A5: Headgear and Hair Ornaments — Visual Reference Collection

Introduction

Headgear and hair ornaments from the Hallstatt period (Ha C-D, ~800-450 BC) and preceding Late Bronze Age encompass some of the most spectacular surviving artefacts from prehistoric Europe. The conical gold hats (Goldhute) represent an extraordinary tradition of sheet-gold working, while bronze hair rings (Haarringe), pins (Nadeln), diadems, and fur/leather caps from the salt mines provide evidence for everyday and ritual head coverings. Situla art depictions add important iconographic evidence for hat types, including wide-brimmed hats worn at feasting scenes and conical/Phrygian-style caps. Key typological frameworks include the Muller classification for gold hats and the Mansfeld system for pins and dress accessories.

1. Conical Gold Hats (Goldhute)

Four cone-shaped gold hats of the “Schifferstadt type” are known, all from the Late Bronze Age (broadly 1400-800 BC), representing ceremonial headgear likely worn by ritual specialists. All are hammered from a single piece of gold leaf with repoussee ornament arranged in horizontal bands of circles, discs, and astral symbols. While pre-dating the Hallstatt C-D period proper, they represent a tradition ancestral to Hallstatt elite display.

1.1 Berlin Gold Hat (Berliner Goldhut)

  • URL: https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/golden-ceremonial-hat-top-berlin-gold-hat-unknown/lgGC9FEU94Q5MA
  • Source: Google Arts & Culture / Museum fur Vor- und Fruhgeschichte, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
  • Description: High-resolution photograph of the top portion of the Berlin Gold Hat. Gold sheet, 74.5 cm tall, 490 g. Late Bronze Age, ~1000-800 BC. Provenance unknown (probably southern Germany or Switzerland). Acquired 1996. Exhibited in Neues Museum, Room 305.

  • Quality: ★★★

  • URL: https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/golden-ceremonial-hat-berlin-gold-hat-artist-unknown/hAGC3knXgLdPZg
  • Source: Google Arts & Culture / Museum fur Vor- und Fruhgeschichte, Berlin
  • Description: Full-length view of the Berlin Gold Hat showing the complete conical form with brim. Gold alloy (87.7% gold, 9.8% silver, 0.4% copper). The best-preserved of all four gold hats.

  • Quality: ★★★

  • URL: https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/golden-ceremonial-hat-brim-berlin-gold-hat-unknown/mAGRL0qTT2BHiw
  • Source: Google Arts & Culture / Museum fur Vor- und Fruhgeschichte, Berlin
  • Description: Detail photograph of the brim of the Berlin Gold Hat, showing the repoussee decoration of concentric circles arranged in registers.

  • Quality: ★★★

  • URL: https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/the-berlin-gold-hat/1AFdIxsn4DacLw
  • Source: Google Arts & Culture / Berlin
  • Description: Additional view of the Berlin Gold Hat with contextual information about its astronomical calendar function. 21 horizontal ornamental bands may encode a lunisolar calendar.

  • Quality: ★★

  • URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_Gold_Hat
  • Source: Wikipedia (photographs sourced from museum photography)
  • Description: Article with multiple photographs of the Berlin Gold Hat from different angles, including detail of ornamental bands.

  • Quality: ★★

  • URL: https://www.flickr.com/photos/danielmennerich/14327494460
  • Source: Flickr / Daniel Mennerich (museum visit photography)
  • Description: Close-up detail photograph of the Berlin Gold Hat showing the fine repoussee decoration, taken at the Neues Museum Berlin.
  • Quality: ★★

1.2 Golden Hat of Schifferstadt (Goldener Hut von Schifferstadt)

  • URL: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Goldener_Hut_von_Schifferstadt
  • Source: Wikimedia Commons (museum-sourced photographs)
  • Description: Category page with multiple photographs of the Schifferstadt Golden Hat. Gold sheet, 29.6 cm tall, 350 g, dated ~1400-1300 BC. Found 1835 near Schifferstadt, Rhineland-Palatinate. Now in the Historisches Museum der Pfalz, Speyer.

  • Quality: ★★

  • URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Hat_of_Schifferstadt
  • Source: Wikipedia (museum-sourced photograph)
  • Description: Article with photograph showing the shorter, more compact Schifferstadt hat with its characteristic brim and concentric circle decoration. The oldest of the four known gold hats.
  • Quality: ★★

1.3 Golden Cone of Ezelsdorf-Buch

  • URL: https://www.gnm.de/objekte/goldhut-von-ezelsdorfbuch/
  • Source: Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg (official museum object page)
  • Description: Official museum page for the Ezelsdorf-Buch gold cone. Gold sheet, ~88 cm tall, 310 g. Found 1953 near Ezelsdorf, Bavaria. Urnfield culture, 1250-800 BC. The tallest of the four gold hats. Hammered from a single piece of gold with repoussee decoration.

