In the early 2000s, amateur archaeologists in the UK dug up a large and extremely rusted metal object somewhere in Leicestershire. It certainly didn’t look like much. However, this would prove to be one of the most important archaeological finds made this century in Britain. The artifact, still encased in the soil block in which it was found, was examined by experts at the British Museum, who with their trained eyes found it was an ancient Roman helmet. This was no ordinary foot-soldier headgear. As conservators painstakingly peeled off the many layers of rust and soil, they realized this was …
