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J'ouvre ce sujet consacré aux guerriers Britons. En effet on parle souvent des Gaulois mais les Britons niet. Il faut dire qu'avec le peu d'ouvrages accessibles en français et la faiblesse de l'archéologie anglaise difficile d'avoir de la matière. Il serait quand même intéressant de traiter le sujet en parallèle de celui des Gaulois.
Plusieurs typologies de bouterolles britonnes:
http://www.myarmoury.com/talk/download.php?id=3452
Si certains se souvient de cette épée que j'avais montré dans le fil sur l'armement gaulois. Cette épée avait le reste du fourreau en cuir. Elle est datée entre le 3ème et le 2ème siècle av JC:
http://time-lines.co.uk/images/cekticsword.jpg
http://time-lines.co.uk/celtic-weapons-8356-0.html
Le système de fixation étrange, qui ressemble à un diviseur de ceinture, pourrait être une variante de cette fixation:
http://www.vicus.org.uk/images/celticswordbelts.gif
Parmi les épées retrouvées en Angleterre, il y a la magnifique épée de Kirkburn:
http://www.le.ac.uk/ar/stj/kirkburn.jpg
http://www.myarmoury.com/talk/download.php?id=1986
Voici un article du British Museum:
Iron Age, 300-200 BC
From a burial at Kirkburn, East Yorkshire, England
Probably the finest Iron Age sword in Europe.
At this time in the Iron Age (300-200 BC) few people were buried in graves when they died. However, East Yorkshire was an exception and this sword was found in a grave excavated by British Museum archaeologists in 1987. The sword was found in Grave 3. It was buried with a man who was in his late 20s or early 30s when he died. He was an old man; very few Iron Age men lived to be older than 35 to 40. After the dead man was placed in the grave, three spears were thrust into his chest as part of the funeral ritual. Another man, of similar age, was buried in the same small cemetery, but with a chariot or cart.
The iron blade of a sword needed great time and skill to make and the sword as a whole is an incredibly complicated weapon and piece of art. The handle of this sword is unusually elaborate. It is made of thirty-seven different pieces of iron, bronze and horn. After it was assembled, the handle was decorated with red glass. The sword was carried in a scabbard made from iron and bronze. The polished bronze front plate was decorated with a La Tène style scroll pattern, and with red glass studs and insets.
The sword was clearly a valued object. The scabbard had been damaged and was repaired some time after it had been made, which might have been many years before it was placed in the grave with its final owner.
Le fourreau de Cambridgeshire:
http://www.britishmuseum.org/images/ps231764_l.jpg
Iron Age, 120-50 BC
From the River Lark at Isleham, Cambridgeshire, England
Given as a gift to gods
This decorated bronze scabbard once held a long iron sword. It would have created a great visual impression when worn. The sword and the scabbard would have been made by a different master craftperson.
The scabbard is made from two sheets of bronze. A cast mount strengthens the mouth of the scabbard where the sword is put in and taken out. A decorated strip of bronze is soldered down the back. The front of the scabbard is decorated with two La Tène-style patterns, made by engraving the pattern into the metal, and then using a punch to fill the areas so they could be seen more clearly.
Many swords, spears and shields that date to the Bronze and Iron Age have been found when rivers were dredged. It appears that they were deliberately placed in rivers as gifts to gods or spirits. This scabbard and the sword it contained were of great value, but someone thought it was important to present them as a gift to a god or spirit.
L'épée de Wittenham datée du premier siècle avant JC avec un article du site ashmolean.org:
http://www.berkshirehistory.com/archaeo ... _sword.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2367/208 ... 1fec14.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2174/208 ... 4e8220.jpg
http://www.ashmolean.org/ash/britarch/i ... -large.jpg
In 1982, a superb example of an Iron Age sword, in a decorated bronze scabbard, of the so-called 'Hunsbury' type was discovered near the hillfort of Wittenham Clumps in Little Wittenham. It is one of the most elaborate and best preserved of such weapons ever found in the country and probably dates from the mid-first century bc.
The iron sword is a broad example of the ‘La Tene II’ tanged form, with a two and a half inch wide by twenty-eight inches long blade. The tang is only a quarter of its original length, having been broken two inches above the shoulder. The hilt ends in a solid cast-bronze ogival guard decorated with a row of raised dot castings, and following the profile of the scabbard-mouth.
