Iberians

The Iberians or Iberians was what the ancient Greek writers called the people of the eastern and southern Iberian Peninsula to distinguish them from the peoples of the interior, whose culture and customs were different. They were mentioned by Hecataeus of Miletus, Herodotus, Strabo, Avienus and Diodorus Siculus citing them with these names (at least from the VI century). BC): Elisices, Sordones, Ceretanos, Airenosinos, Andosinos, Bergistanos, Ausetanos, Indigetes, Castilians, Lacetanos, Laietanos, Cossetanos, Ilergetas, Iacetanos, Suessetanos, Sedetanos, Ilercavones, Edetanos, Contestanos, Oretanos, Bastetanos and Turdetanos.

Geographically, Strabo and Appian named the territory of the Iberian Peninsula Iberia.

History

Although the classical sources do not always agree on the precise geographical limits or the enumeration of specific towns, it seems that the language is the fundamental criterion that identified them as Iberians from the point of view of the Greeks and Romans, since the inscriptions In the Iberian language they appear roughly in the territory that the classical sources assign to the Iberians: the coastal zone that goes from the south of Languedoc-Roussillon to Alicante, which penetrates inland through the Ebro valley, through the Segura valley, a large part of southern and eastern La Mancha up to the Guadiana river and through the upper valley of the Guadalquivir.

From the current archaeological point of view, the concept of Iberian culture is not a pattern that is repeated uniformly in each of the peoples identified as Iberians, but the sum of individual cultures that often present similar features, but that they are clearly different from others and that sometimes they share with peoples not identified as Iberians.

Historical references

The first reference to the Iberians is through Greek historians and geographers. Interestingly, the Greeks also called a people of present-day Georgia, known as Caucasian Iberia, Iberians. At first, the Greeks used the word Ibero to designate the western Mediterranean coast, and later, to designate all the tribes of the peninsula. They also called Iberia to the group of their towns.

Retreat found in the necropolis Lucentum (o) Akra Leuké), archaeological group of the Tossal de Manises (province of Alicante). Currently at the Archaeological Museum of Alicante.

Polybius was a Greek historian of the 2nd century BC. C. who lived for a time on the peninsula. Polybius literally says:

It is called Iberia to the part that falls on Our Sea (Mediterranean), from the columns of Heracles. But the part that falls to the Great Sea or the Outer Sea (Atlantic), has no common name to all of it, because it has been recently recognized. Polibio

The first descriptions of the Iberian Mediterranean coast come from Avienus in his Ora maritima, from the voyage of a sailor from Massalia a thousand years before (530 BC):

The majority of the authors refer that the Iberians are so called just by this river, but not by that river that bathes the riotous Basques. For the whole area of this village which is next to such river, in the west direction, is called Iberia. However, the eastern area encompasses tarts and cilbicenos.

Avieno, Ora maritima.

Appianus speaks of towns and cities, although they had already disappeared in his time. He also describes the westernmost part of Andalusia. Strabo makes a description of this area based on previous authors, and refers to the cities of Turdetania, as descendants of the Tartessos culture. In general, authors such as Pliny the Elder and other Latin historians limit themselves to speaking in passing about these towns as antecedents of Roman Hispania.

Arriano affirms that the Iberians were among the European peoples who sent emissaries to Alexander the Great in 324 BC. C., requesting his friendship.

Warrior of the double armor (sixth century BC), from the archaeological site of the White Cerrillo (Porcuna, Jaén).

In order to study the Iberians, we have resorted, in addition to literary sources, to epigraphic, numismatic, and archaeological sources.

Origin and extension of the Iberians

According to Quesada: "the idea that the origin of the Iberians is unknown is, to a large extent, a fallacy." The Iberians were native to the Iberian Peninsula since the Iberian culture was born and developed in that territory in a process that began around the 6th century BC. C. and ended with their Romanization. Along the same lines, Rafael Ramos states that he argues that the origins of the Iberian peoples are found in the primitive population of the Late Bronze Age who inhabited the lands in which their culture developed: "the Iberians did not come to our lands from anywhere because they were already here.

Although these peoples shared certain common characteristics, they were not a homogeneous ethnic group since they diverged in many aspects. It is necessary to differentiate three large areas in the territory of the Iberian Peninsula: the Turdetan or Tartessian, the Levantine or properly Iberian and the Northeast of the peninsula, to which we would have to add the North Pyrenees in the Languedoc.

The assimilation and integration by the natives of orientalizing currents from the Mediterranean Levant Phoenician-Punic, Egyptian, Syrian, Cypriot, Anatolian and also Greek, Etruscan and Suritalic, throughout an evolutionary process of five centuries, originated the emergence of an autochthonous cultural complex, original and different from the rest of the material culture of other Mediterranean peoples; Thus, while on the Andalusian coast the Semitic cultural component was predominant, the Northeast area would have been under the influence of the Greek Phocean culture (Massalia, Emporion and Rhode mainly) and the region located between both areas would have known how to assimilate both influences to configure its own idiosyncrasy. It also seems probable that the Tartessian material culture began to decline at the same time that the Iberian one was consolidated: from the 5th century B.C. C. the peninsular Levantine creations begin to influence it but it is from the IV century B.C. C. with the expansion of Iberian sculpture and the Greek influence in general when it becomes more evident.

