rciatrological

]mtitute
of America

PRE-ROMAN ANTIQUITIES OF SPAIN

IN order to become familiar with the pre-Roman antiquities

of Spain, it is necessary to visit almost every province of the
peninsula.1 A wealth of material has already been collected in
public and private museums, but until one makes a careful
study of this material, it is hard to realize what interesting
problems have been suggested concerning the early inhabitants
of Iberia. To be sure, the work is still in its infancy, and it
is too early to try to answer many questions which naturally
arise. Were the Iberians the aboriginal people of Spain?
Under what conditions and when did they reach the acme of
their civilization? Are the Basques of to-day the lineal de-
scendants of the Iberians? These are problems still unsolved,
but another question, which will ultimately throw light on the
entire subject, can be answered. How far were the Iberians
influenced by foreigners, and who were these foreigners? That
they were the Phoenicians, as was formerly supposed, can no
longer be held in the light of recent investigations. That the
Phoenicians were mere traders with only a few stations on the
Spanish coast, and that the inhabitants of Tartessus (the Tar-
shish of the Bible) were not Phoenicians but Iberians has been
proved beyond doubt by Eduard Meyer, Geschichte des Alter-
thums, II, pp. 141-154, 683-694.
One is forced to admit after a careful study of the antiquities
that first pre-Mycenaean or Cretan, then Mycenaean, and finally
Greek influence was all-powerful in the development of Spanish
art. But at the same time it is easy to see that Iberian art in
1 The only scientific treatment of the
subject known to me is the invaluable
book of Pierre Paris, Essai sur l'art et l'industrie de l'Espagne primitive, vol. I
(1903), vol. II (1904). The results of the excavations are published with good
illustrations in the Revista de Archivos, Bibliotecas y lMuseos (Madrid). The
illustrations in this paper, except Figure 9, are taken partly from the former and
partly from the latter work. See also P. Paris, Arch. Anz. 1906, pp. 168-181.
American Journal of Archaeology, Second Series. Journal of the 182
Archaeological Institute of America, Vol. XI (1907), No. 2.
 PRE-ROMAN ANTIQUITIES OF SPAIN 183

all its phases had a decided local color. I purposely refrain

from a discussion of the Palaeolithic period, the age of cave-
dwellers, which is identical with that of France, and also of the
Neolithic period, and begin with the Bronze Age.1
The first illustration (Fig. 1) takes us back to the Mycenaean
period. We have before us a beehive grave found at Ante-
quera, north of Malaga, in southern Spain. It was published
in the Revista de Archivos by Sefior Bosco, who very correctly
compares it, as his illustration shows, with Mycenaean tholos
tombs of continental Greece. The construction is no longer

Fig, .1.ec•o

FIGURE
1. - (1) PLANSOFMYCENAEAN
TOMBSOFGREECE.
(2) SECTION
ANDPLANOF BEEHIVE
TOMBATANTEQUERA.
(Revista de Archivos, XII, pl. 19.)

megalithic, but the walls are formed of rough limestone slabs,

bonded with mud, like the later and poorer tombs of Mycenae.
The cupola is only 4 m. high. Unfortunately the tomb was
robbed, and so its exact date cannot be fixed.
Figure 2 is a section and ground plan of a similar tomb found
at Cintra, west of Lisbon, Portugal. Further excavations will
doubtless bring to light a large number of such tombs on the
east as well as on the south and west coasts of the peninsula.
1 For a report on the finds in the palaeolithic grotto at Altamira, see A.J.A.
VIII, 1904, p. 323, and Arch. Anz. 1906, pp. 173-175, where the literature is
given.
184 PAUL BA UR

At Tarragona, for example, good specimens of Cyclopean

masonry of the Mycenaean style can still be seen in the lower
courses of the city wall.
The small votive offerings of priests, priestesses, and deities
in bronze, reproduced in Figure 3, are from the rich collection
of Sefior Vives, who showed me much courtesy last summer in
Madrid. Similar types of bronze statuettes are found every-
where in Spain. Mr. Horace Sandars found quantities of them
at Despefiaperros in the Sierra Morena, where they were no
doubt manufactured. One half of his collection he donated to

4rQ 7

FIGURE 2. - SECTION AND PLAN OF BEEHIVE TOMB AT CINTRA.

