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Archeology    The Iberians THE LADY OF ELX   Creation Year: 2008   The Iberian culture, which developed from the 6th century to the 1st century BC, occupied an extensive geographical territory along the western Mediterranean coast. Its northern border was marked by the River Hérault in Languedoc (France) and its southernmost point was the Guadiana estuary, on the Atlantic coast of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain). Westwards it penetrated more than 100 kilometres inland at may points and, in the south and east, the Mediterranean Sea was its border. Due to this vast territorial area, Iberia had a culture which varied regionally. The territory can be divided into different areas by taking into consideration the various cultural substrata and exterior influences which were received by each of them. By virtue of these differences, the exhibition has been divided into six parts: the north, which includes the French territories of western Languedoc and Roussillon; the north-east, equivalent to modern-day Catalonia and the north of the region of Valencia; the west, now eastern Aragón and the north-west of Catalonia; the centre, an area now occupied by the provinces of Valencia and Alacant as well as Murcia and eastern Castilla-La Mancha; and in the south, the south-east, which corresponds nowadays to High Andalusia and, finally, the south-west, which is now western Andalusia and the south of Extremadura. Chronologically, the Iberian culture can be split into four basic stages. During the first, Pre-Iberian period (770-550 BC) the indigenous populations began a process of evolution towards a common identity. During the period of Ancient Iberia (550-400 BC) these peoples clearly accepted Mediterranean colonial influences, both Greek and Punic. High Iberia (400-218 BC) was the most culturally developed phase, which was cut short by the arrival of the Romans at the end of the 3rd century BC. With the Roman presence and subsequent conquest of the Iberian Peninsula and south of Gaul, the final period, Late Iberia (3rd-1st century BC), was initiated. At this moment, the Romanisation of the Iberians affected the entire native population. It is possible to say that, even if we talk about a unified cultural situation, it does not correspond to a political structure which bound the Iberians together, rather Iberian society was organised in different tribes or ethnic groups. Each of these featured some cultural traits which were more or less unique to them. However, despite these differences, all of the tribes shared elements which were integral to the Iberian culture: language, scripture, religion or material culture. It was a strongly hierarchical society, with warrior and monarchical aristocracies, along with a stratified population with real towns (oppida) and capitals which controlled determined territories. Iberian urbanism, their construction techniques and defensive architecture, like their religion, language and scripture, are elements which bring personality and distinguishing character to the Iberian culture within the Mediterranean. We can say that their economic system was essentially agricultural, based on the Mediterranean trio: the production of cereals, wine and oil. On the other hand, The Iberian culture, which the Iberians were always in the contact with circum-Mediterranean trade and they had close "commercial" ties with Phoenician, Punic and Greek merchants.   Info: en More photos... IBERIAN WARRIOR en description en description en description    The territory en description   Creation Year: 2008   The geographical space that the Iberians occupied is vast, with more than 1.200 km between the two extremities of their territory: the estuary of the River Hérault in the North (in Languedoc) and the estuary of the River Guadiana in the south, now on the Atlantic coast of the Iberian Peninsula. In this ample territory with different landscapes: coastlines, plains, valleys and mountains; and very different economic and cultural substrata, the cultural processes experienced by the tribes varied depending on the influences they received and the moment at which they were incorporated into the eukomune. In the exhibition Cartography of the Iberian Culture we have divided these areas into 6 zones: the North, in reality western Languedoc and Roussillon, where the most important tribes were the Elisics and the Sordones; the North-Eastern area, which today is Catalonia and the north of the region of Valencia, where the Indicetans, Ausetans, Laietans, Cessetans and Ilercavons lived, among others; the Western Lands, which was inhabited by the Ilergetanians of the plains and the Sedetanians, the tribe that later adopted the traits which defined the culture in question, in what is now Aragón; the Central area was occupied by the Edetanians and Contestanians, and the region extended a fair way into the region of Valencia, Murcia and eastern Mancha; In the south we find a great territorial area