The supposed maximum limits of the Iberian expansion would have reached from the French South to the Portuguese Algarve and the north of the African coast.

However, later, the Iberian peoples exercised a lot of influence over other peoples in the interior of the peninsula. This influence can be seen in the arrival of the potter's wheel in many areas of the northern plateau of the peninsula, especially in the bordering towns of the Ebro Valley, and even in some more distant ones such as Arevacos, Pelendones or Vacceos. But it is above all in numismatics and Celtiberian writing (adoption of the Iberian signatory) where its influence is most noticeable.

The Iberians were, in short, the different peoples that evolved from the different preceding proto-state cultures towards an increasingly urban and sophisticated society, seeing themselves helped in this evolution by the influence of the Phoenicians, first, and then the Greeks and Punic, which will bring with them luxury elements that will help, as prestigious goods, to the internal differentiation of the various social groups that already from the s. IV a. C. marks, if not an isonomy, a lesser social distance between the aristocracies and the classes of free men, citizens and peasants. It is possible that Iberian societies evolved towards a double model of city-states such as Arse (Sagunto) and grouping into territorial states such as the Guadalquivir Valley, as can be seen in written sources, especially in Polibio and Tito Livio who they speak interchangeably of cities ("poleis", "civitates") and peoples or nations ("ethnos", "populi")

Origin of the proto-Iberian peoples

About 9,500 years ago, the last hunter-gatherer communities that occupied the Iberian Peninsula began to systematically bury themselves in cemeteries, a habit that is linked to the progressive sedentarization of these societies and a significant change in the relationship between their territories with economic activities. The oldest necropolis in the Iberian Peninsula is in Oliva (Valencia). The remains date back between 9,500 and 8,500 years, thus demonstrating a long tradition of settlement in the Iberian Peninsula.

With respect to the initial bases on which the oriental influences would establish the origin of the Iberian culture, three substrata or areas can be distinguished: Tartesos, Valencian-Argaric Late Bronze Age and Urn Fields of the Northeast of the peninsula. The origin of these Late Bronze Age towns is not known in detail, although there are several theories that try to establish it:

• One hypothesis suggests that they reached the Iberian peninsula in the Neolithic period, and their arrival dates from the fifth millennium before Christ to the third millennium before Christ. Most of the studies that adopt this theory are supported by archaeological, anthropological and genetic evidence, estimating that the Iberians came from the Mediterranean regions more east.^{[chuckles]required]}
• Other studies have suggested that the Iberians initially would have settled along the eastern coast of Spain and, possibly, later spread by the Iberian peninsula to expand also to other Mediterranean regions such as southern France and northern Africa.^{[chuckles]required]}
• Another alternative hypothesis states that they were part of the original inhabitants of Western Europe and the creators/hereders of the great megalithic culture that arises throughout this area, a theory that genetic studies have ruled out, because the genetic profile of the pather lineages between the iberos is only stool (R1b) there are no traces of any of the pathernal lineages of Neolithic times or prior to the peninsula. C. The iberos would be somewhat similar to the Indo-European populations of the first millennium before Christ of Ireland, Great Britain and France, although they present other paleo-European pather lineages that we do not see yet among the iberos. The paternal genetic profile of the Iberians is almost the same as that of the Basques of that time, and something different from that of the celtibers. Later, the Celts would cross the Pyrenees into two major migrations: in the 9th and 7th century B. C.^{[chuckles]required]}
• The most credible hypothesis currently followed by the main ibericists is that of an origin in the Culture of the Urnas Fields (also carriers of paternal lineage stool). This hypothesis considers that kinship between the Iberian, Basque and northern languages should be translated into historical and cultural terms in some common factor that would justify the expansion of this linguistic family in a vast territory in a few centuries. Thus, it is predicted that this family of languages would come from a demographically invasive layer that would form part of the culture of Campos de Urnas, since on the Iberian peninsula the area of diffusion of this culture basically coincides with the territory of diffusion of the Iberian language, in addition to the custom of cremating the deceased and keeping their ashes and remains of bones burned in urns.

Iberian language

The Iberian language in the context of the paleo-Hispanic languages.

The Iberian language is a paleo-Hispanic language that is documented in writing, fundamentally, in northeastern (or Levantine) Ibero signary and occasionally in southeastern (or southern) Ibero signary and in Greco-Iberian alphabet. The oldest inscriptions in this language date back to the end of the 5th century B.C. C. and the most modern (amphoras found in Vieille-Toulouse, Haute-Garonne) around the first half of the 2nd century AD. c.

The texts in the Iberian language can be read reasonably well, thanks to Gómez-Moreno's deciphering of the alphabet, but for the most part they are incomprehensible, since the Iberian language is a language without relatives close enough to its time to be understandable, to have been useful for the translation of texts.