  • Quality: ★★★

  • URL: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Gold_Cone_of_Ezelsdorf-Buch
  • Source: Wikimedia Commons (including photograph by Thilo Parg)
  • Description: Multiple photographs of the Ezelsdorf-Buch cone in its museum display at the Germanisches Nationalmuseum. Detail views of ornamental bands.
  • Quality: ★★

1.4 Avanton Gold Cone

  • URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avanton_Gold_Cone
  • Source: Wikipedia (museum-sourced photograph)
  • Description: The Avanton Gold Cone, 55 cm tall, 225 g, dated ~1000-900 BC. Found 1844 near Avanton, Vienne, France. Incomplete (missing brim). Now in the Musee d’Archeologie Nationale, Saint-Germain-en-Laye. Decorated with concentric circles and a star/sun motif at the tip.
  • Quality: ★★

1.5 Comparative and Contextual

  • URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_hat
  • Source: Wikipedia
  • Description: Overview article on all four gold hats with comparative photographs, dimensions, and discussion of the astronomical calendar hypothesis. Includes summary table of all four known examples.

  • Quality: ★★

  • URL: https://etc.worldhistory.org/education/four-gold-hats-a-bronze-age-mystery/
  • Source: World History Foundation (educational resource)
  • Description: Article comparing all four gold hats with photographs and discussion of their possible ritual function and calendar interpretation. Well-sourced educational resource.
  • Quality: ★★

2. Diadems and Head Bands

Bronze and occasionally gold diadems were worn by elite individuals in the Hallstatt period, typically found in burial contexts. They are characterised by spiral and geometric decoration executed in repoussee.

  • URL: https://risdmuseum.org/art-design/collection/diadem-2002102
  • Source: RISD Museum, Providence, Rhode Island (accession no. 2002.10.2)
  • Description: Bronze diadem from Hallstatt, European Bronze Age (~1200-800 BC). Features four large spiral terminals characteristic of Hallstatt-period head ornaments. Green patina over original golden-brown bronze surface. Likely from a grave at Hallstatt, Austria. Publication-quality close-up photograph.

  • Quality: ★★★

  • URL: https://risdmuseum.org/manual/294_decoding_the_hallstatt_diadem
  • Source: RISD Museum (educational essay)
  • Description: “Decoding the Hallstatt Diadem” - analytical essay with photographs explaining how archaeologists interpret this type of artefact. Discusses context, comparison, and the significance of the spiral motif in Bronze Age personal adornment.

  • Quality: ★★

  • URL: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/468340
  • Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
  • Description: Diadem, Hallstatt culture, 1200-800 BCE. Bronze. Part of the Met’s Hallstatt collection. Object page with photograph.
  • Quality: ★★

3. Hair Rings (Haarringe)

Bronze spiral hair rings are among the most common personal ornaments from Hallstatt-period graves. They were typically made from bronze wire coiled into double spirals, worn singly or in pairs, and are frequently found near the skull in burial contexts.

  • URL: https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/63210726_fine-hallstatt-bronze-double-spiral-hair-ring
  • Source: Artemis Gallery auction catalogue (documented provenance)
  • Description: Hallstatt bronze double spiral hair ring, ca. 1000-700 BCE. Formed from a single elongated bronze strip coiled into a double spiral. Well-photographed example showing characteristic form. Note: auction source, but with provenance documentation and high-quality photography useful for typological reference.

  • Quality: ★★

  • URL: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Hallstatt_culture_artefacts
  • Source: Wikimedia Commons
  • Description: Category containing multiple photographs of Hallstatt culture artefacts from various museums, including hair rings, spiral ornaments, and other personal adornment items. Museum-sourced photographs.
  • Quality: ★★

4. Pins (Nadeln) and Dress Fasteners

Bronze and iron pins were used throughout the Hallstatt period for fastening garments. They evolved from simple forms in Ha C to more elaborate types in Ha D, and overlap typologically with the emergence of fibulae.

  • URL: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/466262
  • Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
  • Description: Pin with the head and torso of a figure, Hallstatt period, 7th century BCE. Bronze. Figural pin head showing a human torso, an exceptional example of Hallstatt-period metalwork. Object page with photograph.

  • Quality: ★★★

  • URL: https://historicengland.org.uk/images-books/photos/item/AL2029/010/01
  • Source: Historic England Archives
  • Description: Photograph (1868) of three bronze wire fibulae from Hallstatt displayed at the National Exhibition of Works of Art at Leeds. Historical documentation of Hallstatt dress fasteners in a 19th-century exhibition context. Alongside a gilt Anglo-Saxon fibula and other objects.

