Latest research on the Iberian Peninsula warrior and diadem stelae
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.36707/palaeohispanica.v21i0.425Keywords:
Historiography of the stele of the Western peninsula, New technologies in archeology, GIS, Archaeological photography, Geoarchaeology, Warrior and diadem steleAbstract
Despite being known for more than 120 years, the western Iberian Peninsula stelae continue to generate debate and no consensus has been reached on their purpose. For this reason, its study and analysis continue to flourish within proto-historical studies.
A brief review of this field latest research currently shows us five main working lines, in addition to traditional iconographic studies. These are: archaeological survey, an increasingly common use of GIS, photography and creation of digital models, petrological studies and engraving techniques and carving instrumental studies.
Finally, the Instituto de Arqueología-CSIC working protocol for stelae review and study is defined.
References
Araque 2018: R. Araque González, Inter-cultural communications and iconography in the western Mediterranean during the Late Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age, Leidorf 2018.
Bendala 1977: M. Bendala, “Notas sobre las estelas decoradas del suroeste y los orígenes de Tartessos”, Habis 8, 1977, 177-205.
Blanco y García Bueno 2009: A. M. Blanco Fraga y C. García Bueno, “Noticia sobre dos nuevas estelas decoradas: las estelas de La Pedrona y del Mesto (Almadén, Ciudad Real)”, Gerión 27.1, 2009, 67-89.
De Blas 2010: M. Á. de Blas Cortina, “Una estela de guerrero del Bronce Final precolonial de Orellana (Badajoz), hoy en el palacio de Meres (Siero, Asturias)”, Veleia 27, 2010, 23-40.
Celestino 2001: S. Celestino Pérez, Estelas de guerrero y estelas diademadas: la precolonización y formación del mundo tartésico, Barcelona 2001.
Celestino y López-Ruiz 2006: S. Celestino y C. López-Ruiz, “New light on the warrior stelae from Tartessos (Spain)”, Antiquity 80, 2006, 89-101.
Celestino y López Ruiz 2016: S. Celestino y C. López-Ruiz, Tartessos and the Phoenicians in Iberia, Oxford 2016.
Celestino y Salgado 2011: S. Celestino Pérez y J. Á. Salgado Carmona, “Nuevas metodologías para la distribución espacial de las estelas del Oeste peninsular”, en: R. Vilaça (coord.) Estelas e Estátuas-menires: da Pré à Proto-história, Sabugal 2011, 417-448.
Celestino et al. 2011: S. Celestino Pérez, V. Mayoral Herrera, J. Á. Salgado Carmona y R. Cazorla Martín, “Stelae Iconography and Landscape in South-west Iberia”, en: T. Moore y X. L. Armada (eds.) Atlantic Europe in the First Millennium BC: Crossing the Divide, Oxford 2011, 135-152.
Conget y García-Arilla 2017: H. Conget y A. García-Arilla, “La estela de Luna-Valpalmas en su context territorial: Primera campaña de prospecciones geomagnéticas en la Tiñica del Royo”, Salduie, 17, 2017, 143-160.
Costa 2013: M. E. Costa Caramé, “Las estelas del Suroeste en el valle del Guadalquivir y Sierra Morena: distribución espacial y nuevas perspectivas de investigación”, Trabajos de Prehistoria 70.1, 2013, 76-94.
Díaz-Guardamino 2010: M. Díaz-Guardamino Uribe, Las estelas decoradas en la Prehistoria de la Península Ibérica, Madrid 2010.
Díaz-Guardamino 2014: M. Díaz-Guardamino Uribe, “Shaping social identities in Bronze Age and Early Iron Age western Iberia: the role of funerary practices, stelae and statue-menhir”, European Journal of Archaeology 17(2), 2014, 329-349.
Díaz-Guardamino y Wheatley 2013: M. Díaz-Guardamino Uribe y D. W. Wheatley, “Rock Art and Digital Technologies: the Application of Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI) and 3D Laser Scanning to the Study of late Bronze Age Iberian Stelae”, Menga 4, 2013, 187-203.
