Guareña (Badajoz), Apr 18 (EFE).- Excavations at the Tartessian site of Casas del Turuñuelo, in the vicinity of Guareña (Badajoz), have brought to light the remains of five anthropomorphic reliefs from the 5th century BC, the first belonging to the Tartessian culture, the mythical pre-Roman civilization that occupied the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula between the 8th and 4th centuries BC
The discovery was made during the excavation of the eastern sector of the site, the area through which the patio of the building is accessed, where a massive sacrifice of animals, mainly horses, was documented.
What is unusual about the new finding is that the representations correspond to human faces, which represents a paradigm shift in the interpretation of Tartessian culture, considered aniconic for representing divinity through sacred stones and animal or plant motifs.
Present at the presentation of the finding were the institutional delegate of the CSIC in Andalusia, Margarita Paneque; the director of the Institute of Archeology of Mérida (IAM), Pedro Mateos; and the directors of the excavation and CSIC researchers, Esther Rodríguez and Sebastián Celestino.
Sebastián Celestino explained that “these are the first human figures in Tartessia, since until now there were figures painted on ceramics, but there was no representation”.
He has also detailed that until now it was believed that the Tartessian culture was iconic, but “we have found that shortly before the Lady of Elche this type of sculpture was already made.”
Regarding the figures, Esther Rodríguez has pointed out that they are “idealized faces” and that “not only the beauty of the sculptures, but above all the jewels they wear” have drawn their attention, since they are Tartessian.
“The earrings that they wear as earrings appear documented in Cancho Roano and other sites in the south of the peninsula, which is why it will revolutionize the history of ancient art in our peninsula,” said the director of the excavation.
Of the five heads found, two are found whole and represent the figure of two women, another a warrior and another figure “perhaps it is also male”, although they have specified that they are still working to determine more details.
What the CSIC researchers have confirmed is that these are figures that belong to a relief because the back of these figures is completely smooth.
“Surely these figures tell a story, but we cannot reconstruct it yet,” added Sebastián Celestino, who has advanced that they could preserve some pigment, although the pieces are still in their infancy after their discovery.
“Analytics have not yet been carried out, but we have seen traces of red color in some of them,” he said in this regard.
Regarding the meaning of the finding, Esther Rodríguez has pointed out that “in a certain way it changes the reading that art history had made about Tartessian culture”.
“For the first time we put an idealized face on her and we already know how they wore their jewelry. That allows us to interpret the use of her jewelry or which characters wore it ”, she added.
Regarding the next steps, Sebastián Celestino has detailed that now they must be restored, consolidated and cleaned.
In addition, from the Almadén School of Engineering they will analyze the origin of the materials used in these figures, which will allow researchers to determine the origin of the materials and it will be known whether or not the stone comes from outside the peninsula.
The director of the IAM, Pedro Mateos, recalled that the institute has been working in this settlement since 2015, this 2023 being the fifth excavation campaign after the break that took place between 2019 and 2021 as a result of the expropriation of the land where it is located. and the pandemic.
Throughout other excavation campaigns, activity has been carried out in the banquet and patio area, where the main findings have been found, including a marble sculpture, Macedonian glass or the massive sacrifice of animals documented in 2018. .
Researchers from 28 different national and international centers participate in this project.
It is an important building politically, economically and in the findings that are appearing and it is a reference in archeology throughout the Mediterranean area”, Mateos has expressed.
At the moment, the excavation project for the deposit is at 30 percent.
On the other hand, Margarita Paneque has stated that the latest finding “is one of the most important news of the year in the CSIC’s area of research and society”, and has congratulated the research team on behalf of the institution that is leading out the project.