Coiful de tip Chalcidic de la Balș, județul Olt
The Chalcidian Helmet from Balș, Olt County

Summary/Abstract: Discovered almost 16 years ago by accident, the Chalcidian helmet from Balș, Olt County, although known in the scientific circles, has not been properly and completely published so far.The artifact belongs to type II, Thracian group (Pflug), being produced and widely used in Greece, Italy, Macedonia, and Thrace. Through various ways, the helmet was brought to the North-Danubian area, most likely in the arsenal of an aristocrat or a notable warrior who lived sometime in the 4th century BC.The helmet is made of bronze sheet, has an ellipsoidal top, fixed cheek pieces, with the front part serrated and the nose guard short and finished straight. Behind each cheek piece there is a hole, destined most likely to fasten a liner. The helmet is broken at the top, and in a few places the metal shows traces of blows - damaged during discovery, a crack at the front edge of the left cheek piece, and small portions of the lower part of the cheek pieces missing since ancient times. The neck guard is curved outward and has rounded corners. The arches have a wide border. The general state of conservation is good. Metallographic analyzes indicated as source of the raw material the Rudna Glava mining area, in Serbia. Currently the helmet is in the patrimony of the Olt County Museum in Slatina.

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