Recent Cases of Unprovenanced Armour in the Antiquities Market and its Clients

Abstract

Hitherto, fewer than 250 finds of bronze body armour of various shapes and types are known from the European Bronze Age – a rather low number compared with the several thousands of contemporaneous swords, axes and daggers. Of these, roughly 30 cuirasses, 50 Western European helmets and 70 Eastern European helmets are securely dated to the Bronze Age, whilst some of the c. 75 greaves found to date are attributed to the Early Iron Age. Unfortunately, few of these finds are held by museums. This article focuses on two topics: Firstly, we discuss a case of four pieces of horse armour, together with two helmets, identified from one of the confiscated archives belonging to a previously »reputable« antiquities dealer. The horse armour was not associated with the helmets before this study and all six objects still reside at the Getty Museum. Secondly, we will discuss 13 further finds of Bronze Age helmets and a pair of greaves, mostly unpublished, and we present an update of current whereabouts of other Bronze Age helmets on the market. Based on the information available to us, it is important to point out that none of the newly presented finds derives from an official archaeological excavation.