Díaz-Guardamino et al. 2015: M. Díaz-Guardamino Uribe, L. García Sanjuán, D. W. Wheatley y V. Rodríguez Zamora, “RTI and the study of engraved rock art: A re-examination of the Iberian south-western stelae of Setefilla and Almadén de la Plata 2 (Seville, Spain)”, Digital Applications in Archaeology and Cultural Heritage 2, 2015, 41-54
Díaz-Guardamino et al. 2019: M. Díaz-Guardamino Uribe, L. García Sanjuán, D. W. Wheatley, J. A. Lozano Rodríguez, M. Á. Rogerio-Candelera, M. Krueger, M. Krueger, M. Hunt Ortiz, M. Murillo-Barroso y V. Balsera Nieto, “Rethinking Iberian ‘warrior’ stelae: a multidisciplinary investigation of Mirasiviene and its connection to Setefilla (Lora del Río, Seville, Spain)”, Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 11, 2019, 6111-6140.
Díaz-Guardamino et al. 2020: Marta Díaz-Guardamino Uribe, Leonardo García Sanjuán, D. W. Wheatley, J. A. Lozano Rodríguez, M. Á. Rogerio-Candelera y M. Casado-Ariza, “Late Prehistoric Stelae, Persistent Places and Connected Worlds: A Multi-disciplinary Review of the Evidence at Almargen (Lands of Antequera, Spain)”, Cambridge Archaeological Journal 30.1, 2020, 69-96.
Domínguez y Aldecoa 2007: A. Domínguez García y M. A. Aldecoa Quintana, Arte rupestre en La Zepa de la Serena, Mérida 2007.
Enríquez y Fernández 2010: J. J. Enríquez Navascués y M. Fernández Algaba, “Notas sobre las técnicas de grabado y de composición formal e las estelas diademadas y de guerreros”, Cuadernos de Arqueología de la Universidad de Navarra 18, 2010, 149-175.
Fernández Ochoa y Zarzalejos 1994: C. Fernández Ochoa y M. Zarzalejos Prieto, “La estela de Chillón (Ciudad Real) algunas consideraciones acerca de la funcionalidad de las estelas de guerrero del Bronce Final y su reutilización en época romana” en: V Congreso Internacional de estelas funerarias, Soria 1994, 263-272.
Galán 1993: E. Galán Domingo, Estelas, Paisajes y territorio en el Bronce Final del Suroeste de la Península Ibérica, Madrid 1993.
García Sanjuán et al. 2006: L. García Sanjuán, D. W. Wheatley, P. Fábrega Álvarez, M. J. Hernández Arnedo, Á. Polvorinos del Río, “Las estelas de guerrero de Almadén de la Plata (Sevilla). Morfología, tecnología y contexto”, Trabajo de Prehistoria 63.2, 2006, 135-152.
García Sanjuán 2011: L. García Sanjuán, “The Warrior Stelae of the Iberian South-west: Symbols of Power in Ancestral Landscapes” en: T. Moore y X. L. Armada (eds.) Atlantic Europe in the First Millennium BC: Crossing the Divide, Oxford 2011, 534-557.
García Sanjuán et al. 2017: L. García Sanjuán, M. Díaz-Guardamino Uribe, D. W. Wheatley, J. P. Vita Barra, J. A. Lozano Rodríguez, M. Á. Rogerio-Candelera, Á. Justo Erbez, D. Barker, K. Strutt y M. Casado Ariza, “The epigraphic stela of Montoro (Córdoba): the earliest monumental script in Iberia?”, Antiquity 91, 2017, 916-932.
García-Arilla et al. 2021: A. García-Arilla Oliver, H. Conget Vicente, A. Moreno Terré, Ó. Pueyo Anchuela, “Análisis compositivo y de profundidad de los grabados de la estela de Luna-Valpalmas mediante digitalización 3D por luz estructurada”, Complutum 32(1), 2021, 49-71.
Gomes 1989: M. V. Gomes, “Arte rupestre do Vale do Tejo – Um santuário préhistórico”, Encuentro sobre el Tajo: El agua y los asentamientos humanos. Cuadernos de San Benito Alcántara, Cáceres 1989, 49-75.
