The helmet was discovered over Easter in March 1997 in Wollaston, near Wellingborough, Northamptonshire.[17][18] Excavations in the area had taken place for years on behalf of various aggregate companies before the land was exploited for gravel, and had uncovered an extensive network of Iron Age and Roman farms.[18][19] The evidence for post-Roman habitation, however, had been limited to two fragments of a brooch, and two separate collections of pottery, when metal detector surveying discovered a copper alloy hanging bowl and a millefiori-decorated mount in what turned out to be a grave.[20][21] The hanging bowl was detected by Steve Critchley, working alongside the archaeologist Ian Meadows.[21][22] Meadows immediately recognised the bowl for what it was, and began an excavation.[21][22]