The bronze is in turn covered with unusually pure gold leaf, with embedded coral decorations attached using silver rivets.

[1] The Perrats cave had been known for just over a week when cavers found two contiguous parts of the front of the helmet on 9–10 May 1981.

They found scraps of gold leaf, two fragments that joined to form a larger triangular piece, and then the helmet itself, which was well-preserved other than the part that had been torn off by the badgers.

The helmet was restored by Laszlo von Lehóczky at the Romano-Germanic Central Museum (Mainz).

[6] Excavations in 2002 show that the cave entrance was guarded by a mud wall and a ditch, and would have been a sanctuary until the early Roman Empire.

[1] A few similar objects have been found in France at Amfreville-sous-les-Monts (Normandy), Saint-Jean-Trolimon (Brittany) and Montlaurès near Narbonne (Aude) and in Italy at Canosa (Puglia).

[10] D. W. Harding says the stratigraphic association of the helmet with a Dux-type fibula from La Tène B and other signs indicate that it was made in the later part of the 4th century.

[1] However, in a 2010 paper Gomez de Soto and Stephane Verger conclude that the decorations, when viewed as a whole, indicate that the helmet was made in the 2nd quarter or the middle of the 4th century.

[11] The four wide horizontal strips of bronze are fully covered with gold leaf on the outside surface.

[2] The gold leaf, about 70 microns thick, was affixed by pressing it closely onto the bronze relief with a tool that may have been made of wood or bone.

[14] The coral cabochons were attached to the bronze by silver rivets whose heads are decorated with motifs such as diamonds or palm leaves.

[7] The cheek guard (paragnathide) and the side and top ornaments used the same materials and techniques as the main helmet.

The many different patterns combined into complex compositions make the headpiece one of the richest of ancient Celtic artworks.

The central panel decorations are based on a formal arrangement of S-curves terminating in swelling leaves, with a filler pattern that includes palmettes, comma-leaves and over-and-under tendrils.

Horned serpents are often found in Romano-Celtic works in Britain and France, but very rarely in early La Tène.

The neck guard combines Waldalgesheim style with elements of 4th century Greek or Etruscan work.

The complexity of the montage and decoration may be explained by proximity to advanced metalworking centers such as those of Taranto or Campania.

[17] The second proposed region of origin is the North Alpine area that formed the ancient center of Celtic culture.

[9] Most ancient objects with this degree of purity have been found to the southwest of the Loire, the region that includes Agris.

Other high-quality works of Celtic art have been found in the Western region, so a local provenance is entirely possible.