After the years that have elapsed since the decipherment, there have been a series of slow advances that, although not very spectacular, already allow a glimmer of understanding of inscriptions of little length (mainly funerary or property on instrumentum), in addition to intuiting some grammatical or typological characteristics.

Extension and variants

The Iberian language, in its different variants, was spoken in the wide coastal strip that extends from the south of Languedoc-Roussillon to Alicante, and penetrated inland through the Ebro valley, the Júcar valley, the del Segura and the upper valley of the Guadalquivir up to the Guadiana river as the northwest limit. The inscriptions in the Iberian language appear on a wide variety of materials: silver and bronze coins, lead sheets, Attic ceramics, black varnish ceramics A and B, painted ceramics, pains, amphoras, fusayolas, stelae, stone plates, mosaics, etc.. It is, by far, the paleohispanic language with the most written documents found, some two thousand inscriptions, which represent 95% of the total.

Scriptures

The Iberian scriptures in the context of the paleo-Hispanic scriptures.

Ullastret lead reproduction, end of the centuryIVa. C.

The Iberian script constitutes one of the main testimonies of cultural development with its own personality of the Iberians. Three types of paleohispanic scripts are known: the southwestern, the southern, and the Levantine Iberian script. In addition, the Iberian language was written with the Ionic alphabet, practically only in contestant territory, as witnessed by some lead found in La Serreta de Alcoy, graffiti on ceramics from Isleta de Campello (both in Alicante) and lead from El Cigarralejo (Mula, Murcia). The Iberian-Levantine script is the best known, and was deciphered in the 1920s by Manuel Gómez-Moreno.

However, to date, it has not been possible to translate it, so it is not possible to understand what the texts say. It is a mixed type of writing, syllabic and alphabetic, which possibly comes from an older script of Phoenician or Cypriot origin. The discovery of ceramic graffiti from Tartessian sites such as Cabezo de San Pedro, in Huelva, with a chronology between the mid-9th century and the mid-8th century BC. C., suggest that the adoption of the Southern and SW scripts occurred early, which would explain the introduction of archaic forms of the Phoenician alphabet, used before the VIII a. C. This alphabet would be adapted to the Tartessian language, with the introduction of syllabic signs, giving rise to the primitive Paleohispanic signatory and which will be the origin of the SW writing used on the Tartessian stelae. The meridional script was used in Alta Andalucía and in the southeast, including the Contestania, persisting until early Roman times.

This script was later adapted to the Iberian language, possibly in the territory of Contestania, giving rise to the Ibero-Levantine script (which is written from left to right, unlike the southern one), coexisting with the southern and Iberian script -Ionian, and from there it spread to the rest of the Iberian territory. The fact that in Contestania the use of three ways of writing the Iberian language is documented (Southern, Levantine and Ibero-Ionian script), suggests to some authors (J. de Hoz, see references) that it would be in this territory where it was produced. the appearance of the Levantine Iberian script from the southern one.

The processes of commercial exchange facilitated the spread of Levantine writing throughout the Mediterranean arc and the Ebro valley (along with other cultural manifestations such as Iberian ceramics), where it was used to write Celtiberian in the 1st century BC. C. (eg, Botorrita bronzes from Contrebia Belaisca and monetal alphabet), and when it was practically no longer used in its place of origin. In Contestania and Edetania we find texts written in lead (La Serreta, La Bastida de las Alcusas, this in southern script) and on ceramics (San Miguel de Liria), mainly. It is possible that other supports were used (wood, papyrus, skins) of which there is no evidence. An interesting question arises in relation to which social strata knew and used writing. An application related to religious and commercial practices seems likely. It is possible that the ruling classes used it as a method of merchandise control (graffiti on ceramics indicating origin, destination, or owner), without ruling out magical practices related to certain cults, as suggested by their presence in votive deposits (as in the plomo from Amarejo) and sanctuaries, as well as ceramics and funerary types (stelas, such as the one from Sinarcas).

Romanization caused the use of the Iberian script to disappear in parallel to a progressive Latinization. In some places, such as Sagunto or the Ebro valley, it lasted until the Republican era, its use practically disappearing around the I century a. C. A relevant exception is the sigillata fragment with bilingual inscription from Tossal de Manises, deposited in the MARQ. However, some authors suspect that it may be a forgery since, although the piece is old, the inscription may not be as it sinks into some uncorked parts of the piece.

Basque Iberism

Basque-Iberism is a working hypothesis on the structure and phylogenetic relationship of the Iberian language, which in its extreme version intended to translate texts in the Iberian language through the Basque language. However, the various proposals for translations based on Basque have not been grammatically consistent, nor do they allow the inscriptions to be translated. One of the main criticisms of the Iberian Basque "translators" is that Iberian interpreted in the light of their translations does not seem to have a recognizable regular grammar, existing only similarities in form with the Basque lexicon. Today this extreme identification vision does not have academic support, since it is absurd to try to translate a language of two thousand years ago with a current language descended from an ancient language, even if it was very close to the previous one.

