Funerary bronze helmet with gold mask from the necropolis at Archontiko Greek 525-500 BCE. The bronze nail on the front of this helmet would have been used to secure the crest. The small holes on the tips of the cheek guards were used for lacing the helmet. The otherwise undecorated mask includes open eyes and other facial features and is the most naturalistic of the eight death masks excavated at the Archontiko necropolis.

Funerary bronze helmet with gold eye and mouth pieces from the necropolis at Archontiko Greek 540-530 BCE. The deceased warrior was found lying on his back holding a gilded sword in his right hand, which bore a gold ring. A large embossed rosette, or the sun, decorates the center of its gold mouth and eyepieces.

Funerary bronze helmet with gold mask from the necropolis at Archontiko Grave 279 Greek mid 6th century BCE. This warrior’s grave also included a bronze shield, iron swords, spear points, gold ornaments, a chariot model, figures, and more. This is one of the earliest gold funerary masks found so far in northern Greece. It appears that the mask was pressed against the deceased’s face so as to render the relief of the nose, brows, and lips. Part of the permanent collections of the Archaeological Museum of Pella.

Funerary bronze helmet with gold mouth piece from the necropolis at Archontiko Greek mid-6th century BCE. This helmet features three narrow gold bands with embossed plant motifs. A multi-petalled rosette surrounding the hideous face of a Gorgon (a mythical creature) seals the lips of the deceased warrior. Embossed lines and plant motifs cover the remaining surface.

There were four types of these helmets and all were open faced: Type I (c. 700–640 BC) left the neck unprotected and hampered hearing. Type II (c. 600 BC) offered neck protection and again hampered hearing. Type III (c. 550 BC) offered neck protection and allowed better hearing. Type IV (c. 500 BC) was similar to Type III but hearing was not impaired at all.

Funerary bronze helmet with gold eye and mouth pieces from the necropolis at Archontiko Greek 550-525 BCE. Lacking any decoration apart from the crest, this is one of the simplest helmets found in the necropolis of Archontiko. The two embossed heraldic lions – symbols of power – on the lozenge-shaped mouthpiece indicate the ᴅᴇᴀᴅ warrior’s valor. The concentric circles embossed into the gold plaques over the eyes indicate that the warrior’s eyes would forever gaze into the beyond.

This warrior was also buried with a black-glazed kantharos – a sumposium vessel par excellence – with an incised inscription reading dolos e o kalios (I [the kantharos] am a sly trap.)

Funerary bronze helmet with gold mask from the necropolis at Archontiko Greek 550-540 BCE. The burial was one of the richest at Archontiko. The helmet was made with an unusual technique that involved hammering a thick sheet of bronze, then adding a central band to support a crest. The mask features plant motifs around the cut-out for the nose and mouth. A complex rosette within a large embossed circle rises like a star over the center of the face.

The Illyrian type helmet was used by the ancient Greeks, Etruscans, Scythians, and became popular with the Illyrians who later adopted it. A variety of the helmet had also spread to Italy based on its appearance on ivory reliefs and on a silver bowl at the “Bernardini” tomb at Praeneste. The helmet became obsolete in most parts of Greece in the early 5th century BC. These helmets were a privilege limited to the minority of warriors who could afford or obtain them. Its use in Illyria had ended by the 4th century BC.