2,300-year-old Celtic helmet discovered in Poland

Archaeologists in Poland have discovered a rare find — a 2,300-year-old bronze helmet and other artifacts that establish for the first time that Celtic peoples lived in the country's north.

While the Celts (some were called Gauls by the Romans) are known to have colonized southern Poland around 400 B.C., this is the first evidence of them in the north — and it's likely they settled there to secure their supplies of precious amber, according to archaeologist Bartłomiej Kaczyński of Poland's National Archaeological Museum in Warsaw, who led the excavations.

"The helmet, along with other Celtic finds, is evidence of the presence of the Celts," Kaczyński told Live Science, noting that it was the most northeastern site in Europe where they had been documented.

The helmet, made of thin bronze sheet-metal and originally lined with leather or fabric, is in the Celtic "Berru" style, with a conical top and a distinctive nape, that is known from several princely burials.

"It probably served not only a function of emphasizing the position of its owner, but a military one," Kaczyński said. "It was an item associated with the Celtic elites."

Related: Lost 'rainbow cup' coin minted by Celts 2,000 years ago discovered in Germany

A team from the Archaeological Museum and the University of Warsaw unearthed the helmet in August at the Łysa Góra archaeological site near the town of Chorzele, about 65 miles (105 kilometers) north of Warsaw.