The scabbard consists of two bronze sheets. A decorated front-plate, thirty inches long, rolls over at the edges to grip a plain back-plate, the sheets being fastened at the tip by a solid cast chape. The front-plate has several cast decorative motifs attached to it and the back-plate has an unusual iron suspension loop. An upper decorated panel of repousse work on the front-plate creates a striking appearance, and is complemented by a fine fluted mid-rib flanked on either side by panels of laddering down to the tip. The chape, carrying further incised ornament, adds a further three-quarters of an inch to the over all length. X-Ray photography has shown that the blade of the sword only reaches to the chape constriction and the tip is broken.
La reconstitution d'une épée retrouvée à South Cave datée du premier siècle après JC:
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_sA0GMJLjzis/SybnM ... 0625-1.JPG
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_sA0GMJLjzis/SybnS ... G_0006.JPG
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_sA0GMJLjzis/Sx2Qx ... 060425.JPG
Pour voir toutes les étapes de la fabrications, cliquez ici
La reconstitution d'une épée trouvée à Owslebury par ironagearmoury, datée du premier siècle av JC:
http://www.ironagearmoury.com/owslwbury4.JPG
http://www.ironagearmoury.com/owslebury1.JPG
Cette cotte de mailles a été retrouvée à Kirkburn aussi mais pas dans la même tombe. Datée du 3ème ou 2ème siècle avant JC. Le diamètre externe des anneaux est de 8.2 à 9.2 mm et le fil a une section de 1.5 à 1.9 mm. Aucun tissu ou cuir n'a été retrouvé à l'intérieur:
http://www.vicus.org.uk/images/kirkburnmail2.gif
http://www.vicus.org.uk/images/kirkburnmail.gif
Parmi les rares casques britons, il y a ces deux là :
- Le type Meyrick daté du Ier siècle avant ou après JC.-
http://www.vicus.org.uk/images/swords/meyrick.JPG
http://www.vicus.org.uk/images/helmets/meyricktop.jpg
Et une reconstitution en fer, assez différente: http://www.wulflund.com/images_items/me ... tion_2.jpg
- Et le casque à corne retrouvée à la rivière Thames, avec un article du British Museum:
http://www.vicus.org.uk/kitguide/images ... helmet.jpg
Iron Age, 150-50 BC
From the River Thames at Waterloo Bridge, London, England
A helmet for a god?
This 'helmet' was dredged from the River Thames at Waterloo Bridge in the early 1860s. It is the only Iron Age helmet to have ever been found in southern England, and it is the only Iron Age helmet with horns ever to have been found anywhere in Europe. Horns were often a symbol of the gods in different parts of the ancient world. This might suggest the person who wore this was a special person, or that the helmet was made for a god to wear. Like the Deal Crown, this was more of a symbolic head-dress than actual protection for the head in battle. The person who wore the helmet would need a modern hat size of 7.
Like many other objects, especially weapons, this helmet was found in the River Thames. These include the Battersea Shield, which was also made for conspicuous display rather than use in war.
The helmet is made from sheet bronze pieces held together with many carefully placed bronze rivets. It is decorated with the style of La Tène art used in Britain between 250 and 50 BC. The repoussé decoration is repeated on the back and the front. Originally, the bronze helmet would have been a shining polished bronze colour, not the dull green colour it is today. It was also once decorated with studs of bright red glass. The decoration is similar to that on the Snettisham Great Torc.
Et une grande trouvaille faite en Angleterre, à Mill Hill dans le Deal, région du Kent. Datée d'environ 200 avant JC. J'ai ajouté une image d'un illustrateur, deux images du fourreau et un article:
http://i63.servimg.com/u/f63/13/03/82/14/millhi10.jpg
http://i63.servimg.com/u/f63/13/03/82/14/millhi11.jpg
http://www.archaeoart.co.uk/characters/ ... age002.jpg
http://img709.imageshack.us/img709/1341 ... lcapes.jpg
http://img94.imageshack.us/img94/1049/m ... matrix.jpg
Iron Age, 200-150 BC
From a burial found in the Mill Hill Cemetery, Deal, Kent, England
A crown for a warrior priest?
This headdress or crown was found on the head of a warrior buried with his sword and shield. It is made from two sheets of bronze held together with rivets. The bronze band which went around the head is decorated with La Tène-style patterns. The metal was worn directly on the head and not padded or strengthened with leather; when found impressions of human hair were left in the corrosion on the inner surface.
Also found in the grave were: an iron sword with bronze scabbard fittings and suspension rings for holding the sword on a belt; bronze parts from a wooden shield, and a bronze brooch decorated with applied coral studs.
No other head dresses from Iron Age Europe have been found in a grave. The discovery of this unusual burial led Dr Ian Stead at the British Museum to look again at other odd objects from Iron Age and Roman Britain. Another unusual Iron Age burial, in Cambridge, may also have contained a head-dress. This head-dress is very like those worn by some priests in Roman Britain over 200 years later. Were these Iron Age 'crowns' also only worn by priests (druids) in the Iron Age? If so, was this person a warrior and a priest?