Without fully identifying between languages, many scholars of the Iberian language recognize certain affinities between the Iberian language and the Basque language, or more correctly, with its oldest variant, the Aquitanian language, to the point that for some these affinities would already be enough to affirm that they belong to the same family. These affinities, however, are interpreted by many authors, especially followers of Mitxelena, as a sprachbund type influence rather than as a sign of real phylogenetic kinship.

Proto-Basque or Aquitanian and Iberian could be languages with a certain linguistic relationship. A series of common elements can be seen in Iberian inscriptions, in the reconstructed Proto-Basque and in current Basque.

• They share the five vowels a, e, i, o, u (which Spanish has inherited), although these vowels are found in other languages of Eurasia.
• They use the vibrating consonant multiple sound alveolar, r (which inherits Spanish), although this fonema is found in many other languages of Eurasia.
• Absence in Iberian and Basque of vibrant single or multiple initial alveolar. The same is appreciated in other languages of Eurasia, especially in the hierarchy.
• Absence of consonant after initial s (inherited by Spanish). The same is appreciated in other languages of Eurasia, especially in the hierarchy.
• Absence of groups of more than two consonants. The same is appreciated in other languages of Eurasia, especially in the hierarchy.
• Presence of prefix e-. The same is appreciated in other Eurasia languages.
• Presence of suffixes -k, -ik(i). The same is appreciated in other languages of Eurasia, especially in the hierarchy.
• The root of most words is syllable. The same is appreciated in other Eurasia languages.

It has been proposed that they could share certain suffixes with the same use.

• -ku: ablative in Iberian, related to genitivo -ko in Basque. The same is appreciated in other languages of Eurasia.
• -in: genitive/possive. The same is appreciated in other languages of Eurasia, especially in the hierarchy.
• -k: identical use as a plural marker in Basque or Iberian. The same is appreciated in other languages of Eurasia, especially in the hierarchy.

It has been proposed (but not yet proven) that they may share a certain lexicon.

Coincidences between Iberian and Basque numerals have been proposed (but not yet proven). However, none of the Iberian dice found to date with signs (acrophones) on each of the six faces confirm these Basque-Iberian proposals (perhaps only two of the numerals), but they do present a total coincidence (for the six numbers) with Altaic numerals.

System coincidences for constructing large numbers have been proposed (but not yet proven), such as:

abaŕ-ke-bi --- hama.bi 'twelve' (10+2) oŕkei-(a)baŕ-ban -- hogei.ta.(ha)maika thirty-one (20+11)

Cultural influences on Iberian culture

The origin of the local cultural substratum that influenced the Iberians dates back, at least, to the first Mediterranean Neolithic: the agro-fishing culture of printed-cardial ceramics, which spread from the Adriatic to the west, strongly influencing the the Paleolithic aborigines and assimilating all the coastal regions of the western Mediterranean in the 5th millennium BC. c.

Around 2600 B.C. C. the Chalcolithic civilization developed in eastern Andalusia, which can be seen in the sites of Los Millares (Almería) and Marroquíes Bajos (Jaén), closely related to the Portuguese culture of Vila Nova and perhaps (not proven) with some Mediterranean culture Eastern (Cyprus).

Circa 1800 B.C. C., this culture is replaced by that of El Argar (bronze), which develops independently and seems to be greatly influenced in its B phase (from 1500 BC) by contemporary Aegean cultures (burials in pithoi ).

About 1300 B.C. C., coinciding with the invasion of the peninsular northwest by Indo-European peoples,^{[citation needed]} The Argar, which could well have been a centralized state, gave way to a culture « post-Argaric», of independent fortified towns, in the same area. After the founding of Marseille by the Phocians (around 600 BC), the Iberians reconquered the northeast from the Celts,^{[citation required]} allowing the creation of new establishments Greeks south of the Pyrenees.

Communities established at the end of the Bronze Age are considered indigenous substrate when speaking of Iberian culture. Basically there are four foci: El Argar, the Manchego Bronze culture, the Valencian Bronze culture and the urn fields of the Northeast.

Relations with other peoples

The area of predominantly Iberian culture covered the entire Mediterranean coast, from present-day Andalusia to southern France, including part of the Ebro valley. They experienced Phoenician influences and, later, Greek influences through contacts with the colonies that were established in strategic areas of the Mediterranean coast and the Atlantic south of the peninsula.

Non-Iberian peninsular peoples

A large part of the west, north and center of the peninsula belongs to a non-Iberian culture, of peoples settled in Paleolithic and Mesolithic times; from the 8th century BC. C. large contingents of Celtic immigrants will be added who, gradually, will settle on the plateau and in the Atlantic coastal areas. They will be influenced by the Phoenician and Greek cultures, indirectly, through their relations with the Iberian peoples.

