1978.509: Warrior Votive Statuette

Published Catalogue Text: Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Bronzes at the Harvard Art Museums
This slender warrior wears a tunic, mantle, and simple helmet. He stands frontally with his arms pressed to his side, holding a small, circular shield with raised spherical boss in his left hand and a short sword or dagger in the right (1). His facial features are small and relatively naturally proportioned; his nose is broad and flat, his eyes are small circles, and his straight mouth is modeled with the individual lips delineated. His face is turned slightly upward. He wears a long mantle over a V-neck tunic. The mantle falls across the front of the chest downward from right to left, but it is unclear if the mantle goes over the right shoulder. The mantle reaches the figure’s feet and is featureless. The feet are slightly indicated under the mantle. The back of the figure is featureless with the exception of an incised line representing the neck guard of the helmet and a faint diagonal line indicating the mantle.

Thousands of small, anthropomorphic copper alloy statuettes and anatomical votives have been recovered from remote sanctuary sites in south-central Spain, particularly Collado de los Jardines and Castellar de Santisteban, but it is not certain to which god or gods they were dedicated (2). Many of the statuettes depict individuals, some of whom are represented in poses of prayer or offering (3). Some are very abstract and schematically rendered, while others wear identifiable contemporary clothing (4). In spite of the similarity of the votives, there is nothing to indicate that the intention behind each offering was the same.

NOTES:

1. Compare a similarly armed statuette, although with a different posture, in L. Prados Torreira, Exvotos ibericos de bronce del Museo Arqueologico Nacional (Madrid, 1992) 195, no. 276; and a warrior with similar equipment but an attacking stance in R. Lantier, Bronzes votifs ibériques (Paris, 1935) no. 16, pl. 2.

2. See F. Álvarez-Ossorio, Bronces ibéricos o hispánicos del Museo Arqueológico Nacional (Madrid, 1935) 20-27; id., Catálogo de los exvotos de bronce ibéricos (Madrid, 1941); L. Prados Torreira, “Los exvotos anatomicos del santuario iberico de Collado de los Jardines (Sta. Elena, Jaén),” Trabajos de prehistoria 48 (1991): 313-32; ead. 1992 (supra 1); ead., “Los santuarios ibéricos: Apuntes para el desarrollo de una arqueología del culto,” Trabajos de prehistoria 51.1 (1994): 127-40; and G. Nicolini et al., El santuario ibérico de Castellar, Jaén: Intervenciones arqueológicas 1966-1991 (Seville, 2004) 160-64.

3. For discussions of the statuettes’ poses and gestures, see G. Nicolini, “Gestes et attitudes cultuels des figurines de bronze ibériques,” Mélanges de la Casa de Velázquez 4 (1968): 27-50; and C. Rueda Galán, “La mujer sacralizada: La presencia de las mujeres en los santuarios (lectura desde los exvotos de bronce iberos),” Complutum 18 (2007): 227-35.

4. See, for example, 1933.134.

Lisa M. Anderson