which we have divided into two: the South-East with the tribes of high Andalusia, Oretanians and Bastetanians, and the South-West with the Turdetanians and Turdulians, the principal inheritors of the Tartessians and eastern-ised world. The chronological framework covers four major points. The first or Pre-Iberian (also identified by many authors as Proto-Iberian) stretches from 770 BC to 550 BC. It is the moment at which the different substrata of the population, Tartessian in the south and final bronze-iron I in other areas, began the journey towards some forms of common identity. The second period is Ancient Iberia, from 550 BC until the end of the 1st century BC. It has many elements reminiscent of the eastern-ised identity, however it assumed Greek elements not only from the Greek colonies in the north-eastern peninsula, specifically Emporion, but also from the supposed Greek presence in the area of Levante and the south. Finally, we can see how they adopted the characteristic elements of the Phoenician colonisation. The third period is High Iberia, from the end of the 5th century BC to the end of the 3rd century BC. It was at this time that Iberian culture manifested its "historical" cultural traits, those which are best known. It is the period of the greatest splendour. At the end of the 4th century BC and throughout the 3rd century BC they entered a phase of crisis which coincides with the worse documented period archaeologically. This phase ended with the arrival of the Romans in the Iberian Peninsula and it brought about Final Iberia. This last period developed from the end of the 3rd century BC/ beginning of the 2nd century BC until the 1st century BC. It is the moment at which the Iberian culture received the Roman world, sometimes peacefully and other times manu militari, the stimulus of what we denominate Romanisation, which in reality was the absolute acculturation of the Iberians. It is also the moment at which the classical authors came into contact with the Iberians, directly or indirectly, and one of the most famous is the Greek Strabo.   Info: en    Geographers and historians PTOLOMY   Creation Year: 2008   “Take, for example, the name of Iberia: the historians of former times (Greeks) gave the name of Iberia to all the country beyond the Rhodanus (Rhone) and that isthmus which is comprised between the two Galatic gulfs, whereas the historians of today set the Pyrenees as the limit of Iberia and speak synonymously of this same country as "Iberia" and "Hispania". According to others the name of "Iberia" solely referred to the northern part of the Ebre (...). But though the Romans called the country as a whole both "Iberia" and "Hispania" synonymously, they spoke of one division of it as Ulterior and of the other as Citerior”. (Strabo, Geographika, III, 4, 19). In this precisely detailed manner, the Greek Strabo set out the Iberians' northern border. More recent studies tell us that IBERIA is the name that was given to the territory inhabited by the Iberians, which started beyond the Rhone and Hérault rivers in western Languedoc and finished at the Guadiana estuary which was in the Iberian Peninsula, by the Jonians as well as the Greeks in general. Hecateus of Miletus (Jonia 540-475 BC) did not brand the Peninsula as a whole with a name, whereas he defined Gaul as Kéltike or land of the Celts. Polybius of Megalópolis (3rd century BC) maintained that Iberia was the eastern part of the Peninsula and the rest of it "does not yet have a common or general name". Herodotus of Halicarnassus (484-425 BC) talked about Iberia when he explained that the Jonians were the first to discover it, placing the Celts or keltes in the rest of the Peninsula. Pliny, in Natural History, designated the Mediterranean strip occupied by the Iberians as Mare Ibericum. Ptolomy (2nd century AD) stated that "the peninsula is found between the Balearic Sea, the Iberian Sea and the Pillars of Heracles, which lead to the Outer Sea". Polybius, Strabo and Herodotus (484-425 BC), the first Greek geographers and historians, defined the Iberians as natives as opposed to the Celts, who had recently arrived in Europe, considering that the Iberians had a common culture and language which was centuries old. However, it was Strabo who left us one of the most interesting descriptions of the end of the Iberians and how they were Romanised: "The Turdetanians have, in addition to a rich land, gentle and cultivated customs [...]. Nonetheless, the Turdetanians, mainly those who live on the banks of the Betis, have completely acquired the Roman way of life, to the point of forgetting their own language; the majority of them have become "latin", the Roman colonies have taken root, and it will not take much for them to become Romans" (Strabo, Geographika, III). It is possible that the situation in Turdetania, specifically the change in eras, could be applied to the other Iberian territories, especially the most Romanised: Contestania and Edetania.   