Phoenicians

Ancient Iberia was the object of the commercial interests of the Phoenicians, a people with a maritime tradition who, according to classical historians, around the century IX a. C. he founded his first overseas colony in the Atlantic, at the other end of the Mediterranean, Gádir 𐤀𐤂𐤃𐤓 (Cádiz) for its strategic value (dominance of the passage of the Strait) and commercial value (mineral wealth in the region of Huelva). They also founded other colonies, mainly in the southwest of the peninsula, such as Toscanos (Torre del Mar), Malaka (Málaga), Sexi (Almuñécar) or Abdera (Adra), in Almería.

By bartering manufactured goods for raw materials, they monopolized the metal trade and boosted the salting industry. There is evidence of mining operations in the peninsula for metals (gold, silver and tin), in the Río Tinto area, and in others in the province of Huelva. These farms brought wealth, not only to the Phoenicians, but also to the chiefs of the area, having found various "treasures" in some necropolises of the time. There is no news of great revolts or wars.

Greeks

Lady of Elche.

Greek colonization had two objectives: commercial and to alleviate the demographic problem of the Greek polis. They disclosed the alphabet and the use of currency. They also practiced exchanges with the natives, of wine, oil and manufactures (ceramics, bronzes) for raw materials (gold, silver, lead, cereals, esparto grass and salted meats). The Phocian Greeks, coming from Asia Minor, founded settlements on the northeastern Mediterranean coast, such as (Marseille); later Rhode (Rosas), in the Gulf of Rosas and Emporion (Ampurias), on the peninsula; also commercial centers, more or less stable, such as Hemeroscopio, Baria (Villaricos), Malaka, Mainake, Salauris, Portus Menesthei, Callipolis and Alonis.

Carthaginians

The Carthaginians were a people of Phoenician origin who settled in Carthage Qart Hadašt (in present-day Tunisia). They became independent from the metropolis when Tire declined under Assyrian rule. With its unbeatable strategic location, in the middle of the Mediterranean, it led all the Phoenician colonies in the west, including the factories of Iberia, which shipped silver, tin and salted fish.

As a result of the enormous debt they contracted with Rome in the first Punic war, Carthage undertook the conquest of the Mediterranean regions of the Iberian peninsula to create a new Carthaginian empire; Amílcar Barca from Cádiz , his only place, began the invasion of the Betis river valley, whose kinglets surrendered by force or diplomacy, joining the invading army. The new surveys filled the Carthaginian coffers with silver and after nine years of war, they had obtained the silver and the mercenaries of Iberia for Carthage. Hamilcar died in 229 B.C. C. in a skirmish against the oretanos.

His son-in-law, Asdrúbal, continued his work although using a policy of alliances with the Iberian kings; the city of Qart Hadasht (Cartagena) was founded and a treaty was established with the Romans setting the limits of influence of the two empires on the Ebro river. The Carthaginians took over the entire southern part of the peninsula, from the Levant to the Gulf of Valencia, and they may have also dominated the territory of the Oretanos. Hasdrubal is assassinated in the year 221.

Aníbal Barca (Hannibal), at only 25 years old, is elected the new general by his army; he invades the territory of the olcades and penetrates the territories of the central plateau the following year, occupying the cities of Toro and Salamanca; Once the tributes were paid, he returned to Cartago Nova with numerous hostages, being attacked by a coalition army of carpetanos, vacceos and olcades, whom he defeated next to the Tagus. The attack on the city of Sagunto unleashes the second Punic war which ends with the defeat of Hannibal, the decline of Carthaginian power and the Roman conquest of the Iberian Peninsula. During this time, Istolacio stood out, and his brother Indortes, Celtic generals of the mercenary armies (Diodorus 25. 10).

Romanization

The dominance of Rome was established without the need to impose, from the outset, a new imaginary, approaching the uses and customs of the Iberians, their way of life, their language and their writing that were not an obstacle to integrate in the Roman world. Even during the first part of Romanization there was a resurgence of Iberian culture that became more firmly established, giving rise to a more united Iberian identity and imaginary that would put an end to the articulation of smaller entities.

Despite everything, the Iberian culture ended up being diluted in the Roman Empire without leaving a trace, without providing a "rosetta stone" that would help to decipher their language.

Rome decided to conquer the Iberian Peninsula because of the large amount of resources it possessed and its strategic value.

The conquering process lasted nearly two hundred years and was carried out in several stages: the Scipios (218–197 BC) occupied the Mediterranean fringe, the Ebro valley and the Guadalquivir valley, although not without difficulties. Later, they conquered the Plateau and Lusitania (Portugal). The Iberian warriors preferred death to having to surrender their weapons. The peoples that inhabited these areas offered great resistance, such as the Lusitanian guerrillas with Viriato and the Numantinos with Celtiberian leaders such as Retógenes el Caraunio (App. Iber. 93). Later (29 to 19 BC) they subdued the Cantabrians and Astures, thus dominating the entire peninsula, although the violent resistance required the presence of Emperor Augustus. Hispania was administratively divided into Roman provinces and became a source of raw materials destined for the capital of the Roman Empire.

