Volute fragment. Sculptural group of Cerrillo Blanco (Porcuna, Jaén, Spain)

It is a known fragment with the name of “Volute fragment.” It represents a cylindrical shape on one of whose straight faces a scroll volute is preserved. Due to its small size it seems to correspond to an element of throne or similar. Chronology: 440-400 B.C. Dimensions: Height: 32 cm Width: 12 cm Thickness: 9 cm The sculptural group of Cerrillo Blanco was found in 1975 in the municipality of Porcuna (Jaén). This set constitutes nowadays the most important Iberian sculptural group of the known so far. It is composed of more than forty pieces that represent heroic struggles of men with each other or men with animals, hunting scenes, images of fantastic animals or important characters. The sculptural group of Cerrillo Blanco would be integrated into a possible staggered monument as a tower in which the history of a lineage is expressed through the ages of the prince, in a context in which the animals shape with their presence the different landscapes of the narrated history. The whole has enough elements to be represented as a whole, programmed from its beginning. The initiatory struggle in distant territory and the mourning with death between aristocrats, zoomachia and monomachias reproduce the two activities that in the sculptural representation of Porcuna more fit the aristocratic imaginary. Porcuna also offers the possibility of reading this double activity in two ages, in children when it shows the learning of both activities in the forms of small hunting and ruled struggle, and in adulthood with the tragic component added. Bibliography: Chapa, T. (2015): “Los escultores del Cerrillo Blanco de Porcuna,” in A. Ruiz y M. Molinos (coord.): Jaén, ibera land. 40 years of research and transfer. University of Jaén. Jaén. Olmos, R. (2002): “The sculptural groups of Cerrillo Blanco de Porcuna (Jaén). A convergent iconographic reading essay.” Spanish Archive of Archaeology, 75 107-122. Ruiz, A. and Molinos, M. (2015): “The sculptural group of Cerrillo Blanco, Porcuna.” In Arturo Ruiz and Manuel Molinos (Eds.). Jaén, Iberian land 40 Years of research and transfer. University of Jaén. 67-84. Torrecillas, J. F. (1985): The late period cemetery of Cerrillo Blanco. Institute of Giennenses Studies. Jaén.