(P. Paris, I, p. 39.)

the British Museum, where, thanks to the director Mr. Cecil

Smith, I had the opportunity last June to study them, although
at that time they were not yet exhibited. The other half, Mr.
Sandars gave to Sefior Vives, who has lent the most impor-
tant specimens to the Archaeological Museum at Madrid. They
date from the early Bronze Age (ca. 3000 B.c.) to the sixth
century B.C., and many of them show decided influence of
Mycenaean or Cretan art.
Fig. 3, Nos. 19 and 20 (P. Paris, II, pp. 183, 184, Figs. 280, 281)
are probably priests. The former is 97 mm. high, and was found in
 PRE-ROMAN ANTIQUITIES OF SPAIN 185

Santisteban del Puerto (Jadn); the latter is 89 mm. high, and was
acquired at Granada.
No. 21 (P. Paris, II, p. 194, Fig. 311) is probably a priestess.
Height 98 mm. From Linares (Jadn).
No. 7 (P. Paris, II, p. 159, Fig. 231). A nude male figure called
Mars or Neton by Melida. P. Paris justly doubts this name, be-
cause it is not at all certain that the figure wears a helmet. It
seems to be a caricature. Height 81 mm. From Linares (Jadn).
Nos. 26, 25, 27 (P. Paris, II, p. 189, Figs. 303, 304, 305). Veiled
female figures. The body of the first is reduced almost to a plaque.

9Ir
F
FIGURE 3. -BRONZE VOTIVEOFFERINGS. (Revista de Archivos, IV, pl. 6.)

Height 52 mm. Provenance unknown. The second wears a peaked

cap and a veil. Height 68 mm. From Castellar de Santisteban
(Jadn). The body of No. 27 is reduced to a rectangular plaque, but
the head, as in all these types, is worked out plastically, a process
which reminds one of the prehistoric terracottas from the Argive
Heraeum and elsewhere. In front of the body the hands, with the
indication of fingers, and the borders of the mantle are visible.
Height 58 mm. From Castellar de Santisteban (Jaen).
No. 12 (P. Paris, II, p. 169, Fig. 252). Probably a god of war,
because the figure wears a helmet. It is extremely difficult to date
186 PAUL BA UR

this type, because it was retained for centuries after its first inven-
tion. Similar types are found not only in the early Bronze Age, but
also in the early Iron Age. Height 61 mm. From Palencia.
No. 10 (P. Paris, II, p. 171, Fig. 258). Male figure with plaque-
like body. The curve of the nose, which gives the face a Semitic
appearance,is merely accidental. There is no Phoenician influence
here. Height 56 mm. Bought at Granada.
No. 4 (P. Paris, II, p. 171, Fig. 257). We have here a neolithic
type of female idol, such as is found in the second city of Troy (ca.
2500-2000 B.c.),
but translated into bronze, a most remarkable ex-
ample of the early Bronze Age. Height 70 mm. From Puente-
Genil (Cdrdoba). The same type in stone and terracotta occurs also

FIGURE4.- SAMIAN BRONZE STATUETTE. Museum,Madrid.

Archaeological
(P. Paris, I, p. 108.)

in Spain, and can be seen in the Museo Proto-Historico Iberico at

Madrid, Calle de Alcal' 86.
No. 30 (P. Paris, II, p. 159, Fig. 233). Not a gladiator holding a
sword, as Melida surmises, but more probably a commanderholding
a rod or baton, symbolic of power, as P. Paris suggests. Height 67
mm. Bought at Granada.

The most interesting of these bronzes is the mask (Fig. 3,

No. 35) with the peculiarly arranged hair. It is early archaic
Greek work, and may be more specifically assigned to the
 PRE-ROMAN ANTIQUITIES OF SPAIN 187

school of Phocaea, because a Phocaean vase, now in the British

Museum (C 268) has exactly the same kind of mask painted
on either side.1 It is not surprising to find Phocaean influence
in Spain, because the earliest Greek colonies in Iberia were
founded either from Phocaea itself or from the Phocaean colony
Massalia. The Iberians even received their alphabet from
Phocaea (Eduard Meyer, op. cit. II, p. 691). As early as the
seventh century B.c. Phocaean merchants came to Tartessus,

FIGURE 5.- BULL WITH HUMAN HEAD FROM BALAZOTE. (P. Paris, I, pl. 4.)

