Late medieval helmet from South Kazakhstan Regional Historical Museum

Purpose : The author analyzed materials referring to an iron helmet (UCOM 749) stored in the collections of the South Kazakhstan regional historical museum (YUKOIKM, Shymkent, Kazakhstan). The article describes the YUKOIKM helmet systematically, including its design and the system of decorating, as well as dating and attribution. Results : A distinctive feature of this helmet is a one-piece crown shaped as a truncated spherical cone (23,0 cm high, diameter of 22,0 cm). The upper part of the canopy is cut at the right angle with the hole closed by a flat circular plate with a tube-sleeve for the plume. The occipital side of the helmet is designed with a shallow cut. The bottom edge is punched with 26 holes for attaching the barmitsa. The helmet is damaged with shallow indentations at the back and side part of the crown. The forehead part of the helmet features a two-part riveted «box-shaped» cap consisting of a horizontal plate, «shelf», and a vertical «shield». The helmet’s upper part consists of a flat, circular base plate riveted to the crown with three rivets forming a triangle and a tube for the plume. The latter is designed as a miniature «pot» with a wide low neck. The original helmet’s barmitsa is missing. A segment of chain fabric on the helmet, which is attached to the upper part with a metal wire, was probably added after the helmet went to a private collection or the museum collection. Such helmets with a spheroconical upper part, a flattened top and a round flat headpiece, in general, are not typical for nomads of the Early and High Middle Ages. At the same time, they are quite often found among the 17th-19th century materials from Central Asia. The author is aware of 17 helmets with similar upper parts dated between the Late Middle Ages and Early Modern Time. They were typically worn by the Kazakh and Oirat soldiers of the 17th-18th centuries. In order to date the helmet exactly, the crown of a characteristic shape and the «box-shaped» cap are important features, which used to be traditional elements of combat and ceremonial helmets worn by the Mongol and Turkic nomads of Central Asia in the 15th-18th centuries. Metal, wooden and bone tube sleeves for the plume in the shape of a miniature «pot» are most frequently encountered on the combat helmets worn by the nomads of Kazakhstan and adjacent territories in the 17th-18th centuries. Thus, based on the analysis of the design and the features discovered, we conclude that the helmet from YUKOIKM was typical for the Turkic and Mongol nomads of Central Asia living in the Late Middle Ages and Early Modern Times. Helmets of similar design are kept in museums and private collections of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Kazakhstan. Conclusion : The typological analysis conducted allows us to date the helmet from YUKOIKM as the 17th-18th century and relate it to the complex weapons or the Oirat or Kazakh warriors of the period. The helmet could have been made either by steppe gunsmiths or by craftsmen from Transoxiana (or Mawarannahr) at the commission of a wealthy knight from Central Asian nomads. As a combat helmet, it could have been used by Kazakh Batyrs until the middle of the 19th century.