Origen y secuencia de las más antíguas fíbulas en la Península Ibérica

Abstract

In the present study, a very large amount of Iberian fibulae are identified, organized, and accounted for. The very most of these fibulae come from Spanish and Portuguese sites and museums, as well as some others come from the Eastern Mediterranean in spite of their Iberian origin. In principle, they all are dated before the Orientalizing Phenomenon (c. 750 BC), therefore Late Bronze Age stage. The starting point of this study is the recent statement by some researchers who propose a 13th cent. BC emergence for the fibulae of the elbow family. This proposal entails an Iberian origin for the fibula – the “Granadan approach”. The study consists of two main parts. The first one is an analysis focused on morphological and stylistic criteria, finding contexts, and foreign parallels. The entire set of fibulae is classified one by one in seven groups: asymmetric violinbow family, elbow family, looped family, curved-bow family, pivotal family, double-spring family, and Coimbra type. Once the typological classification is clear, it is argued that only elbow and looped families are trustful Iberian, Late Bronze Age items, while the rest of them must be considered uncertain regarding their nature and chronology. The second part contains a synthesis to clarify the filiation of the entire series of the Iberian fibulae. This is, a critical study focused on the origin of the every family and type, their evolution, and the formal and technical relationships each other. The results confirm an Alpine origin for the fibulae – therefore, foreign origin for the Iberian examples –, a connection between polities of Iberia and abroad before the Phoenician colonization (mainly those from Sicily and the Eastern Mediterranean), and the interaction of communities within Iberia.