Info: en More photos... RECONSTRUCTION OF HECATAEUS' MAP ANCIENT MAP BY HERODOTUS STRABO HERODOTUS    North Zone en description   Creation Year: 2008   The identification and characterisation of the Iberian or "Ibero- Languedocienne" culture of western Languedoc and Roussillon (France) in the last few decades has reached a peak and the investigations which illustrate the cultural process in this area are numerous. It was a process of Iberisation which was similar and parallel to that in other regions, for example the north-east. They have left us with interpretations of materials which have been exhumed in sites, as results of the Iberian invasions. The Iberian culture of Languedoc and Roussillon was strongly influenced by the Hellenistic influx from the western Greek colonies from the 6th century BC, and especially from 400 BC in which they founded Adge in the estuary of the Hérault. This colony was situated on the border between the Iberian and Ligurian territories. Thanks to ancient sources we know that the northern region was inhabited by two tribes: the Elisics in Languedoc and the Sordons in Roussillon. Among the most notable oppida belonging to the Elisics we have to mention urban centres such as Ensérune, Béziers/Baeterra and Pech-Maho. The last was an oppidum or walled town which enjoyed a great deal of commercial activity. It was strategically situated on the "frontier" with the second tribe which occupied the south of France, the Sordons, and it controlled the Passage of Heracles which directly passed by the town. Regarding Roussillon and the Sordons, apart from their affiliation with the Elisics, the tribe has been identified within the Iberian culture without any kind of doubt. The most representative population centres are Illiberis/Elna and Ruscino. The second and best known of the two was situated 6 km from the Mediterranean coast and occupied a place of special territorial control. Lastly, it is possible to use the term coined by some authors that the south of France was a "civilisation of oppida" as it experienced a process of evolution similar to, if not the same as, the rest of the areas in the Iberian Peninsula. As with all of the areas, the Romanisation of the Peninsula signified the end of the Iberian culture.   Info: en    North-east Zone en description   Creation Year: 2008   The north-east of the Iberian Peninsula, which corresponds to what is now Catalonia and the north of the Valencian region, was characterised by having an important substratum from the Urn-fields period like Iberian culture in the south of France, which was Celtic in nature. Furthermore, we must highlight the relation between the proto-Iberian societies in this area and the colonies of eastern merchants based in the west of the Mediterranean in the 7th century BC (among other colonies Ibiza, founded by the Phoenicians and Empúries, founded by the Greeks). These contacts gave rise to the evolution of some settlements to specialised commercial centres in the middle of the 6th century BC, which later became part of the great spheres of influence and trade in the ancient world. Another feature which characterised the north-east may be its economy, which represented the difference between the coastal and inland areas. In the coastal areas, which were eminently agricultural, there have been regular discoveries of fields of silos. Inland, on the other hand, farming was the predominant activity. The most notable tribes in the NE were: The Ilercavons, who occupied modern-day Castelló and the south of the province of Tarragona. Among the most important of their settlements were El Puig de la Nau in Benicarló (Castelló) and La Moleta del Remei in Alcanar (Tarragona), both of which existed during a proto-Iberian period. The first contained a particular kind of urbanism and architecture which was not common in the rest of Levantine Iberia. La Moleta was an important commercial enclave which received Greek and Punic influences. The Cesetans, based in the centre and north of what is now the province of Tarragona, might be represented by the site at Les Toixoneres/Alorda Park, Calafell, connected to coastal commercial activity and with control over the communication routes towards the inland areas. The Indigetians were situated in the extreme north-east of Catalonia. The most important Indigetian town was El Puig de Sant Andreu in Ullastret, Girona, possibly the tribe's capital, which had a surface area of more than 11 hectares and a complex urbanism marked by Greek influences from Emporion, which was nearby. The Layetanians, who populated the central and coastal Catalonian areas (the province of Barcelona), built one of the best known oppida in Catalonia, El Puig Castellar in Santa Coloma de Gramenet, Barcelona, a small settlement which was inhabited between the 6th and 2nd centuries BC. Lastly, the Ausetanians who were based in Plana de Vic had, among their notable settlements, the oppidum of L'Esquerda in Roda de Ter, Barcelona, which was fundamental for commerce. It was placed in a site which controlled the communication route between Girona and Plana de Vic.   