Viking Artifact

Mr. Mazzo showed us many artifacts in class. We learned about Vikings and the life of Leif Ericson, a Viking explorer who found North America (Newfoundland). I learned more about Viking life than I didn’t know about.
The first artifact is the Gjermundbu Helmet. The helmet was made of iron to protect heads in fights. It had oculars that protected their eyes and a nasal that protected the nose, and a spike on top was to show fierce to the opponents. This type of helmet was the early form/model of helmets. Iron straps were on the helmets to make it stronger, so if an ax were hit on the helmet, the straps would not make a big dent to hit the skull. Lastly, a chainmail hanging from the back of the helmet was to protect the neck. I can tell that eye bones break easily, so the Vikings had to add oculars on a helmet to protect them. Also, they added nasals because noses were most commonly cut off. The nasal was far away from their noses, incase a sword hit it and the nasal dented in. The type of person that would wear these helmets would be a very rich warrior, for example, a chief because of the chainmail on the back, which made it more expensive. The second artifact is a chain metal shirt. The chain metal shirt was effective against the sharp points and blades of the spear, axe …show more content…
It was made of wood with a handle fastened to the backside by screws. Their hands were protected by the shield boss, which was made of iron. This prevented the hands from getting hurt if a massive ax were to hit the hands. Also, this shield was used offensively and defensively. If an opponent’s sword got stuck on the shield, the Viking could swing it and the sword would fly over. Then, the opponent wouldn’t have a weapon, making it easier for the Viking to fight them. The shield also was made of wood, which made is easy to dispose. You could take off the metal boss off of the old wood, get a new wood piece, and screw in the boss to a new