The Scythians and later the Sarmatians crafted lamellar armor, shields and ski cap type helmets out of bone plaques and horses’ hooves fixed to leather base materials. These materials were readily available, tough and lightweight.
I wonder if these are some very early examples?
Homer wrote of boar’s tooth helmets worn by the Greeks at Troy. Scholars used the absence of examples to skewer Homer as a yarn-spinner - until many turned up at digs throughout Greece.