But whatever shields may have been in use in this country at the time of the Roman invasion, I am inclined to refer these circular bucklers to a somewhat earlier date, as already in Cæsar’s time iron was fully in use for swords and for cutting purposes generally; and, as has already been observed, the shields with which the early iron swords are found are of a different form from these. As is the case with bronze swords, such bucklers are never found with interments, and those discovered seem to have been lost in the water, or hidden in bogs, rather than buried as accessories for the dead. The skill requisite for the production of such bucklers must have been great, and the appliances at command by no means contemptible. The whole of the work is _repoussé_ and wrought with the hammer, and not improbably the original sheet of bronze from which a shield was made was considerably less in diameter and also much thicker than the finished shield. To produce so large a casting of such even substance, and yet so thin, would I think be beyond the skill of most modern, and probably most ancient, brass-founders; and moreover there is no appearance on the shields, of the metal having been cast in the form in which it now appears. While still upon the subject of defensive armour it will be well to say a few words about bronze helmets, though there is good reason to believe that in this country at all events such objects do not belong to the Bronze Age properly so-called. Indeed the earliest known bronze helmets in some other countries, such as those from Assyria and Etruria, appear to belong to a time when iron was already in use in those countries. The date of an Etruscan helmet of bronze preserved in the British Museum[1364] can be determined with precision, for an inscription upon it proves that it was offered in the Temple of Zeus at Elis, by Hiero, Tyrant of Syracuse, from the spoils of the Etruscans after the naval battle of Cumæ, which took place in B.C. 474. It is of simple form with a brim around it. Those which have been found in Styria and Germany[1365] are in some cases half ovals in form, sometimes with a knob at the top, without any rims round the opening, but with a certain number of small holes for the attachment of cheek-pieces or appendages of other kinds. These may belong to a true Bronze Period. Others, like those from Hallstatt,[1366] have rims and even ridges for crests. In the Salzburg Museum is a fine helmet without a rim, but with an ornamented ridge and cheek-pieces. It was found, with twelve others now at Vienna, at Mattrey,[1367] between Innsbruck and Brixen. One of these bears an Etruscan inscription upon it. According to Pliny, “the ancient inhabitants of Brixen came from Etruria.” Even in the time of Severus, the Britons, according to Herodian,[1368] made no use of helmets or cuirasses, though they wore an iron collar round the neck and an iron belt round the body, and regarded them as ornaments and signs of wealth.