Copper-alloy, 22.45 grams, 41.46 mm. Circa 1st-3rd century AD. A cast copper-alloy miniature helmet with hollow skull and prominent 'comb' crest attached at two points, with rib detailing to the outer faces and triangular-section crest extending above the brow. The helmet is based on the Corinthian or Thracian design (as seen on the find from Heddernheim, Germany). Miniature votive offerings are non-functional representations of objects found on sanctuary sites in the north-west provinces of the Roman Empire (mainly Gallia and Britannia). They may be part of a Romano-Celtic rite of miniaturisation, which allowed individual worshippers to dedicate models of items instead of the real objects they could not afford or were otherwise unavailable. The practice is probably a combination of the Roman tradition of small votive offerings and the contemporary Germanic and Celtic practices concerning sacrificing weapons and armour. References: for votives, see Kiernan, P. Miniature Votive Offerings in the Roman North-West, Wiesbaden, 2009 and for the helmet forms, see Connelly, P. Greece and Rome at War London, 1981 p.56, 59-61. Good fine condition. Provenance: found Lancashire, UK.