Ibera society and its social organization

Ibero-century horsemanIIIa. C. Part A of the Call Relieve of Osuna (Sevilla). M.A.N., Madrid.

Although the classical texts speak of very homogeneous forms of government —simplification due to propaganda motives—, the majority of the scientific community believes that there were much more heterogeneous and complex forms of government.

... the iberos, lovers of freedom, who did not accept a boss, but at most in case of war and for short time,...

Adolf Schulten

The Iberian society was strongly hierarchical in various very different social castes, all of them with a perfect and well-defined mission to make a society that depended on itself to maintain its city function correctly.^{[quote required]}

The warrior and noble caste had the most prestige and power within them.^{[citation needed]} Apart from weapons, owning horses also conferred great prestige and reflected power, nobility, and being part of the wealthiest class.

The priestly caste was also of great importance,^{[citation needed]} in which women, as observed in burial mounds, were the link of life and death. The priestesses enjoyed great prestige, since they were the ones who were in continuous contact with the world of the gods, although there were also men who carried out a mystical task, proof of this are the Lusitanian priests, who read the future in the intestines of men. enemy warriors.

Another of the castes was that of the artisans, appreciated because from them came the clothes with which they dressed and protected themselves from the cold, those who made footwear, those who modeled vessels in which to store water and food and, above all,, for being the ones who made them, to measure, weapons and armor with which they distinguished themselves from the other lower castes.

Finally, there were the "plain people," people of various trades who did the hardest jobs.

Iberian clothing

Recreation of Iberian warriors from the sixth and third centuries BC. The Roman historians of the time relate that the Iberian warriors wore red and white clothing and carried a falcata as a weapon.

The Iberians dressed in fabrics of different qualities, depending on their economic power.

• Warriors: According to ancient texts, the most common garment was a cloth dress, like that of the Romans, with the rib in red.
• Ladies: The aristocrats used rich and colorful garments and garments. They covered his body with a robe, highlighting on it large and varied necklaces as well as belts and bracelets, and his head with a series of toquillas and mantle. At least during the 5th - 4th centuries B.C. accompanied their clothing with large slopes, diadems, headdresses and highly recharged hairstyles. The bust, in turn funeral urn, known as Lady of Elche is the clearest example
• Other garments: Another highly valued garment was the sagumA layer of wool, which protected from the hard cold. Another of the garments that still exist today is a fabric that used the warriors as a diadem to collect their hair. His footwear was an alpargatas, which tied to the leg and foot, in the winter they covered their feet and legs with boots of skin and animal hair.

The Iberian warrior

Mogent's warrior.

His character was described by the Greeks, who were fascinated by soldiers who jumped into combat without any fear and who resisted fighting without withdrawing even after the battle had been lost,^{[citation needed ]} the warriors they were referring to were Iberian mercenaries recruited by the Greeks for their own wars.

Economy

We don't know much about Iberian agriculture, but we do know enough to deduce its economic importance. From the study of a good number of pieces of agricultural tools found in the towns of the Valencian area, E. Plá deduced that this, as in other buildings, had come to an adequate specialization, finding the right tool that in many cases has come down to our days.

The agriculture that is practiced is that of dry land, the main crops being cereals, olive trees and vines, for which it is attested already in the century VI to obtain surpluses for sale, as well as legumes (chickpeas, peas, broad beans and lentils). And on the other hand, various fruit species are known, among which the apple tree, the pomegranate and the fig tree stand out. The rich Iberian gastronomy served this variety of food.

Certain industrial crops were also of some importance, especially flax in Saitabi (Játiva). We have extensively documented the industrialization of esparto grass, especially in the Campus Spartarius, north of Cartagena, with a multitude of applications, among which ropes for navigation stand out.

Regarding livestock, it does not seem to have played a predominant role, except perhaps in specific regions, limiting itself to the usual complementary role of agriculture. It is necessary to point out the importance of certain species such as the horse, used in hunting and warfare and probably a symbol of a certain social status insofar as it gives access to these activities. The ox must also have been held in great esteem and the abundance of bovine cattle tells us the frequent mentions of the sagum or Iberian woolen cloak in Roman sources.

Hunting seems to have had a certain importance, as can be deduced from its frequent representation on painted ceramics, although perhaps more as a social activity than an economic one. The wild boar must have been the queen piece, although deer and various smaller species are also hunted along with it.

Iberian art

Porcuna Bear (Jaén), M.A.N., Madrid.

Iberian art has its best manifestations in sculptural works of stone and bronze, wood and fired clay. It offers a great regional variety with cultural features of each zone that is distributed in three well-differentiated zones: Andalusia, the Levante zone and the center of the peninsula.

Sculpture

Lady of Bazah and torque of the tomb 155 of the necropolis of Basti (M.A.N.)

Iberian sculpture appears around 500 B.C. C. and constitutes one of the most important manifestations of Iberian culture in which Mediterranean influences (mainly Greek and Phoenician) and native influences converge. Since the first discoveries, various hypotheses have been raised among specialists regarding its origin.