Info: en    The West The Ponent Zone   Creation Year: 2008   Western Iberia, which corresponds with what is now the east of Aragón and the south-west of Catalonia, was inhabited, among others, by two major Iberian confederations: the Sedetanians and the Ilergetanians who had shared some cultural traits during the Late Bronze Age. One of the distinctive features of this area is the fact that the Iberian culture appears to have been established like an "import", ready formed from the coast of the Mediterranean Peninsular. It is necessary to add, and emphasise, the function of the Ebre as an access and communication route. Via this important river, which could be navigated until past Zaragoza (in Celtic-Iberian territory), this penetration was made, bringing cultural elements from the coast as well as Mediterranean commercial activity, initially Phoenician-Punic and later Greek (at the beginning of the 5th century BC). The Sedetanians, who inhabited the Mid Ebre Valley, were closely linked to their neighbours the Ilergetanians, as we have already mentioned, however also to the Ilercavons. They had a very interesting oppidum: El Cabezo de Alcalá of Azaila, Teruel, which contained an urbanism which made it an authentic city and in which various periods of population have been documented. We must add to this that it occupied a determined strategic position: 15 km from the River Ebre. Lastly, it is necessary to highlight the oppidum of San Antonio of Calaceite in Teruel, which is maybe the best known site in the territory of Aragón. It included a complex urban evolution which developed during a period of occupation covering only two centuries (from the 5th to the 3rd centuries BC). The capital city of the Ilergetanians, who inhabited what is now the west of Catalonia and part of Aragón, was Iltirta-Lleida, a practically unknown city. Some of the most important settlements in their territory are El Molí d'Espígol de Tornabous and Els Vilars of Arbeca in Lleida. The first of them has been identified by some authors as Athanagrum in ancient sources which was the temporary capital of Ilergetania. With regards to the oppidum of Arbeca, it was a true stronghold which was occupied from the 7th century BC, i.e. from the late Urn-fields, until the 4th century BC.   Info: en More photos... en description en description en description en description    Central Zone en description Click for multimedia presentation:en description description   Creation Year: 2008   The central Iberian area was inhabited by two very important tribes: The Contestanians and the Edetanians. The Contestanian territory encompassed the south-eastern zone of the Peninsula (the provinces of Alacant, the south of València, Albacete and a large part of Murcia). The first written references come from the hand of geographers and historians such as Pliny (the 2nd half of the 1st century BC) and Ptolomy (2nd century). In the Iberian world, the Contestanian area was one of the richest and most varied, with exceptional artistic and scriptual features and it was an important coastal town which facilitated the importation of foreign products (especially Punic and Greek). One of the features particular to this region is the discovery of inscriptions on sheets of lead (La Serreta, La Bastida de les Alcuses, and others) which demonstrate the coexistence and use of three scriptural systems: the Jonian (Greek) alphabet, Turdetanian and Iberian or northern. A notable aspect with regards to artistic forms is sculpture, the majority of pieces coming from sanctuaries and necropolises (Cabezo Lucero, Cerro de los Santos, El Cigarralejo, and so on). The medium for rounded sculptures was limestone and bronze for small figures. Regarding ceramics, Contestanian sites have brought us numerous examples with a unique decorative style which was named Elx-Archena or symbolic style. Furthermore, these sites have revealed imported materials (Greek, Punic and Italic). As regards places of worship, three kinds of sanctuaries have been documented: urban (La Illeta dels Banyets), entrance (La Escuera) and extra-urban (among others, Cerro de los Santos and El Cigarralejo). In terms of Contestanian necropolises, different types of burial have been documented: cremations in pits, mound burials and pillar-stele. The area occupied by the Edetanians corresponds to the eastern zone of the Peninsula, basically the province of Valencia and the south of Castelló. Some of the most important population centres were La Punta d'Orleyl and Sant Josep (Vall d'Uixo; Arse-Saguntum and Grau Vell (Sagunt); Edeta-Sant Miquel de Llíria (Llíria); El Tòs Pelat (Moncada-Bétera); La Carència (Turís) and Kelin (Caudete de las Fuentes). The first mention of this tribe and their region (Regio Edetania) can be found in the works of classical authors such as Strabo, Pliny and Ptolomy. One of the differentiating features of the Edetanians, in reference to scripture, is the use of a single alphabet, the northern or Levantine. Regarding ceramics, studies of painted decoration identify the narrative style of Oliva-Llíria with the Edetanian territory. At the end of the 3rd century BC three Edetanian towns minted coins: Arse, Kelin and Kili.   