ARCHAIC PERIOD, CIRCA 6TH CENTURY B.C.

The helmet is hammered from a single heavy sheet, with a wide flaring neck-guard and two raised parallel ridges running front to back across the crown. The raised ridge around the perimeter is decorated with circular rivets along the edge and each cheek-guard is perforated at the forward tip.
Illyrian type helmets were originally composed of several riveted sections, the two raised ridges over the crown giving added protection to the weakest part at the join of the two halves. From the 6th Century B.C. onwards these helmets were made in one piece but retained the ridges and incised guidelines of the central join as decorative elements.