Helmets using ivory from boars' tusks were known in the Mycenaean world from the 17th century BC (Shaft Graves, Mycenae[1][2]) to the 10th century BC (Elateia, Central Greece). The helmet was made through the use of slivers of boars tusks which were attached to a leather base, padded with felt, in rows. A description of a boar's tusk helmet appears in book ten of Homer's Iliad as Odysseus is armed a night raid to be conducted against the Trojans.
"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."[3] [X, 260-5]
Fragments of ivory which might have come from helmets of this kind have been discovered on Mycenaean sites, and an ivory plaque, also from a Mycenaean site, represents a helmet of this kind. Although they would not provide as good protection as a metal helmet, they may have been worn by some leaders as a status symbol, or a means of identification.