Green et al. 2014: S. Green, A. Bevan y M. Shapland, “A comparative assessment of structure from motion methods for archaeological research”, Journal of Archaeological Science 46, 2014, 173-181.
Gutiérrez et al. 2020: C. Gutiérrez Sáez, P. Muñoz Moro, J. Pereira Sieso, T. Chapa Brunet, “Las estelas de guerrero del valle medio del Tajo. Recreación experimental del proceso de elaboración”, Anejos CuPAUAM 4, 2020, 93-104.
Jones et al. 2015: A. M. Jones, A. Cochrane, C. Carter, I. Dawson, M. Diaz-Guardamino Uribe, E. Kotuola y L. Minkyn, “Digital imaging and prehistoric imagery: A new analysis of the Folkton Drums” Antiquity 89, 2015, 1083-1095.
Martínez 2018: R. M. Martínez Sánchez, “La estela del suroeste de Pedro Abad II (Cortijo de Alcurrucén, Pedro Abad, Córdoba, España)”, CuPAUAM 44, 2018, 101-113.
Merino et al. 2020: E. Merino Martínez, P. Andonaegui, T. Chapa Brunet y J. Pereira Sieso, “Petrographic and geochemical study of the stone warrior stelae from central Iberia: Linking the geological record and archaeological heritage”, Geoarchaeology 35, 2020, 177-197.
Murillo et al. 2005: J. F. Murillo Redondo, J. A. Morena López y D. Ruiz Lara, “Nuevas estelas de guerrero procedentes de las provincias de Córdoba y Ciudad Real”, Romula 4, 2008, 7-46.
Pacheco et al. 2005: C. Pacheco, M. López, H. M. Fernández, “La estela de guerrero Aldeanueva de San Bartolomé II (Toledo)”, Cuaderna. Revista de Estudios Humanísticos de Talavera y su antigua tierra 12-13, 2005, 25-37.
Pavón et al. 2018: I. Pavón Soldevila, D. M. Duque Espino, D. Sanabria Murillo, H. Collado Giraldo, “La estela de ‘Cabeza del Buey V/El Palacio’ en el poblamiento de la Edad del Bronce de la sierra de Tiros (Badajoz)”, Spal 27.1, 2018, 31-60.
Rogerio-Candelara et al. 2018: M.Á. Rogerio-Candelera, L. García Sanjuán, M. Díaz-Guardamino Uribe y D.W. Wheatley, “Were late prehistoric stelae painted? Digital image analysis-based research of the late prehistoric stelae of Mirasiviene (Lora del Río, Sevilla) and Montoro (Montoro, Córdoba), South Spain”, en M. J. Mosquera, M.L. Almoraima Gil (ed.) Conserving Cultural Heritage, Londres 2018.
Ruiz-Gálvez 2019: M. L. Ruíz-Gálvez, “De hombres y dioses: la estela de guerrero de Magacela y el RP´UM” Homenaje a A. Tejera Gaspar, Tenerife 2019, 463-480.
Santos-Estévez et al. 2017: M. Santos-Estévez, P. Mañana-Borrazás, N. Amado Rolán, H. Pires, “La estela de guerrero y la estela antropomorfa de Pedra Alta (Castrelo de Val, Galicia)”, Complutum 28.1, 2017, 71-86.
Tejera et al. 2006: A, Tejera, J.M. Fernández, M. M. Rodríguez, “Las estelas tartésicas: ¿losas sepulcrales, marcadores étnicos o representación de divinidades guerreras?”, Spal 15, 2006, 149-166.
Vilaça 2011: R. Vilaça, “Ponderais do Bronze Final – Ferro Inicial do Occidente peninsular: novos dados e questões en aberto”, en: M. P. García-Bellido, L. Callegarin, A. Jiménez Díez (eds.), Barter, money and coinage in the Ancient Mediterranean (10th -1st centuries BC), Madrid 2011, 139-168.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Professional standards and ethical policies
a) Palaeohispanica’s editorial board
Details concerning the journal’s internal organization can be found at this website.
b) Authors’ responsibilities
As an implicit condition for publishing in Palaeohispanica, authors are expected to adhere to all the ethical and professional principles that are shared across all research fields and academic publications. By submitting a contribution for peer review, potential authors guarantee that their work is original, that it constitutes a significant contribution to its research field and has not been published elsewhere.
