Male Votive Offering from La Bobadilla (Alcaudete). Jaén Provincial Museum. NIM: CE/DA02983

Male ex-voto depicting a schematically dressed male figure dated to the 2nd-1st centuries BC. It comes from La Bobadilla, municipality of Alcaudete, Jaén province, Spain.It is 33 cm tall, 18.60 cm wide and 15.30 cm thick.It is made of a small rectangular block of limestone. The head has been lost. The body is developed in a block except for the feet, which are carved free-standing. The figure is wearing a short-sleeved tunic finished at the neck with the typical V-shaped crossed straps, both at the front and back, which represent a sign of prestige. Below this he is wearing a longer tunic. His arms emerge from the upper rear part and develop sinuously along the sides close to the body, each wearing a bracelet. His hands are resting on his belly and the right hand is holding a glass, representing a common ritual gesture: the offering of the glass. His bare feet are visible under the lower tunic.It corresponds to iconography from the late Iberian period, documented in the countryside of Córdoba and Jaén, mainly south of the River Guadalquivir. In this case the votive offering is associated with a possible peri-urban sanctuary linked to the oppidum of La Bobadilla. This religious image is characterised by its small size, no more than 30 cm, and by a general tendency towards schematism and abstraction. It uses a direct language, without artifices.The archaeological site of La Bobadilla (Alcaudete) is known fundamentally for its Iberian necropolis that was excavated in the 1970s by J. Maluquer. It is situated on the hill known as Cerro del Esparto near the Campanera Baja farmhouse. However, we do not know what the oppidum looked like or the precise location of the sanctuary from which the votive statuettes may have come.The sanctuaries in the countryside of Jaén and Córdoba from the 2nd century BC-1st century AD correspond to a similar pattern of distribution, location and general structure. They are defined as peri-urban sanctuaries, as they are located in the immediate surroundings of the oppidum. We know of a large group: Las Atalayuelas, Cerro Maquiz, La Bobadilla and Torrebenzalá in Jaén province and Torreparedones, Torremorana, Ategua and Cerro de los Molinillos in Córdoba province. The research carried out at these sites has added to our knowledge of the religious interaction processes.References:Marín, Mª C. y Belén, Mª. (1986): “Nuevos exvotos ibéricos en la provincia de Jaén”. Anales de la Universidad de Cádiz. Vol. III-IV. 79-106.Molinos, M. y Rueda, C. (2011): “Entre tradición en innovación: el imaginario de los nuevos espacios de representación pública”. Blánquez, J. (ed.): ¿Hombres o dioses? Una nueva mirada a la escultura del mundo ibérico. Museo Arqueológico Regional de Alcalá de Henares, Madrid. 213-236.Rueda, C. (2011): Territorio, culto e iconografía en los santuarios iberos del Alto Guadalquivir (ss. IV a.n.e.-I d.n.e.). Textos CAAI. Universidad de Jaén. Jaén.Rueda, C. y González, S. (2016): “La construcción social del cuerpo y las nuevas formas de identidad en los santuarios de época romano republicana en el sureste de la Península Ibérica”. Parras, B. y Sanz, R. (coord.): Actas de la I Reunión de Arqueología de Albacete. Instituto de Estudios Albacetenses "Don Juan Manuel". Albacete. 569-593.Rueda, C.; Rísquez, C.; Herranz, A.; Hornos, F. y García, A. (2016): Las edades de las mujeres iberas. La ritualidad femenina en las colecciones del Museo de Jaén. Catálogo de la exposición temporal. Jaén.