and soon outbid the Phoenician traders (Ed. Meyer, op. cit.
II, pp. 692-693).
Samos, too, had dealings with Tartessus in the seventh cen-
tury B.C. (Ed. Meyer, op. cit. II, pp. 692, 533-534), and so it is
only natural to find in Spain a genuine Samian bronze statuette
(Fig. 4) of the archaic period. It closely resembles the Samian
terracottas and the Samian statue dedicated by Cheramyes to
Hera.
1 Reproduced in J.H.S. II, p. 304. I do not agree with Walters, History of
Ancient Pottery, I, p. 254, who calls it Cypriote. On p. 64 of the same volume
Walters expresses himself more guardedly and with less assurance regarding its
fabric.
188 PAUL BAUR

A curious bull with human head (Fig. 5), found at Balazote

near Albacete in southeastern Spain, shows decided influence
of Oriental, i.e. Asiatic, art. Heuzey1 points out various details
of technique recalling monuments of Babylonia and Persia.
Similar animals have been found elsewhere in Spain.
Figure 6 reproduces three bronze heads of bulls of the
Mycenaean period, in technique much like those from Crete.2
They were found at Costig in Majorca, an island with many
traces of Cyclopean masonry. Indeed, I am inclined to be-
lieve that the bull-fights of Spain may go back to the influence

FIGURE 6. - BRONZE HEADS OF BULLS FROM MAJORCA. (P. Paris, I, pl. 6.)

of the Minoan Cretans, who are now known to have been very
fond of the sport of bull-baiting.3
Figures 7-9 reproduce representative specimens of local
Iberian pottery. The pieces in Figure 7 are incised prehistoric
black ware from Andalusia and belong to Mr. Bonsor's collec-
tion. I saw even earlier ware than this in the Museo Proto-
Historico Iberico at Madrid, vases which are identical with
1 Quoted by P. Paris, Essai, I, pp. 118-121.
2 The resemblance is more marked between the Cretan type illustrated in
B. S.A. VI, p. 52, and the Iberian type pictured in P. Paris, Essai, I, p. 147, Fig.
112. The horns of the bull on the Cretan agate intaglio (B. S.A. IX, p. 114,
Fig. 70) are identical with those from Costig.
3 B.S.A. VIII, p. 74.
 PRE-ROMJIAN ANTIQUITIES OF SPAIN 189

those of the second city of Troy (ca. 2500-2000 B.C.). They are
hand-made, and the incised lines were filled with chalk. Primi-
tive stone idols similar to those of Parian marble found on the
Aegean Islands can also be seen in the same collection. In
fact, the art of primitive Spain is identical with that of the
entire Mediterranean basin. There must have been much live-
lier intercourse between those countries in early days than has
usually been ad-
mitted. From
the Mycenaean
period down to
the Roman
domination in
the second cen-
tury B.C. the
pottery shows i i! iilI,
strong Myce-
naean influence
(Fig. 8), though
local peculiar-
ities are appar-
ent. The earliest
pieces have cur-
vilinear types of
ornamentation ;
later come vege-
table and floral
types, and fi-
nally animal FIGURE 7. -INCISEDI OTTERY FROM ANDALUSIA.
types (Fig. 9). (P. Paris, II, p. 43.)
The latter are
much like those of the sub-Mycenaean pottery of Cyprus.
Furthermore, the Messapian ware of Apulia influenced the latest
Iberian styles of pottery. Thus an askos of local Apulian fabric
in the British Museum (Walters, History of Ancient Pottery, II,
326, Fig. 185) is decorated with designs that occur frequently
on local Spanish pottery.' It may be, however, that the Miessa-
The mask on the askos is also seen on a fragment from Elche (P. Paris, II,
p. 99, Fig. 197) ; the fish is similar to the one on another fragment from Elche
190 PAUL BAUR

pian ware and that of the Peucetians go back to the same

source from which the Iberians drew. The local Apulian pot-
tery was supplanted by the Athenian red-figured ware in the
fourth century B.C., but the local Spanish pottery remained free
from Athenian influence, and continued without interruption
down to the period of Roman domination. E. Albertini, a
member of the French School at Rome, who has been working
at Elche with P. Paris, has begun to publish in the Bulletin his-
panique (1906, pp. 333-362; 1907, pp. 1-17) a thorough account

lii
. .. i ; i
.
:
i:i+
il

FIGURE 8.- PAINTED SHARDS SHOWING M•YCENAEANINFLUENCE.