Info: en More photos... en description en description en description en description    South-orientale en description   Creation Year: 2008   The south-east of the Iberian territory was occupied by Oretanians and Bastetanians, among others, and they were gathered around a central zone which coincides with the Spanish provinces of Jaén and Granada respectively. The Oretanian tribe was saturated with Turdetanian and Tartessian cultural influences, and also influences from the eastern colonies (Phoenician-Punic) based on the south coast of modern-day Andalusia. Features which are representative of their urban development between the 5th and 4rth centuries BC are a series of urban centres which include: Obulco (Porcuna), Iliturgis, Cástulo and Mentesa (La Guardia), in Jaén, and Oretum (Granátula de Calatrava), in Ciudad Real. If there is something which characterises this zone, in addition to the mentioned oppida, it is the ensemble of documented sanctuaries, among the best known, El Cerro del Pajarillo and El Collado de los Jardines. Regarding funerary traditions, differences between the Oretanians and Bastetanians can be observed. In the case of Oretanian necropolises, monuments above paved bases have been documented (Estacar de Robarinas); those of the Bastetanians can be identifed by chamber or well graves (Toya, Castellones de Ceal, and more). In terms of language, everything indicates that this zone was linguistically connected to the northern, north-eastern and central Iberian areas. The Bastetanians had a personalised culture, which they made felt through their intensive contacts with the Filo-Greek populations of the south-east (the Contestanians and Edetanians). The richness and strongly hierarchical nature of the Bastetanian society are reflected in their necropolises, where we find extravagent tombs beside others which are very modest. The Necropolis at Baza is an example of this extravagance, in which there was a tomb full of furnishings being safeguarded by a great seated sculpture (Dama de Baza). As for the Bastetanian sanctuaries, a model could be that of Ilurco (Pinos Puente), an open-air place of worship in which many offerings have been documented, in the form of stone slabs with reliefs of horses, dedicated to a deity who may be the goddess Potnia hippon. The similarity of some of these offerings with those from the sanctuary of El Cigarralejo (Mula, Murcia) and with a group from Alhonoz (Sevilla) is obvious and does nothing more than re-affirm a religious link.   Info: en    South-occidentale en description   Creation Year: 2008   The southern area of the Iberian culture can be subdivided into two parts, whose limits are vaguely defined and superimposed: the south-west and the south-east. The first was based around the Andalusian provinces of Cádiz, Sevilla, Huelva and part of Córdoba. It was mainly occupied by the Turdetanians, whose axis of communication and economy were the rivers Betis (Guadalquivir) and Guadiana. The Turdetanian tribe, heirs to the Tartessian cultural legacy, began their flourit or peak at the beginning of the 5th century BC. With the arrival of the Punics in the Iberian Peninsula, in the middle of the 3rd century BC, Turdetania entered a period of decline from its cultural splendour. At the end of the 3rd century BC a new force came onto the "scene", the Romans, under whose control the phase which we call Late Iberia began and it was followed by the Romanisation of the Iberians. According to Strabo, the Turdetanians were prosperous. He stated that when the Carthagians arrived, they were surprised to see that this tribe was so rich in metals that their buckets and mangers were made of silver (Geographika, III, 2, 14) They had well fortified towns (oppida) which controlled vast territories and some of them were governed by monarchies. Regarding their funerary world, everything seems to indicate that the Turdetanians decorated the tombs of their oligarchs with sculptures, generally zoomorphic (lions, bulls, and other animals). Within their sculptural art, the most famous ensembles are those found in Osuna, Baena, Castro del Río, Nueva Carteya or Santaella. Of all the Turdetanian sanctuaries, the most extensively studied is that of Torreparedones (between Castro del Río and Baena, Córdoba). A group of stone offerings was found there and, among them, a small female head which had an inscription in Latin on the front. There is also an anatomical offering which came from this site, representing a leg covered in Latin inscriptions. These discoveries suggest that Turdetanian sanctuaries continued to be used by the Romanised Iberians and that, little by little, the Iberian religion became synchronised with that of the Romans, as it had done previously with the Phoenician-Punic and Greek.   Info: en