  • Quality: ★

  • URL: https://www.ashmolean.org/the-hallstatt-collection-sir-john-evans
  • Source: Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
  • Description: Overview page for the Ashmolean’s Hallstatt collection (187 artefacts from 1866-69 excavations), including pins, ornaments, and dress accessories in bronze, iron, gold, amber, glass, clay, bone, and stone. Part of Sir John Evans’ collection donated 1927.
  • Quality: ★★

5. Fur and Leather Caps from the Salt Mines

The Hallstatt and Durrnberg salt mines have preserved organic headgear that would otherwise have perished. These include fur caps (made of sheepskin with hair inward), leather caps, and possibly felt hats. Three principal cap forms have been identified: a flat cap, a beret, and a Phrygian-style cap.

  • URL: https://www.nhm.at/hallstatt/en/interdisciplinary/leather_furs__skins
  • Source: Naturhistorisches Museum Wien (NHM Wien) - Hallstatt research pages
  • Description: NHM Wien page on leather, furs, and skins from the Hallstatt mine. Discusses preservation conditions, material types, and the range of leather/fur headgear found. Notes that hides and furs were used for headgear, shoes, and possibly clothing; whether they were everyday wear or specialised mining equipment remains debated.

  • Quality: ★★

  • URL: https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Headgear-from-the-Iron-Age-salt-mines-of-Hallstatt-and-Duerrnberg-in-comparison-with_fig9_299979599
  • Source: ResearchGate (academic publication figure)
  • Description: Comparative figure showing headgear from the Iron Age salt mines of Hallstatt and Durrnberg. Includes photographs and/or drawings of preserved cap fragments. From a peer-reviewed publication. [May require institutional access for full article]

  • Quality: ★★★

  • URL: https://richlyadorned.wordpress.com/2017/04/17/hats-hairnets-and-head-furniture/
  • Source: Richly Adorned blog (Kim Biddulph, Schools Prehistory and Archaeology)
  • Description: Blog post discussing prehistoric headgear including Hallstatt mine caps. Notes that the flat cap, beret, and Phrygian cap forms have been found at Hallstatt, with the Phrygian cap made of fur worn hair-side inward. Well-sourced discussion with references to museum collections.
  • Quality: ★★

6. Hochdorf Birch-Bark Hat

The Hochdorf chieftain (buried ~530 BC) was found wearing a hat made of birch bark, a unique find that has been reconstructed and is on display at the Landesmuseum Wurttemberg, Stuttgart.

  • URL: https://www.laits.utexas.edu/ironagecelts/hochdorf6.php
  • Source: University of Texas at Austin, Iron Age Celts project
  • Description: Page on the personal items buried in the Hochdorf tomb, including the birch-bark hat. Photographs of the grave goods with contextual discussion. The chieftain also wore a gold-plated torc, bracelet, and amber jewellery.

  • Quality: ★★

  • URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hochdorf_Chieftain%27s_Grave
  • Source: Wikipedia (museum-sourced photographs)
  • Description: Article on the Hochdorf Chieftain’s Grave with photographs of the burial chamber reconstruction and grave goods, including reference to the birch-bark hat. Finds now in Landesmuseum Wurttemberg, Stuttgart.
  • Quality: ★★

7. Headgear in Situla Art

Situla art provides important iconographic evidence for hat types in the Hallstatt/early La Tene period. Figures in feasting, procession, and boxing scenes wear distinctive headgear including wide-brimmed hats, conical/Phrygian-style caps, and helmets.

  • URL: https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/kuffern-situla/kgFrA20eF5zBgQ
  • Source: Google Arts & Culture / NHM Wien
  • Description: The Kuffarn Situla (NHMW-PRAE-17.036), NHM Top 100 no. 46. The uppermost frieze shows a seated man with a broad-brimmed hat and a drinking bowl, alongside scenes of boxing with a victory helmet as prize, and riders on horse-drawn carts. Mid-5th century BCE. Hall 13, NHM Vienna.

  • Quality: ★★★

  • URL: https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/situla-from-kuffarn-nhmw-prae-17036-3a6cc51611d6466e82273b43a80f33c1
  • Source: Sketchfab / NHM Wien (@NHMWien)
  • Description: Interactive 3D model of the Kuffarn Situla allowing rotation and zoom to examine the hat depictions in the frieze in detail. Inventory NHMW-PRAE-17.036.

  • Quality: ★★★

  • URL: https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/the-va%C4%8De-situla/MwENyQl39dmiZA
  • Source: Google Arts & Culture / National Museum of Slovenia
  • Description: The Vace situla. Sheet bronze, height 23.8 cm, early 5th century BC. Three friezes with human and animal figures. Upper frieze includes mounted and chariot-riding figures with different headgear types reflecting social rank, including a chieftain in a conical cap.

