Mask from Kleinklein

Hammered out of a thin sheet of bronze, the mask from the Iron Age burial mound of the chieftain at Kröllkogel, near Kleinklein, is unique in the field of Hallstatt culture. The mask consists of a curved bronze sheet with ears riveted onto it. While the face with its wide eyebrow arch, pronounced nose and narrow mouth was indicated only very schematically, both the forehead and protruding ears are decorated with rows of repousse studs.

Current research suggests that this mask is not so much a conventional death mask, which was placed on the face of the deceased, but more a sheet metal applique, which was mounted on a wooden bust and probably intended to depict the deceased or one of his ancestors.

The mask is accompanied by a pair of hands consisting of two left hands that were also decorated with ornate studs. Due to the depiction of the fingernails, each of them probably represented the back of the hand.

The mask and hands are local products, but possibly draw on influences from the Etruscan region, where similar ceramic busts form the nucleus of the sculpted portrait, which was developed later on.