All submitted manuscripts ought to contain bibliographic references at the end of the paper as well as an indication of how the research that culminated in the article was funded.
Likewise, authors must agree to incorporate any relevant changes that peer reviewers suggest as well as to include any recommendations that the editorial committee includes in the manuscript’s proofs at the end of the editorial process.
The journal expects its authors, reviewers, editors and staff members to all conduct themselves professionally by treating others with respect and civility. Should any sort of untoward situation arise, such as (self) plagiarism, conflicts of interest or aggressive behaviour on the author’s part, the following actions will be taken:
- Plagiarism and the republication of articles
Plagiarism is defined as the reproduction of a text or other materials found in different publications without the original source being adequately cited. Accordingly, material can still be plagiarized even when it has been tweaked or paraphrased. Plagiarism constitutes a serious ethical violation; furthermore, there can be legal ramifications for violating an author’s rights in cases where the reproduced material has been previously published. Authors who want to cite published work must do so by including complete references to the original materials and by including any quotations within quotation marks. Graphs and images can only be reproduced with the express permission of the original author and must include a citation below said image or graphic according to the rules laid out on the journal’s website. If a peer reviewer or the editorial board detects any instance of plagiarism (whether of one’s own or another’s work), the manuscript will automatically be disqualified.
- Conflicts of interest
In most instances an individual who works at the same institution as an author or one of the co-authors is automatically barred from evaluating a potential contribution. The journal’s editors must always be aware of possible conflicts of interest and are required to recuse themselves from any decision-making process, whenever there is even the appearance of a possible conflict of interest.
c) The peer-review process
Palaeohispanica employs peers to evaluate externally all contributions, with this being understood as obtaining the opinion of an established expert over the merits of every potential contribution. In addition to completing the relevant form, reviewers are expected to suggest any pertinent bibliography that was not included in the original version of the manuscript.
Furthermore, the peer-review process is double blind, meaning that both authors’ anonymity as well as the reviewers’ impartiality and independence are guaranteed. Reader reviews will be treated with the utmost confidentiality. As is the case with all respectable research journals, the editors of Palaeohispanicawill not share with a third party the identity of a peer reviewer, the contents of his or her review or any correspondence resulting from the review process. Likewise, reviewers are required to adhere to the same strict standard of confidentiality: neither manuscripts nor the contents of any correspondence between an author and the editors can be shared with a third party without the written and express consent of the journal’s editors.
While strictly speaking authors are not held to the same standards (they can, for instance, solicit advice from co-authors and colleagues as they revise and amend a manuscript in accordance with the recommendations found in a reviewer’s report), the public airing of a reviewer’s report or of the correspondence with the editorial team constitutes untoward behavior. Any author who acts in such a way will automatically forfeit his or her right to the journal’s confidentiality.
- Aggressive behaviour
Should the editorial committee be made aware of any untoward behaviour on the author’s part towards external reviewers, other authors or the journal’s editors/staff, that author’s submission will immediately be withdrawn from the consideration process.
All participants in the publication process, including editors, authors, peer reviewers, and member’s of the journal’s staff are expected to meet basic standards of professional courtesy and to respect the fundamental rules and guidelines concerning the peer-review and publication processes. Under any circumstance, personal attacks and verbal assault (whether expressed orally or through writing) are completely unacceptable. Accordingly, the journal reserves the right to reject the contribution of any author who repeatedly violates these principles or refuses to cooperate with the editors and reviewers during the normal evaluation and publication processes.
d) Editorial ethics
The editorial team at Palaeohispanica will bring an end to any dishonest research practice by submitting every proposal to a careful review process that will begin before the selection of possible peer reviewers. Should anything questionable be detected, an author will be asked to provide relevant explanations and then be told to review his/her text so as to meet the journal’s quality standards. If an author does not make the requested changes, the manuscript will not be submitted for double-blind peer review and, accordingly, will not be published. The editorial board is always available to discuss and debate with authors any misunderstanding that could have given rise to such a situation.
e) Copyright and journal access
Journal content falls under the protection of licence Creative Commons CC BY-NC-SA. Access the all journal content is open and free of charge.
f) Journal archive
Given that the Institución Fernando el Católico is an established and important publishing house, it is extremely unlikely that access to the journal’s contents could be compromised in anyway within the foreseeable future. The contents of Palaeohispanica will be stored in IFC’s servers even if the journal ceases to be published.
g) Ownership and management of the journal
The journal Palaeohispanica is edited and run by the institution «Fernando el Católico», an independent entity of the Excelentísima Diputación de Zaragoza.
