Once Again about the “Suzun” Helmet

The article considers a riveted iron helmet stored in the funds of the Museum of Archaeology and Ethnography of Siberia of Tomsk State University. The headpiece was found in the late 19th century in the Suzunsky pine forest in the vicinity of the Osinino lake (currently - the Suzunsky district of the Novosibirsk region). The helmet has already twice been the object of scientific research (in 1888 and 2007). The present work analyzes the elements of the helmet design which have not previously attracted the attention of researchers (the system of attaching of a camail, images of dragons on a hoop, etc.), and variants of the original type of headpiece are reconstructed. The previous assumption about the dating of the helmet to the periods of the developed and late Middle Ages has been confirmed. It is established that the closest constructive analogue of the considered sample of protective weapons is the Golden Horde helmet of the end of the 13th - early 14th centuries found on the territory of Transnistria in the Ploskaya village. The most exact analogues of phoenix images on the crown of the helmet originate from the territory of the Yuan and Minh China in the 14th-15th centuries. Based on the analysis of the design and the decorative design system, the Suzun helmet is dated to the end of the 13th - early 15th centuries. The most probable date for manufacturing a helmet is the mid-14th century. The question of the place of production of the helmet remains open. Along with Iran, it could have been forged in the urban craft centers of Central Asia or the Golden Horde. The customer and the first owner of the helmet was probably the noble warrior of one of the Chingizid states of the period under consideration. Apparently, the richly decorated headpiece continued to be used for a long historical period. On the territory of Western Siberia, it could fall in the course of military conflicts caused by the disintegration of the Golden Horde

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