Page:A record of European armour and arms through seven centuries (Volume 1).djvu/128

 only, and the skull-piece is but divided into four segments. It is in fragile condition, but the outline is not lost.

Museum of the Friends of Science, Posen. Excavated at Giez in the province of Posen

The twelfth helmet (Fig. 66) is in the same category as the last described as regards construction, though it is wholly composed of copper or bronze. It is also far more complete, as there is the indication of the nasal-guard, and it possesses the extremely interesting feature of hinged ear-pieces; the method of its decoration is the same—barbaric, but effective. In the opinion of the antiquary, M. Jules Quicherat, it belongs to the Merovingian period, as it was found in 1870 in a turf pit at Vézeronce (Isère), which is supposed to have been the locality where a battle took place in the year 524 between the Burgundians and Clodomir, King of Orleans. In subsequent arguments it has been assigned to the close of the Carolingian epoch. It bears a great likeness to the helmets the soldiers are represented wearing on the famous capitol of the Granet Collection in the Aix Museum. This capitol is now considered to belong to the opening years of the XIth century, but since the remarkable likeness of this helmet to that of "Henry the Lion," and indeed to all the others of this class we have mentioned, we have now great hesitation in assigning it to so late a date. It was presented in 1873 by M. Bron to the museum at Grenoble.