Boar's tusk helmet

An elaborate boar's tusk helmet, which would have been worn by a lāwāgetās⁠ (Linear B: 𐀨𐀷𐀐𐀲, ra-wa-ke-ta, "military leader") or a wanax (Linear B: 𐀷𐀙𐀏, wa-na-ka, “king”).

An elaborate boar's tusks helmet (𐃃; 𐀒𐀬, ko-ru), featuring a double crest spiraling around two disks with a plume rising between them, and two plumes suspended from the sides, based on the depiction on a lentoid sealstone (CMS-I-260-1) from the tholos tomb of Vapheio (Late Helladic II, ca. 1500 BC), which is similar to a depiction on another lentoid sealstone (NM 32731) from the Kazarma tholos of Ágios Ioannis (LH IIA–IIIA1, 1500–1370 BC). Bronze cheek plates have been added based on those from the boar's tusks helmet from tomb 18 of Dendra (LH II–LH IIB, 1450–1400 BC).

Left: Lentoid sealstone CMS-I-260-1 from the tholos tomb of Vapheio, dated to LH II, ca. 1500 BC (Petrakis, 2024).

Right: Lentoid sealstone NM 32731 from the Kazarma tholos of Ágios Ioannis, dated to LH IIA–IIIA1, 1500–1370 BC (Keramidas et al., 2021).

Helmets made from boars' tusks were used throughout the Mycenaean world from the 18th or 17th century BC (as attested in the Shaft Graves at Mycenae) until the 10th century BC (Elateia, Central Greece). They were constructed by attaching slivers of boar tusks in overlapping rows to a leather cap lined with felt. A detailed description of such a helmet appears in Book 10 of Homer's Iliad, when Meriones arms Odysseus for a night raid against the Trojans. Homer describes it as a "cleverly made leather helmet" with an interior of "strong lining on interwoven straps, onto which a felt cap had been sewn in," while the exterior was "cleverly adorned all around with rows of white tusks from a shiny-toothed boar, the tusks running in alternate directions in each row" (Iliad 10.260–265). He also notes that the helmet was an heirloom passed down through several generations, a detail that may reflect its considerable value.

Μηριόνης δ' Ὀδυσῆϊ δίδου βιὸν ἠδὲ φαρέτρηνκαὶ ξίφος, ἀμφὶ δέ οἱ κυνέην κεφαλῆφιν ἔθηκε  ῥινοῦ ποιητήν: πολέσιν δ' ἔντοσθεν ἱμᾶσιν ἐντέτατο στερεῶς: ἔκτοσθε δὲ λευκοὶ ὀδόντεςἀργιόδοντος ὑὸς θαμέες ἔχον ἔνθα καὶ ἔνθα εὖ καὶ ἐπισταμένως: μέσσῃ δ' ἐνὶ πῖλος ἀρήρει. "Meriones gave Odysseus a bow, a quiver and a sword, and put a cleverly made leather helmet on his head. On the inside there was a strong lining on interwoven straps, onto which a felt cap had been sewn in. The outside was cleverly adorned all around with rows of white tusks from a shiny-toothed boar, the tusks running in alternate directions in each row." — Homer, Iliad 10.260–5

Although a boar's tusk helmet would not have offered the same level of protection as a bronze helmet, it may nevertheless have been worn by prominent individuals as a status symbol or a means of identification. Producing a single helmet required a substantial number of tusks: an average example used those of approximately 40 to 50 boars, while particularly elaborate helmets required more than 140. Since the smaller upper tusks are too curved to produce suitable plates, only the lower tusks were generally used. Depending on their size and shape, each tusk could yield up to four plates.

A 15th-century BC lāwāgetās⁠ ("military leader")—equipped with the Dendra panoply, a boar's tusk helmet, a figure-of-eight shield, a type Ci horned sword, and the Vafeió axe—standing before the Lion Gate, the entrance to the Acropolis of Mycenae.

 The ivory plates were secured to the leather base by thread passed through perforations. Several methods of perforation were employed: piercing directly from front to back; drilling from the side and the back so that the holes met at right angles; or drilling straight through from one side to the other. The perforations were placed either at the corners or at the centre of the long sides of each plate. In the simplest front-to-back method, the stitching remained exposed and was therefore vulnerable to damage. The more elaborate drilling techniques were probably developed to protect the seams.

The early form of the helmet has been reconstructed as a cap made from six leather segments sewn together, with the boar's tusk plates arranged loosely across the seams to reinforce and protect them. The later form was reconstructed by Peter Connolly. In his reconstruction, the main body consisted of a cylindrical leather band whose upper portion was cut into strips. These strips were woven upward and tied together, forming the helmet's conical shape while improving its ability to deflect downward blows. The interior was lined with felt, which provided comfort, additional protection, and tension for the woven upper section. The attached boar's tusk plates added further armour. Because the front-to-back piercing method left the securing thread exposed, Connolly covered it with narrow leather strips, closely matching artistic depictions that show narrow bands between the rows of ivory plates. Concealing the plate edges not only protected the stitching but also reduced the likelihood of an enemy's blade catching between the tusks.

Fragments of ivory that may have belonged to helmets of this type have been discovered at several Mycenaean sites, including Dendra, where such fragments were found alongside the famous bronze panoply excavated in 1960.