Folia archeologica 54.

Kocsis László - Mráv Zsolt: Egy késő római sisak arcvédő lemezének töredéke Dunafalváról (Bács-Kiskun megye)

EGY KÉSŐ RÓMAI SISAK ARCVÉDÖ LEMEZÉNEK TÖREDÉKE DUNAFAI .VÁRÓI. 203 FRAGMENT OF THE CHEEK PIECE OF A LATE ROMAN HELMET FROM DUNAFALVA (COUNTY BÁCS-KISKUN, HUNGARY) Remarks on the morphology and dating of Intercisa type helmets The fragment of a cheek piece found at Dunafalva enriches the currently known corpus of Late Roman helmets found in the Pannonian provinces. The importance of this find is that it was unearthed during an excavation from a well documented stratigraphie context. It was found in front of the Roman harbour fordet at Dunafalva dating from the reign of Valentinian I, from a layer dated to the close of the 4

l

h and the early decades of the 5

l

h century (Trench 3, SE 008). The fort can be assigned to the Verőce type of this military installation. The helmet fragment came to light together with various artefacts discarded as refuse and coins minted under Theodosius I. The iron plate fragment could be identified as the left cheek piece of an Intercisa type helmet, representing a relatively rare variant of Late Roman helmets provided with the traditional U shaped fittings (cheek piece and neck guard). In view of the fragmentary condition of the Dunafalva plate, it is impossible to determine whether it had been part of an infantry helmet with short guard or a cavalry helmet with elongated back-curving cheek piece. The form of the plate and the lack of an ear cut-out would suggest that it comes from a cavalry helmet. The fmclspot of the helmet fragment and its typochronological analysis suggest that the helmet fitted with a cheek piece found at Dunafalva was produced and worn in the period preceding the late 4

,

h century and the first quarter of the 5

t

h century. Translated by Magdalena Seleanu