Roman mask found on Gotland handed in after inheritance

[Spoonist]

This made the news here in sweden recently. Thought it might interest someone.
Please note that the island of Gotland is in the baltics which is far away from Roman borders.

http://scienceblogs.com/aardvarchaeolog ... _found.php

A citizen in the island province of Gotland has submitted a Roman cavalry-officer's helmet mask to the County Archaeologist. It is said to have been in the family for some time.

This is supposed to be an image of the mask.


In Swedish news there was some more details.
The mask had been part of an inheritance, so it had passed down two generations before being handed over to the governement.
According to the person handing it in it had been found with a metal detector.
It will be part of a later exhibit at the Museum of Gotland who already have plenty of great stuff.

[Thanas]

This is fantastic news.

[Molyneux]

Well, that's cool! Where does the mask go, though? I mean, is the cavalry officer supposed to actually wear it attached to their helmet like a blast shield from Star Wars - and if so, how did they see?

[Shawn]

I wonder if it was a war trophy taken by someone in an area closer to the borders of the Empire?

[Spoonist]

I wonder if it was a war trophy taken by someone in an area closer to the borders of the Empire?

At the time, it seems that scandinavian culture (and most of europe) dictates that such trophies would be sacrificed. See the Danish bogs for this. If it had been sacrificed it would have been smashed before sending it to the gods - that is not evident in the picture. Instead it seems like ordinary aging.

More likely to be the reverse, ie trade, an ally or someone who took roman service.