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Groundbreaking discovery sheds light on Spain’s mythical Tartessos civilization

Spain’s National Research Council has presented the incredible findings of an excavation which brings greater understanding of an ancient and enigmatic civilization that emerged in southern Spain several centuries before Christ. 

Published: 19 April 2023 11:21 CEST
Groundbreaking discovery sheds light on Spain’s mythical Tartessos civilization
The ornate depiction of the stone busts, as well the inclusion of jewellery (hoop earrings) and their particular hairstyles, resemble ancient sculptures from the Middle East and Asia. Photos: Institute of Archeology of Mérida/Csic

Five busts, damaged but two of which maintain a great degree of detail, are the first human and facial representations of the Tartessian people that the modern world has ever seen. 

Archaeologists representing Spain’s National Research Council (CSIS) on Tuesday presented the incredible findings of an excavation carried out at Casas de Turuñuelo dig in Badajoz, in southwest Spain.

These “extraordinary findings” represent a “profound paradigm shift” in the interpretation of Tartessian culture, excavation leaders Celestino Pérez and Esther Rodríguez said during the press conference.

The Tartessians, believed to have lived in southern Iberia (present-day Andalusia and Extremadura) are considered one of the first Western European civilizations, and perhaps the first to have thrived in the Iberian Peninsula. 

Given how few Tartessian archaeological findings there have been so far, this ancient society is shrouded in mystery.

In historical records from Ancient Greece, Tartessos’ port was located at the mouth of the Guadalquivir river in what’s now Cádiz. Greek historian Ephorus described it in the 4th century BC as a wealthy civilization centred around the production and trade of tin, gold and other metals.

What isn’t known is where the Tartessians originated from, if they were rather an indigenous tribe with influences from the East, or a Phoenician colony which settled beyond the Pillars of Hercules (the Strait of Gibraltar).

The team from the Institute of Archaeology of Mérida behind this latest excavation believes two of the busts that have been unearthed in what is thought to be a shrine or pantheon represent Tartessian goddesses, whereas previously it was understood that Tartessian religion was aniconic (opposed to the use of idols or images).

The facial depiction of the stone busts, as well the inclusion of jewellery (hoop earrings) and their particular hairstyles, resemble ancient sculptures from the Middle East and Asia. 

Archaeologists believe that together with the other three sculptures that were considerably more damaged, the two goddesses formed part of a stone mural depicting four deities watching over a Tartessian warrior, as one of the defaced busts has a helmet. 

The ornate effigies, which initial findings suggest are around 2,500 years old, also represent an important discovery for art historians, as Ancient Greece and Etruria (an ancient civilization in modern-day central Italy) were previously recognised as the epicentre of sculpting in this period in time.

The first archaeological discovery suggesting that Tartessos existed was in 1958, when a series of spectacular gold amulets were unearthed in Camas, near Seville. 

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DISCOVER SPAIN

The towns in Spain where it was illegal to die

When cemeteries were filling up in towns around southern Spain a few years ago, some mayors turned to extreme measures to keep their towns alive.

Published: 21 February 2024 17:41 CET
The towns in Spain where it was illegal to die

Ah, the Spaniards. To outsiders they can sometimes appear like chain-smoking, meat loving hedonists for whom a caña or glass of tinto is never out of the question. And yet, they outlive the majority of the world.

In fact, a 2021 study by the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation predicted that Spain would surpass Japan to boast the world’s longest life expectancy by 2040. According to Spain’s main stats body (INE), by 2050 Spaniards will be nearing a life expectancy of 90.

It’s hard to fully understand why Spaniards live so long, but scientists generally seem to have come to the consensus that it’s something to do with the combination of their Mediterranean diet (and weather too, no doubt), a good healthcare system, plenty of walking, a close-knit society, and a helpful serving of hedonism — in moderation, of course.

Genetics, a love of sport as well as the lack of serious social issues (in recent decades, anyway) and involvement in wars also likely played a role in making Spaniards live longer. Additionally, over the past decades Spain also managed to drastically reduce the number of deaths due to cardiovascular diseases.

Imagine if they cut down on drinking and smoking — Spaniards could no doubt live even longer. However there were, in the not so distant past, some towns in Spain that took life expectancy to another level and actually made it illegal to die.

READ ALSO: In which parts of Spain do people live longest?

Yes, you read that right: there were towns in Spain where it was made illegal to die.

In 1999 in the Andalusian province of Granada, the mayor of Lanjarón, José Rubio, issued an order banning his 3,870 residents from dying.

The reason? There was no room for anyone else in the cemetery. As you might imagine, this strange decree got a lot of attention, and even made the pages of the New York Times as the news went around the world. However, just a week later, a neighbour broke the rules and died.

The offender was a 91-year-old man (and rather awkwardly, a friend of the mayor) so they were forced to bury him in the already overflowing Lanjarón cemetery. Fortunately, there were no repercussions for the dead man or his family, nor for the rest of the locals who eventually ‘broke’ the ban on dying.

Then a few years later, in July 2002, Manuel Blas Gómez, the mayor in Darro (also in Granada) pulled a similar trick made a public order: “Prohibido morirse” (“It is forbidden to die”). He had only been mayor for a few months, and he took the decision to veto death in this town of 1,500 locals.

The bizarre order was made for similar reasons as in Lanjarón, namely that the town’s cemetery had no more usable land and although local government had found a plot of land to build a new one, the municipal coffers did not have the money needed for the construction works.

But it’s not only in Spain where dying has been outlawed. Both Cugnaux and Sarpourenx in France and Biritiba Mirim in Brazil have done the same in the past for the same reason — because their local cemeteries were full.

READ ALSO: Did you know…? There’s a town in Italy where it’s illegal to die

Since 2012 it’s been illegal to die in the Italian town of Falciano del Massico in Campania, about 30 miles north of Naples.

Mayor Giulio Cesare Fava banned the village’s residents from going “beyond the boundaries of earthly life, and… into the afterlife” after the town’s cemetery reached full capacity.

Again, as in Spain residents were ordered not to die at least until Falciano’s administrators had time to construct a new cemetery that could house their earthly remains.

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