The Dendra panoply or Dendra armour is a Mycenaean-era panoply (full-body armor) made of bronze plates uncovered in the village of Dendra in the Argolid, Greece. It is currently on display at the Archaeological Museum of Nafplion.
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👉 Dendra panoply in the context of Boar's tusk helmet
Helmets using ivory from boars' tusks were known in the Mycenaean world from the 17th century BC (Shaft Graves, Mycenae) to the 10th century BC (Elateia, Central Greece). The helmet was made through the use of slivers of boar 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 for a night raid to be conducted against the Trojans.
Fragments of ivory which might have come from helmets of this kind have been discovered on Mycenaean sites (at Dendra, for instance, fragments were found alongside the bronze panoply excavated in 1960) and an ivory plaque, also from a Mycenaean site, represents a helmet of this kind. Although they would not provide protection as good as that of a metal helmet, they may have been worn by some leaders as a status symbol, or a means of identification.
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Dendra panoply in the context of Dendra
Dendra (Greek: Δενδρά) is a prehistoric archaeological site situated outside the village with the same name belonging to the municipality of Midea in the Argolid, Greece.
The site was inhabited during the Neolithic and Early Helladic periods, and is known for its Late Bronze Age cemetery. In the first half of the 20th century, the Swedish archaeologist Axel W. Persson excavated an unplundered tholos tomb and many Mycenaean chamber tombs, presumably belonging to the ruling classes of the nearby citadel of Midea. The finds from the site include the Dendra panoply, a set of Mycenaean bronze armour found in one of its chamber tombs, and the Dendra Octopus Cup from the tholos. From the Hellenistic into the Byzantine periods, it was the site of a village: local tradition recalled that it had once been known as "Sanga".