(P. Paris, II, pp. 76-77.)

of indigenous Spanish ceramics, and, much light will also be

thrown on the whole subject by the investigations of the
German archaeologists Schulten and Koenen, who are making

(P. Paris, II, p. 95, Fig. 184) ; the S-shaped designs occur on a fragment from
Meca (P. Paris, II, p. 100, Fig. 200); the wave pattern occurs also on a fragment
from Meca (P. Paris, II, p. 86, Fig. 173); the ivy decoration occurs on a vase from
Elche (P. Paris, II, p. 69, Fig. 102); and the star is similar to the star on a frag-
ment from Amarejo (P. Paris, II, p. 54, Fig. 56).
1 It is noteworthy that the tongue pattern (Stabornament), which first makes
its appearance in Attic ceramics in the sixth century B.C., does not occur on
Iberian pottery.
 PRE-ROMAN ANTIQUITIES OF SPAIN 191

systematic excava-
tions at Numantia in
the northern part of
centralSpain. Itisin-
teresting to note that
this Ibero-Mycenaean
Spottery, as it is now
called, has been found
in southern France,
brought there most
FIGURE 9. -PAINTED SHARDS FROM ELCHE. probably by Massa-
liote traders.
In the Archaeological Museum at Madrid there is a con-
siderable collection of limestone statuary, found for the most
part at Cerro de los Santos, near Mur-
cia, in southeastern Spain. This is
usually called Graeco-Phoenician; but
since this term is now applied - with-
out good reason, however- to Cypriote
statuary, and since there is a decided
difference between the art of Cyprus
and that of Iberia, I prefer the term
Graeco-Iberian. The general style of
these sculptures- they belong to the
sixth, fifth, and fourth centuries B.C.
- is Greek, but there are decided
local peculiarities in the drapery and
jewellery. The statue reproduced in
Figure 10 still belongs to the archaic
period. It represents a veiled woman,
probably a priestess, holding a sacri-
ficial cup and laden with gold jewellery
such as has actually been found in
Spain. That the Spanish and Moorish
women of to-day are just as fond as
were their ancestors of veils, mantillas,
and jewellery is seen in Figure 11.
FIGURE 10.- GRAECO-IBE-
One of the richest discoveries of EIA-NSTATUE. (P. Paris,
the last decade is the famous gold I, pl. 7.)
192 PA UL BAUR

and silver jewellery, found in

a field 4 kmin.from Ja'vea, in
the province of Alicante. The
masterpiece of this treasure,
now in the Archaeological Mu-
seum at Madrid, is a diadem of
gold, 37 cm. long and weighing
133 grammes (Fig. 12). It is
much like the jewellery from
Cerro de los Santos, as Melida,
the Director of the Museum, cor-
rectly noticed, but he certainly
erred in assigning it to a
native Iberian artist. Pierre
Paris is right in calling it
FIGURE II.- MOORISH VWOMAN. purely Greek, and in compar-
(Bevista de Archivos, IX, pl. 6.) ing it with the Greek jewellery
of Etruria and southern Russia.1
But that it is the work of an Attic goldsmith, as he claims,
seems doubtful to me. It is more probably the work of an

FIGLURE 12. -GOLD JEWELLERY FROM JAVEA. (Revista de Archivos, XIII, pl. 18.)

lonian of Asia Minor, who very successfully combined Attic

1 Arch. A nz. 1906, pp. 169-171. R. Arch. VIII, 1906, pp. 424-435, pl. VII.
 PRE-ROMAN ANTIQUITIES OF SPAIN 193

delicacy with Ionic sumptu-

ousness.
I have withheld to the last
the finest monument ever
found on Spanish soil, the
much admired bust from
Elche (Fig. 13), now in the
Louvre. It is a queenly fig-
ure, worthy of the hand of a
Phidias, during whose life-
time it seems to have been
made. The artist no doubt
lived among the Tartessians
and knew their customs;
otherwise he could not have
added all that wealth of de-
tail, and all those eccentri-
FIGURE 13. -BUST FROM ELCHE.
cities of dress which give
(P. Paris, I, pl. 1.)
his work so foreign an ap-
pearance. Such are the peaked cap, the golden diadem, the
peculiar disks of gold on either side of her head. The artist
must furthermore have been
personally acquainted with this
queenly beauty, for he has given
us a very faithful portrait. Her
features are not Greek nor are
they Semitic. This is probably
the best and the truest likeness
of a typical Iberian woman that
we may ever hope to find.
Figure 14 is a portrait of a
modern Spanish woman in Valen-
cian costume. The peculiar coiff-
ure is especially interesting, and
has often been cited in explanation
of the remarkable headdress of
the Queen of Elche.
FIGURE 14. - MODERN SPANISH
PAUL BAUJR. WOMAN. (Revista de Archivos,
YALE UNIVERSITY. IX, pl. 6.)