Names and email addresses submitted to this journal will only be used for tasks related to the journal and will not be shared with any third party or used for any other purpose.
In accordance with the Regulation UE 2016/679, information gathered by the Institución Fernando el Católico de la Excma. Diputación de Zaragoza (IFC) will be used for carrying out the functions of an academic publication, the handling of claims, appeals, complaints, suggestions, surveys as well as any other activity involved in the management of the journal.
Cubic Factory is in charge of handling said data. They can be contacted at cubic@cubicfactory.com.
Data can be given to public agencies with the relevant competencies and in case of legal obligations.
Those who are interested can exercise their rights of access, correction, suppression, limitation of the use, opposition and portability by contacting ifc@dpz.es.
Users can also go to the Agencia Española de Protección de Datos to make any complaints that they feel is necessary.
User information will be kept during the period in which it is needed to complete the task for which said information was provided in the first place or for the period necessary to comply with any legal obligations. Once a given objective has been completed, personal data that is not part of fulfillment of public service will be blocked until the applicable period has ended.
Ethical and confidentiality policy of Palaeohispanica can be consulted here.
Privacy policy
Names and email addresses submitted to this journal will only be used for tasks related to the journal and will not be shared with any third party or used for any other purpose.
In accordance with the Regulation UE 2016/679, information gathered by the Institución Fernando el Católico de la Excma. Diputación de Zaragoza (IFC) will be used for carrying out the functions of an academic publication, the handling of claims, appeals, complaints, suggestions, surveys as well as any other activity involved in the management of the journal.
Cubic Factory is in charge of handling said data. They can be contacted at cubic@cubicfactory.com.
Data can be given to public agencies with the relevant competencies and in case of legal obligations.
Those who are interested can exercise their rights of access, correction, suppression, limitation of the use, opposition and portabilityby contacting ifc@dpz.es.
Users can also go to the Agencia Española de Protección de Datos to make any complaints that they feel is necessary.
User information will be kept during the period in which it is needed to complete the task for which said information was provided in the first place or for the period necessary to comply with any legal obligations. Once a given objective has been completed, personal data that is not part of fulfillment of public service will be blocked until the applicable period has ended.
The IFC’s privacy and data protection policy can be consulted at https://tiendaifc.dpz.es/Sites/dpz/paginasPersonalizadas/Modelo2/inicio.aspx. It can also be found in the journal’s the top navigation menu: http://ifc.dpz.es/ojs/index.php/palaeohispanica/dpd
Names and email addresses submitted to this journal will only be used for tasks related to the journal and will not be shared with any third party or used for any other purpose.
In accordance with the Regulation UE 2016/679, information gathered by the Institución Fernando el Católico de la Excma. Diputación de Zaragoza (IFC) will be used for carrying out the functions of an academic publication, the handling of claims, appeals, complaints, suggestions, surveys as well as any other activity involved in the management of the journal.
Cubic Factory is in charge of handling said data. They can be contacted at cubic@cubicfactory.com.
Data can be given to public agencies with the relevant competencies and in case of legal obligations.
Those who are interested can exercise their rights of access, correction, suppression, limitation of the use, opposition and portability by contacting ifc@dpz.es.
Users can also go to the Agencia Española de Protección de Datos to make any complaints that they feel is necessary.
User information will be kept during the period in which it is needed to complete the task for which said information was provided in the first place or for the period necessary to comply with any legal obligations. Once a given objective has been completed, personal data that is not part of fulfillment of public service will be blocked until the applicable period has ended.
Ethical and confidentiality policy of Palaeohispanica can be consulted here.
