Artistic Expression and Material Culture in Celtic Gallaecia

Alfredo González-Ruibal

Abstract

The Iron Age art of northwestern Iberia (the ancient Gallaecia) is scarcely known by scholars outside Spain and Portugal, due to the local character of most publications dealing with this topic. This has deprived archaeologists of the knowledge of an original culture, whose artistic expressions owe as much to the Mediterranean world as to the Atlantic one. An overview of the main characteristics of this distinctive material culture tradition, within the social context of its production and use, is offered along with a catalogue of the most outstanding pieces of Gallaecian art (sculpture, jewellery, bronzework, pottery).

Keywords

Sculpture, jewellery, bronzework, oppida, hillforts, Late Iron Age, northwest Iberia.