Painstaking detail gives this small ivory carving an impressive realism—and shows how a well-regarded 13th-century B.C. Greek warrior would have looked in his boars’ tusk helmet. The carving, barely 3 inches tall, depicts a young man dressed for battle. His head is protected by the helmet, typically made of the tusks of 20 to 30 boars; an additional sheet of tusks covers the back of his neck, providing complete protection. This small carving, found in a chamber tomb in Attica, Greece, was probably an inlay on a plaque: The small hole through the helmet indicates that the piece would […]
