Roman helmet discovered in Denmark dig « Euro Weekly News

On Saturday, February 8, 2025, parts of an extraordinary find, including the plates from a Roman helmet, were placed on display at the Cultural Museum in Vejle, Denmark.

During the Iron Age, 1,500–2,000 years ago, a Viking chieftain buried enough weapons for a small army in two structures located just northwest of Hedensted, between Vejle and Horsens in Denmark.

Roman helmet and 200 weapons discovered in Danish dig

Alongside the numerous weapons, an incredibly valuable chainmail shirt and other items were buried, indicating that the site was home to a powerful chieftain. The manner in which the war equipment was buried suggests it was an offering to higher powers.

These remarkable finds were made during archaeological excavations at Løsning Søndermark in Hedensted, where the Danish Road Directorate is currently expanding the motorway to three lanes.

The site was first inhabited as far back as the first century A.D. according to a statement made in November 2024 but in the early fifth century, the settlement became the home of a few powerful people .

Incredible find of Roman helmet and other items in Danish archaeological dig

A few months into the excavation, the researchers made an exciting new discovery: Through X-ray imaging, they concluded that two iron plates found onsite were actually parts of a Roman helmet. The palm-sized pieces were once a neck guard and a decorated cheek guard from a crest helmet, a type of headwear used in the Roman Empire around the fourth century.

The site was outside the borders of the Roman Empire, and the researchers think the helmet dates to Denmark’s Late Iron Age. Roman helmets from this period are “exceptionally rare in southern Scandinavia, and there are no direct parallels to this discovery,” according to a spokesperson from the museum.

More than 200 weapons and other more mundane day to day personal items were discovered in what has proven to be a very important and unexpected hoard.