  • Quality: ★★★

  • URL: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10963-023-09174-6
  • Source: Springer Nature / Journal of World Prehistory (Saccoccio 2023)
  • Description: Open-access article “Situla Art: An Iron Age Artisanal Tradition…” (JWP 36, 49-108). Investigates hats and earrings depicted in situla art to highlight identity valencies and socio-political insights. Contains figures showing different hat types across multiple situlae. Essential reference for headgear iconography.

  • Quality: ★★★ [academic publication with figure plates]

  • URL: https://www.academia.edu/31943090/Early_Iron_Age_Headdress_in_the_Central_and_Eastern_Alpine_Area
  • Source: Academia.edu (academic paper)
  • Description: “Early Iron Age Headdress in the Central and Eastern Alpine Area” (2014). Published in C. Alfaro Giner and J. Ortiz Garcia (eds.), Tiarae, Diadems and Headdresses in the Ancient Mediterranean Cultures. Directly relevant to Hallstatt headgear typology. [May require free Academia.edu account]
  • Quality: ★★★

8. Strettweg Cult Wagon (Headgear Context)

The central female figure on the Strettweg cult wagon wears/supports a bowl-shaped object on her raised hands, but the surrounding mounted and standing figures provide evidence for headgear types in the 7th century BC Hallstatt period.

  • URL: https://www.museum-joanneum.at/archaeologiemuseum-schloss-eggenberg/entdecken/sammlung/kultwagen-von-strettweg
  • Source: Universalmuseum Joanneum, Graz (Archaeology Museum, Schloss Eggenberg)
  • Description: Official museum page for the Strettweg cult wagon. Bronze, 46.2 cm tall, ~600 BC. Found 1851 at Strettweg near Judenburg, Styria. Central female figure (~32 cm) flanked by standing and mounted figures, horse and deer figures. Restored 2009.

  • Quality: ★★

  • URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strettweg_cult_wagon
  • Source: Wikipedia (museum-sourced photographs)
  • Description: Article with photographs showing the cult wagon figures in detail, useful for examining headgear on the smaller figures. Tin bronze, lost-wax casting for figures, forged base plate and axles.
  • Quality: ★★

Gaps and Notes

  • Direct museum-database image URLs for individual hair rings (Haarringe) from the NHM Wien collection were not obtainable; the NHM online object database (objekte.nhm-wien.ac.at) exists but individual object pages for hair rings did not surface in searches.
  • The Historisches Museum der Pfalz, Speyer (holding the Schifferstadt hat) does not appear to have a readily searchable online collection database with direct image links.
  • The Musee d’Archeologie Nationale at Saint-Germain-en-Laye (holding the Avanton cone) did not yield direct object-page URLs with photographs through search.
  • Prometheus Bildarchiv searches for “Goldhut” and “Hallstatt Diadem” were not productive as the database requires institutional login. [Institutional access required]
  • The ARACHNE database (arachne.dainst.org) returned general Hallstatt-related results but no specific headgear object pages with images.

Search Queries Used

English

  • “gold hat” Berlin museum bronze age
  • Goldhut Schifferstadt museum
  • “Ezelsdorf-Buch” gold cone Germanisches Nationalmuseum
  • “conical gold hat” prehistoric
  • Avanton gold cone museum France bronze age
  • Hallstatt diadem museum
  • “hair ring” Hallstatt period
  • Hallstatt pin Nadel museum
  • “wide-brimmed hat” situla art
  • Berliner Goldhut Neues Museum
  • “conical gold hat” “golden hat” all four museum comparison photograph
  • “Golden Ceremonial Hat” Google Arts Culture Berlin Neues Museum photograph
  • RISD Museum Hallstatt diadem decode photograph
  • “Iron Age” “leather cap” “fur cap” mine Hallstatt NHM Wien preserved
  • Hochdorf chieftain burial gold hat birch bark Landesmuseum photograph
  • Ashmolean Museum Hallstatt collection ornament Iron Age
  • Met Museum Hallstatt ornament bracelet torc
  • “situla art” wide-brimmed hat feasting costume detail photograph

German

  • Goldhut Schifferstadt museum
  • Berliner Goldhut Neues Museum
  • Hallstatt Diadem Haarring NHM Wien museum
  • Hallstatt pin Nadel bronze Iron Age typology museum collection
  • Hallstatt Haarringe hair rings bronze spiral grave find
  • Goldener Hut von Schifferstadt
  • Goldhut von Ezelsdorf/Buch

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Maptism — Hallstatt Culture Research Project

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