The different influences are reflected in the works, some with a more oriental style (Pozo Moro), with possible Syro-Hittite influences, and others with a more Ionic appearance (Cerrillo Blanco, Porcuna), with some evocations of Cypriot art and Etruscan. The ladies are bust or full-length figures, who used to stand or sit (sedentes) and who are represented carrying offerings.

The Lady of Elche

It is the best-known piece of Iberian art, dating from around the IV century B.C. C. It represents a full-scale bust of a highly decorated woman, carved on a single block of sandstone of pyramidal proportions, from the "Peligro" quarry on the rocky outcrop of Ferriol. It is in good condition, with slight damage. It preserves traces of the original polychromy, fixed to the stone on a white plaster coating, using Egyptian blue and intense red cinnabar, as well as another more faded red of an organic nature. The jewels were colored in a golden yellowish tone, reminiscent of bronze or gold. Jewelry takes on great prominence as an attribute of representation and clothing is another descriptive display on the part of the sculptor, as it distinguishes the textures of the fabrics.

Without a doubt, it was a work commissioned by the Elche hierarchy to contain the cremated remains of a powerful woman in the hole on her back.

Painting

Iberian painting does not meet the perfection and interest that sculpture offers, but it is not without its importance either, even regardless of the fact that many interesting so-called prehistoric paintings can date from the bronze and iron ages and are, for the same, truly and properly Iberian works of art. Outside of them, Iberian painting is reduced to decorations on numerous vessels and some walls of sepulchral chambers. Its earliest age is attributed to the VI century BC. C. as can be inferred by comparison with the remains of Greek pottery with which the Iberian pottery is sometimes confused and, without a doubt, that it continued through the Punic and Roman civilizations, perhaps until the invasion of the barbarians.

Iberian kaathos decorated. Cave of the Cabuchico (Azuara, Zaragoza), centuryIa. C. Museum of Zaragoza.

Ceramics

With the introduction of the fast lathe by the Phoenicians in the 8th century B.C. C. there is a change in the manufacture of ceramics in the indigenous world, which allows the development of one of the most characteristic manifestations of Iberian culture.

Stages of Iberian ceramics, according to Ruiz-Molinos:

• Iberian I (600/580-540/530 BC), protoibic, final orientalizing. Tripodes vases, glasses with triple handles, forms of red varnish and fenish amphoras.
• Iber II (540/530–450/425 BC), ancient Iberian. Earrings (Oral), glasses with an ade head edge, decoration with bands. Associated with Greek ceramics of massoliota or Emporiton origin, and Asian ceramics of red figures.
• Iberian III (450/425-350/300 BC), initial-plene Iberian. Diversification of forms and motives. Red-Iberian varnish ceramics in the Levante and Andalusia. Apogee of the static ceramic of red figures. At the end (350–300 BC) a sharp cut of Greek ceramic imports occurs.
• Ibérico IV (350/300–175/150 B.C.), full-bodied Iberian. Maximum development of diversification. Apparition of the style of Liria-Oliva. The decorations are varied and include scenes with warriors, collection, textile activities, gentlemen, dancers, musicians, animals, etc. Its end coincides with the appearance of the peasant ceramics and the end of the second Punic War.
• Ibérico V (175/150 a. C.–60 d.), Late Iberian. Linked to Roman productions (campaniense A and B, sigillata). Azaila style, continuation of the Elche-Archena.
• Ibérico VI (60 A.D.-centuryII/IIId. C.). Marginal production with Iberian style in Roman times.

Religion

Religion is a little-known subject of Iberian culture, but in recent years there have been important advances in the knowledge and interpretation of many findings. The fundamental sources are archaeological materials, and the few writings. Among the most relevant materials would be the ex-votos of bronze, terracotta and stone, ceramics and other objects such as votive falcatas.

Sacred Animals

Little is known about the world of the gods of the Iberians, the little that is known is thanks to the writings of ancient historians and philosophers, and the occasional archaeological remains. What is known is that animals such as bulls, wolves, lynxes, or vultures, were part of this world, either as gods, symbols, links with the mortal world and its "spirits" or as gods., or the divine world.

The bull would represent virility and strength. The lynx was linked to the world of the dead. Vultures carried the souls of warriors killed in battle to the world of the gods. Not much else is known, as little information has survived on these matters.

Burials

Ibera funeral box found in Galera.

The Iberians used the rite of cremation, known thanks to the Phoenicians or the trans-Pyrenean peoples who introduced the culture of urn fields.

The ashes were kept in ceramic funerary urns in the shape of a cup, with a lid and without decoration. Others were box-shaped with clawed legs, with a lid and animal decoration. The urns were introduced into pits dug in the ground along with grave goods. The Iberians, to mark the place of the tomb, built burial mounds of various sizes, although there were much more elaborate burials for the higher social classes, as in the case of the Toya Sepulchral Chamber, Peal de Becerro (Jaén).

