Recent excavations carried out at the Iberian sanctuaries of Cueva de la Lopera (2,300 years old) and Haza del Río, in Jaén, have revealed the progress that has been made in the study of female rituals and the role of women in worship in the ancient Mediterranean. Offerings and votive figures appeared associated with female rituals and also with the pilgrimages that took place between these two sanctuaries linking the Guadalquivir and Wadimar valleys. These are the results that strengthen the University Research Institute of Iberian Archeology of the University of Jaén (UJA) as a reference center in gender archaeology.
“We found interesting contexts related to fertility, fecundity, assembly, social presentation before the deity and, ultimately, a wide range of female representations and images, some wearing necklaces or gowns, others naked, which tells us about the active participation of women in community rituals and the importance of making pilgrimages to these spaces of great importance to them,” says archaeologist Carmen Rueda Galán, who led the work. It was carried out this summer in the Iberian Haza del Río Reserve, in the Jaén region of La Loma, in collaboration with Carmen Rísquez and Ana Herranz.
It is a space of worship linked to the territory of the ancient city of Castulo (Linares) and a major connection point for the watershed between the Guadalquivir and Guadalimar valleys. Archaeological geological studies have defined it as a seasonal wetland, with a preserved area of 2,500 square metres, where phytolith and pollen analyzes have allowed us to reconstruct the landscape 2,400 years ago. “We know that there were trees typical of the Mediterranean forest, and the dating carried out confirms that these wetlands were active between the Bronze Age and the Middle Ages, which tells us that they were visible in the Iberian era, and therefore we consider them to be part of the sacred landscape during the third century BC,” explains Carmen Rueda.
The excavations also revealed semi-schematic female and male figures, in various ritual positions, related to practices of cohesion, fertility and protection. As well as the anatomical parts (legs, hands, arms, as well as the penis) related to the health and healing cults. “It is a landmark in the landscape related to its function as a natural corridor and reinforced by the presence of water, which should serve as a purifying, transforming and healing element. It is a sanctuary linked to the borders and gates of the region, which complements the map known so far and focuses on the complexity of the religious landscape in the Castolo region, between the 4th and 3rd centuries BC,” says the researcher from the University of Jaén.
At the same time, the findings revealed the importance of pilgrimage on specific dates such as the autumn and spring equinoxes, and the importance of the symbolic landscape. “Community participation reveals to us the features of the community pilgrimage journey that must have been very important for these social groups at this time in the third century BC,” says Rueda.
The finds found in Haza del Río, a sanctuary that appeared in 2021 thanks to the cooperation of citizens that warned against looting for Iberian bronze votive offerings in the workings of the A-32 highway that connects Jaén with the Spanish Levante, are linked to the monumental monument of El Fontanar, in the Sierra Magina region of Jaén, a stone monument in which a unique pyramid of culture was represented. Iberian It is a ritual that takes place during the winter solstice and recreates the metaphor of hieroglyphic marriage, a sexual, mythical and magical encounter between the hero of the sun and the goddess of fertility, common in the ancient Mediterranean world. “It is very important to note in these spaces the appearance of a deity who imposed all rituals related to cohesion, health, marriage or initiation of these communities from the third to fourth centuries BC,” emphasizes the UJA researcher.
Archaeologists from the University Research Institute of Iberian Archeology of the University of Jaén presented these findings at the symposium second holy work, It was held in October in Naples in collaboration with the Cervantes Institute, the Jean Bérard Centre, the University of Seville, the Scientific Institute of Cultural Heritage of Rome and the Sapienza University of Rome. A symposium that discussed different aspects of the role of women in worship in the ancient Mediterranean region, where the latest archaeological research focused on the analysis of women’s rituals and the role of women in worship. The program included topics related to the effects of feminine rituals in sacred space, with ritual activities in the domestic sphere or with women and the funerary space.
“We have contributed to providing an interesting general and shared vision of the feminine sphere in ancient sacred sites and their symbolic monuments,” concludes the archaeologist from the Iberian Archaeological Research Institute. It is a leading center for integrating gender archaeology, with its own projects and a multi-disciplinary and multi-generational team implementing strategies for transversal integration of gender perspectives.