242 - Votive offering; Celtiberian, 1st–2nd centuries A.D.

Votive offering; Celtiberian, 1st–2nd centuries A.D. Silver. Measurements: 6.3 x 1.7 x 1.7 cm. Provenance: Family legacy of Ramon Martí Alsina and Ricard Martí Aguiló. Archaeological collection formed from the 1950s by successive generations of the family, through acquisitions in European galleries and auction houses. An elongated figure with highly simplified features and lines “engraved” on the silver. The term “Celtiberians” refers to a group of pre-Roman Celtic or Celticized peoples who inhabited—from the late Bronze Age (around the 13th century B.C.) until the Romanization of Hispania (2nd–1st centuries B.C.)— the region of the Iberian Peninsula known as Celtiberia in classical sources. One of the main sources of information on the material culture of the Celtiberian peoples is grave goods, consisting of metal objects (generally bronze and iron, though also silver), which include weapons, ornaments, and tools, as well as ceramic pieces ranging from the cinerary urn itself to beads and spindle whorls. These grave goods consisted of functional objects from daily life as well as others of purely symbolic and social value, indicating the status of the deceased. Of particular note is the important role of weaponry—and especially swords—which reveal the privileged position warriors held within Celtiberian society.