Tombs with ceramic containers have been found at the feet of the deceased, such as the Lady of Baza who sits on a kind of winged throne, or the Lady of Elche who guards and protects the remains and grave goods. In other burial mounds the weapons of the deceased were deposited, which was cremated and placed in an ornate ceramic vessel. At some funerals she fought over her own grave to the death, as at Viriato's burial.

Iberian tumulus in the Head of Alcalá.

Shrines

Places of worship have been identified as urban sanctuaries, some of the most important located in the Contestania and area of influence such as the Sanctuary of La Serreta (Alcoy), famous for its terracottas, the Sanctuary of Cerro de los Santos (Albacete), the urban temple of La Alcudia (Elche), the temples of La Isleta (Campello), the Sanctuary of Light (Verdolay, Murcia), the Sanctuary of El Cigarralejo (Mula, Murcia), the Sanctuary of Coimbra de Barranco Ancho (Jumilla, Murcia) and the sanctuary of La Encarnación (Caravaca, Murcia). Sacred spaces have also been identified, such as the domestic sanctuary of El Oral (S. Fulgencio, Alicante), or that of the Bastida de les Alcuses (Mogente, Valencia) and votive deposits such as the one found in El Amarejo (Bonete, Albacete), or the possible sanctuary of Meca (Ayora, Valencia). In rural areas, the Sanctuary of El Pajarillo (Huelma, Jaén) stands out, located at a strategic point of transit and exhibiting a theatrical architecture of complex mythological narrative for the fame of the Iberian prince who is the protagonist of the sculptural ensemble. Also in rural areas, in 2004, was discovered in the Cerro del Sastre (Montemayor, Córdoba) an Iberian sanctuary that can be considered unique in Spain, for conserving a large part of it. of its perimeter wall (more than two meters high) as well as the access stairs to the complex^{[citation required]}.

Another characteristic is the use of caves or caverns as sanctuaries, in which small statuettes, called ex-votos, were deposited as votive offerings to some deity. These figures are both female priestesses and warrior men, on foot or on horseback, others are sacrificing an animal with a knife, or showing their respect with their hands up, or with their arms open.

Settlements

View from the north of Cástulo. The location of the Iberian city in a plateau, fortified in its perimeter, constitutes a classic example of oppidum.

The areas that are best known are those of the Alto Guadalquivir and the Segura river, where three types of towns can be distinguished:

• Small settlements, located in plain areas and lacking fortification;
• Fortified inmates, reduced-size structures with strong defenses that used to be in high areas.
• Large villages or opaque, centers that controlled a region or territory, where the districts populated in plains and their fortified enclosures were located. They are the capitals mentioned by Estrabón.

Cities

Map of the Peña del Moro mountain in San Justo Desvern (Barcelona).

The Iberian cities could be built next to hills, in strategic places, controlling the passageways, which gave them an important advantage over their enemies; They used to be surrounded by stone and adobe walls, on which were placed watchtowers and the gates to the city. The settlements built on the plain were never walled and had an economic, agricultural and livestock function.

Most of them were not designed to reject formal sieges that would never come, not only because fortifications played an effective deterrent military role—also—but because the attacker would have no interest in siding the city. A quick or surprise assault on a farm, well; a stumbling block by an open door when a fled enemy was persecuted, okay... but a prolonged siege would have no meaning in the Iberian way of understanding war... it would be better to plunder the fields again and look for surprise the next spring.

Fernando Quesada Sanz

The houses of the cities used to be rectangular in plan, made of adobe on a stone base, as a foundation, with only one floor and, sometimes, two; the roofs had a wooden structure and vegetal covering.

The main city of Oretania, Cástulo, was also the largest oppidum on the peninsula, although later historical stages, mainly Roman and medieval, archaeologically hid this Iberian phase, known thanks to various research campaigns.

Archaeological sites

• Alarcos
• Head of Alcalá
• Poblado íbero Castellar de Meca
• Castellet de Bernabé
• Iberian city of Cástulo
• Cerro Bilanero
• Cerro de las Cabezas
• Cerro de la Merced
• Tosal de San Miguel
• Iberian Complex of El Cigarralejo
• Iberian city of Basti, where the Lady of Bazah was found
• Iberian citadel of Calafell
• Grao de Castellón
• Iberian population of the Bastida de les Alcusses
• The Jaen Guard
• Iponuba
• Iniesta
• The Dry Tower
• Consolation line
• Eberian population The Torrejón de Gátova
• Iberian population of the Bastida de les Alcusses
• Iberian-Roman population of El Monastil
• Iberian population of Cerro de la Cruz
• Puig Castellar
• Table Bridge
• Poblado íbero de Can Fatjó
• Salary
• Iberian population of San Sebastian de la Guarda
• Iberian Sanctuary of Castellar (Jaén)
• Tolmo de Minateda
• Ullastret Iberian City
• Walled Iberian population Los Villares
• Archaeological site of La Alcudia

Box of the Warriors, Iberian piece, found in the necropolis of Piquía, at the site of the Cuesta del Parral.