The underwater Montefortino Helmet from Capo San Vito: neutron diffraction analysis at INES beamline to determine composition and manufactur

The two Helmets subject of this proposal are kept in the Museo Archeologico Regionale Lilibeo - Baglio Anselmi of Marsala (Trapani, Italy). They were found in the seabed of Capo San Vito (Trapani, Italy) in an area where a Spanish galleon, guns and other finds were discovered. For this reason, the two Helmets were initially dated to the same period of the other findings (1500).The dating has been revised by some archaeologists which recognised the helmets as Montefortino type and thus dated as VI - III sec. B.C.The features of the Helmets are unusual with respect the other ancient Helmets covered by thin patinas.We propose neutron diffraction measurements on the INES beamline aiming to characterize the helmets in terms of crystalline phases quantification and copper alloy composition and microstructure.