Relief from the Sanctuary of Atalayuelas (Fuerte del Rey, Jaén, Spain)

Limestone plate representing seven figures, arranged in contiguous form and ordered by sex and size (possibly a hierarchy by age). The men and boys, four, are arranged on the right side of the scene and wear short tunic attached to the waist by knotted belt, while the female group, composed by a woman and two girls, is restricted to the left side of the image, wearing long tunic equally girded by belt. They don’t take their hands, it seems as if they only grazed their fingers, which has lead to interpret this scene as a familiar portrait in which the characters are arranged in the image by age and sex. This new approach disregards the traditional interpretation that defined it as a ritual dance and of which it has acquired its name as “Bastetana Dance.” Everyone assumes a common attitude, materialized in a gesture of tradition in the ibera image, a consensual form that places them on the same ritual plane: they open their arms and extend their hands. A collective representation that in the approved language, which has to do with aspects of aggregation in a new social system, different to the clientelistic system, as shows the consolidation of forms of expression of the basic social unit, such as the family. Chronology: Centuries II-I B.C. Dimensions: Height 12.5 cm Width 32.3 cm Thickness 4.3 cm The sanctuary of the Atalayuelas is located in the immediate surroundings of the oppidum of which it acquires the name. It is located in the municipality of Fuerte del Rey, 15 km from Jaén and is characterized by its long historical-archeological sequence from the Neolithic to the Emiral period. The location of the sanctuary on the slope near one of the main doors of the oppidum defines it as peri-urban. It is an accessible space, controllable from the city. The place chosen for its location is not random: it is arranged in front of the fortification of the sixth century B.C. (in the hill of the Norias), which at that time would be abandoned, but very possibly visible as trace of the ancient settlement. Bibliography: Olmos, R. (coord.) (1999). The Iberians and their images. CD-Rom. Madrid: Micronet S.A. Wheel, C., (2011): Territory, worship and iconography in the Iberian sanctuaries of Upper Guadalquivir (ss. IV a.n.e.-I d.n.e.)CAAI texts 3. University of Jaén. Jaén. Wheel, C.Molinos, M. and Ruiz, A. (2015): “Cult, rite and offering in the Sanctuary PeriMolde las Atalayuelas (Fuerte del Rey),” in A. Ruiz y M. Molinos (coord.): Jaén, ibera land. 40 years of research and transfer. University of Jaén. Jaén. 423-436. Wheel, C., Rísquez, C., Herranz, A. B., Hornos, F. and García A. (2016): Exhibition Catalogue: The Ages of Iberian Women. Female rituality in the collections of the Jaén museum. University of Jaén, Diputación de Jaén, Territorial Delegation of Culture, Tourism and Sport in Jaén, Junta de Andalucía, Museo de Jaén.