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The famous 7th - one C helmet from Sutton Hoo in England may have been craft in southerly Scandinavia , a new find suggest .
The thought come from the find in Denmark of a bronze metalworking dice or stamp that render a warrior on hogback .
Archaeologists say the stamp with a motif of a warrior riding a horse from Denmark is remarkably similar to the horse and rider motifs stamped on the Sutton Hoo helmet in England.
Examinations show the design on the orthogonal stamp is remarkably similar to the gymnastic horse - and - rider motifs stamped into the metallic element of the ceremonial helmet , which was unearthed in 1939 from anAnglo - Saxon ship interment at Sutton Hooin the east of England .
Similar motifs have been found on helmet from Sweden and jewellery from southerly Germany , and student have evoke that the Sutton Hoo helmet may have been an heirloom or diplomatic gift from those regions .
The latest discovery confirms that the motive of a cavalry and riding warrior was indeed far-flung throughout Northern Europe at that time .
National Museum of Denmark curator Peter Pentz and the bronze stamp, which was found on the Danish island of Taasinge in 2023.
" It ’s definitely connected to the aristocracy , " archeologist and prehistorianPeter Pentz , a curator at the National Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen , told Live Science . He noted that nobles from these times and blank space were expected to ridehorsesinto battle .
The stamp was found on the Danish island of Taasinge around two years ago , amid the ruination of a alloy shop , and it is now on showing in the museum .
Related : Photos : Snapshots of secret Sutton Hoo burial dig revealed
The helmet was pieced together in 1939 from fragments found at the Sutton Hoo burial site in the east of England and is now an icon of Anglo-Saxon culture.
Horseback-riding warrior
The Sutton Hoo helmet is a curious mix ofNorthern European and Romanist styles . It was rebuilt from one C of fragments find at the Sutton Hoo site , which also yielded ornate weighty trade good — include melodious instruments , jewelry , tableware , weapons and armour — from a entombment bedchamber build on the deck of the inhume ship .
The helmet and its classifiable face mask are now icons of the Anglo - Saxon refinement , which was plant in easterly Britain during the early medieval period by migrants from what are now the coasts of Germany and Denmark .
Although Anglo - Saxon Smith were certainly capable of crafting such a helmet , the new discovery add strength to the idea that it originated abroad , Pentz said . The horse - and - warrior motifs on the Sutton Hoo helmet are not identical to the ones on the stamp , but they show many similarities , admit their depictions of the pinna , mane , nose and tails of the horses , he sound out . He add that the stamp is also precisely the same size of it as the sawhorse - and - riding - warrior motifsstamped onto metal panelson the Sutton Hoo helmet , which is now housed atthe British Museum in London .
Anglo-Saxon England
Experts in England are excited about this novel support for the idea that the iconic Anglo - Saxon helmet may have originated overseas . The similarity between the motifs on the revenue stamp and the helmet " tot up to the mother wit of quite how complect were the military elites of this time period in Frederick North - western Europe,“Helen Gittos , a medieval historiographer at the University of Oxford , told Live Science in an email .
Gittos was not involve in the discovery at Taasinge , but she recently published a paper that suggested the helmet and other finds betoken someAnglo - Saxon nobles fought as mercenariesfor theByzantine Empire .
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University of Chester archaeologistHoward Williams , who was also not involved , said the intention on the stamp is the closest parallel yet establish to the knight - and - warrior motive on the Sutton Hoo helmet .
It now seems likely that the helmet was made in southern Scandinavia in the recent sixth or other seventh 100 , or that it had been heavily influenced by the artistic style of that area , Williams state Live Science in an e-mail .
" The motifs from Taasinge and Sutton Hoo are similar but not identical , reflecting a democratic pattern used on helmet across a wide region , " he said .
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