Cultural interaction in times of conflict: metals and ritual in the hillforts of north-western Iberia (2nd-1st centuries BC)

In this paper we analyse certain aspects of the cultural interaction between the local communities of the northwestern Iberian Peninsula and the Roman conquerors through the metal artefacts linked to rituality and prestige. We hypothesise that the animal sacriices and objects of a ritual nature, such as situlas and torcs, existed before the beginning of the conquest, but underwent intriguing transformations in the long period of interaction between the irst Roman incursions in the north-west (139-137 BC) and the deinitive domination of the Iberian Peninsula under the command of Augustus. We suggest that the regularities detected in the precious metalwork, situlas and sacrificial iconography correspond to a standardisation of a ritual nature, and cannot be explained merely as the result of cultural interaction as the conquest was taking place.

Bronzes with sacrificial motifs. Roman conquest. Goldwork. Situlas.