Relief of Mogón (Jaén, Spain)

The discovery of the “Relief of Mogon” occurred in a casual way in 1942 in an indeterminate place on the banks of Guadalquivir and was relocated on the façade of a peasant’s house, according to a press release about the discovery. The traditional award of the relief to Mogón is undoubtedly due to the proximity of this hamlet of Villacarrillo, where there is another Iberian site known by Los Castellones de Mogón, a classic place in the bibliography because it was there where a silver treasure was located at the beginning of the 20th century. However, this piece following the data provided by the Catalogue and the works of Tomás Román Pulido is very presumable that it did not originate in Mogón but in Los Turruñuelos (oppidum nearby) and formed part of some architectural structure along with two other bas-reliefs (’ Relieves de Montiel’) from the excavations carried out by Tomás Román. Regarding iconography, the relief represents a human (possibly male) figure flanked by two rampant horses. The scene has had multiple interpretations. In a monographic work on the “horse tamers,” Mª Cruz Marín and Aurelio Padilla carried out a systematic study of this iconographic type in which they associate their presence with the existence of pasture zones, as delimiting landmarks of the pastures and with a protective iconography of the horses themselves. However, other authors such as Ricardo Olmos relate it to fertility myths and emergence, that is, to the existence of sanctuaries dedicated to concrete divinities whose dispersion in a wide territory does not imply a common “functional” background. The truth is that it is not possible to directly associate an isolated finding without certain origin as the “Relief of Mogon” but, if it is accepted its relationship with the “Reliefs of Montiel,” associated with a cemetery space, we can associate it with the representation of the goddess Potnia, Hippon or Epona. The horse also has a funerary character among the Mediterranean peoples, including the Iberos, as documented in the sanctuary dedicated to Epona or Potnia Hippon, of El Cigarralejo (Mula, Murcia) where the presence of reliefs of horses in the nearby cemetery would confirm the relationship with the world of ultratumba and the equestrian heroization. This funerary character is also present among the Celtic peninsular peoples, as observed in the different representations of one of his goddesses, Epona, goddess protector of the dead, who appears in the company of horses. Bibliography Bellón, J. P., Sánchez, A. and Gómez, F (2015): “The relief of Mogón and the reliefs of Montiel. New contributions from the historiographical analysis of the Monumental and Artistic catalog of the Province of Jaén,” in A. Ruiz and M. Molinos (eds): Jaén, Iberian land 40 Years of research and transfer. University of Jaén. 461-468. Cruz, Mª C. and Padilla, A. (1997): “The reliefs of the horse tamer and its significance in the Iberian religious context.” Quaderns de prehistòria i archaeologia de Castelló, 18: 461-494. Prieto, S. and López, V. (2000): “Argenteous fibulas with figurative scene of the Iberian Peninsula.” Complutum, 11: 41-62. Sánchez, A., and Ruiz, A (2013): “Enrique Romero de Torres and the monumental catalog of Jaén.” Menga: Revista de prehistoria de Andalucía, 4: 133-148