Cultura íbera

Iberian culture

From the 5th to the 1st c. BC

The Greeks were the first who mentioned the presence of a civilization that they called Iberians. It is very difficult to know data of this society, since, although its writing has been deciphered, it has not been possible to translate. Therefore, we know their customs and traditions through other societies and, above all, thanks to archaeological study.

Like the rest of the societies that have populated Vilajoisa, the position of the city was very advantageous: on an easily defensible hill, next to one of the only two rivers of the region, in front of a good anchorage and a good beach to embark and disembark travelers and merchandise, dominating the most extensive fields of cultivation of the Marina Baixa. In addition, its anchorage was the last or first maritime port in the Iberian Peninsula for ships that followed the Balearic navigation route, a genuine 'motorway' of Antiquity to and from the Central and Eastern Mediterranean.

We know this period of the history of Villajoyosa mainly through two large Iberian cemeteries (Poble Nou and Casetes) that consisted of groups of tombs on both sides of the roads that led to the regions of Alacantí and L'Alcoià. Tombs have been excavated since the 7th century BC until the end of the Roman era, thirteen centuries later. Personal objects and rituals that accompany the remains of the deceased form a unique collection that illustrates the daily life of almost forty generations. In the entire urban area of Vilajoiosa the remains of this Iberian population, whose walled city center would be surrounded by a large industrial area.

Another relevant place of the Iberian city is La Malladeta sanctuary, located next to the road to Alicante. It was a temple dedicated to the fertility goddess, with at least 50 rooms and from where el orto solar was observed solstices to set the calendar. Around the hill there was surely a sacred forest. The sanctuary was abandoned around year 80 AD.

Numerous ceramic votive offerings have been found in the sanctuary. They represent the Mediterranean mother goddess, the Tanit of the Punics.

Photography: Poble Nou Cemetery, Iberian burial mounds.

The Olp at the threshold of the Afterlife is an exceptional piece in the Iberian world, because it is the most complete testimony that we know of what the Iberians believed about the journey to the Afterlife. It is dated to the 1st c. BC and it was found in the Poble Nou cemetery in Villajoyosa. The importance of archaeology in this context lies in the impossibility of knowing the Iberian culture through its writings. We know they had their writing, but the longer texts we keep are short lead sheet commercial contracts and stone grave markers. Archaeologists understand some words, but there…

MORE INFO

Silver embossed belt brooch

This piece is one of the parts of an old Iberian belt brooch. It is the only thing that remains from the belt since the rest, was made of leather, has disappeared. The belt was a common element in the clothing of an Iberian, but depending on its decorative richness…
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The Iberian falcata

The falcata is the most characteristic weapon of Iberian culture. This piece found in Vilajoiosa has a 44 cm blade and is made up of three sheets of forged metal, joined together to “la calda”, that means in hot, hammering the three blades on an anvil in the red of…
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Graffiti from the Malladeta sanctuary

In the last period of occupation of the sanctuary of La Malladeta, approximately between 25 BC and 75 AD, in the Roman Empire, on the eastern slope (the one facing Villajoyosa), only the ruins of the Iberian sanctuary remained, and over them the priests and the Roman faithful still thrown…
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Iberian culture

From the 5th to the 1st c. BC

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Jar of the threshold of the Afterlife

COLLECTION PIECES

Silver embossed belt brooch

The Iberian falcata

Graffiti from the Malladeta sanctuary