Image Details

Warrior Figurines
bronze, 3rd century B.C.
Perhaps the most significant of the Iberian sanctuaries was located at Collado de los Jardines, not far from Jaén, where a large stone wall enclosed a rock shelter. During excavations in the early 20th century, some 3,500 bronze figurines were found in the shelter, including these two warriors. The 3- to 4-inch-tall statuettes were most likely votive offerings, representing the human worshipers who would have appeared before a deity. Now in Madrid’s National Archaeological Museum, these figurines were clearly modeled after Phoenician prototypes produced during the Tartessian period.