Plusieurs formes de boucliers celtes dans un ouvrage anglais (A First-Century Shield from Doncaster, Yorkshire by Paul Buckland):
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b9/Po ... risons.jpg
Et un site sur le sujet: http://www.redrampant.com/2009/06/celtic-shields.html
Sinon il y a trois boucliers retrouvés mais ne pouvant être utilisé pour le combat:
- Le bouclier de Chertsey:
http://www.britishmuseum.org/images/ps179137_l.jpg
http://www.britishmuseum.org/images/ps179138_l.jpg
Article du British Museum:
Iron Age, 400-200 BC
From Chertsey, Surrey, England
An unusual thing to dig up with a mechanical digger
This is the only Iron Age shield made completely from bronze ever to have been found in Britain or Europe. Bronze shields found at Battersea and Witham are each composed of a metal front fitted onto a wooden shield. Other shields made entirely of bronze date to earlier centuries. This shield was found in 1985 by the driver of a mechanical digger excavating gravel from an old silted up channel of the River Thames. The shield had been bent and crumpled by the digger, but the patience and skill of staff from the British Museum's Department of Conservation have restored it to its original appearance.
The shape of this shield is oval and is the same as wooden shields used by Iron Age people, 'Celts', who lived in France, Germany and northern Italy at this time. It is complete and made from nine different pieces of bronze; the shield did not need a wooden backing and only the handle was made of wood. This is ash and has been radiocarbon dated to 400-250 BC.
It would have taken skilled craftspeople a very long time to make this shield and it was probably not made to be used in battle. Without a wooden backing the shield could be smashed by swords and penetrated by spears with ease. The shield was probably made for display, for showing off. Like the Battersea, Witham and 'Thames' shields, the Chertsey shield was deliberately placed in the River Thames.
- Le bouclier de Battersea
http://www.britishmuseum.org/images/ps260149_l.jpg
L'article du British Museum:
Iron Age, 350-50 BC
Found in the River Thames at Battersea Bridge, London, England
A shield for show and sacrifice?
The Battersea shield was not made for serious warfare. It is too short to provide sensible protection. The thin metal sheet and the complicated decoration would be easily destroyed if the shield was hit by a sword or spear. Instead, it was probably made for flamboyant display. The highly polished bronze and glinting red glass would have made for a great spectacle. It was finally thrown or placed in the River Thames, where many weapons were offered as sacrifices in the Bronze Age and Iron Age.
Iron Age shields are not commonly found. Those shields excavated from Iron Age burials were made of wood, sometimes covered with leather. They have very few metal parts. The Battersea shield is not in fact a complete shield, but only the facing, a metal cover that was attached to the front of wooden shield. It is made from different parts of sheet bronze, held together with bronze rivets and enclosed in a binding strip. All the rivets are hidden by overlaps between different components where the panels and roundels were originally attached to the organic backing.
All of the decoration is concentrated in the three roundels. A high domed boss in the middle of the central roundel is over where the handle was underneath. The La Tène-style decoration is made using the repoussé technique, emphasized with engraving and stippling. The overall design is highlighted with twenty-seven framed studs of red enamel (opaque red glass) in four different sizes, the largest set at the centre of the boss.
- Le bouclier de Witham
http://www.britishmuseum.org/images/ps300044_l.jpg
L'article du British Museum:
Iron Age, 400-300 BC
From the river Witham near Lincoln, England
The finest example of Early La Tène Celtic Art from Britain
This shield was made at the same time as the Chertsey Shield. In common with the Chertsey and also the Battersea Shield, the Witham Shield was found in a river. It was found in 1826 in the River Witham, near the village of Washingborough, outside the city of Lincoln. When the shield was first found, archaeologists could clearly see the shape of a wild boar on the front. In fact, the shape was cut from a piece of leather and fixed to the shield. The leather has rotted away, but its shadow remains as a different colour in the bronze. Today, the image of the boar has faded, but can still be seen if you look carefully. Small rivet holes across the centre of the shield show where the boar was fixed to the front.
This is not a complete shield. It is a decorative front fixed to a wooden back. The wooden back rotted away in the river long ago, just leaving the metal front. The decoration on the shield is one of the best examples of the way British craftspeople adopted the new style of La Tène art. The red colour on the shield's boss are small pieces of red coral from the Mediterranean. Coral decoration was rare on objects made in Iron Age Britain. Usually, red glass was used, as on the Battersea Shield.
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