed passenger. I think it was legal that travellers were allowed weapons on their journeys. At least one of the civillian casualties found at the Nolan gate at Pompei had a dagger with him.<br>
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I think that the helmets in question will inevitably be the bog standard montefortino patterns. These as i understand were often churned out in civillian workshops, like the mainz type swords, and evidently must have had a market which was not exclusively military<br>
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Re: Bronze helmets on Albenga shipwreck? - John M McDermott - 11-01-2004
Where might one go to find further info on the Porto Novo find?<br>
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Re: Bronze helmets on Albenga shipwreck? - Anonymous - 11-06-2004
The journal of Roman archaeoloy volume, err 11 i think, printed in 1998. written by micheal feugere amoung others, (in French!) <p></p><i></i>