Symbols of Identity in Iberian Chalcolithic

The idols and ornaments shed light on the beliefs of the day. Over time, the forms of these objects evolved, revealing ideological transformations that are reflected in a growing interest in figuration and an increasing prevalence of male representations.

Eye Idol. Limestone. Sevilla, mid-3rd millennium BC.
These idols, characterized by their large eyes, seem to respond to a common representational idea with small variations in the different territories of the Iberian Chalcolithic. This particular type, cylindrical eyed idol, is characteristic of the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula.
Photos: Füsun Kavrakoğlu, National Archaeological Museum, Madrid, 2026.

Plaque idols are parallelepiped cut out of sheets of schist or slate with engraved decoration on at least one side. They are found in the southwest Iberian Peninsula and their decorative motifs display varying degrees of abstraction. Though very similar, these idols are never identical, and for this reason it is not clear whether they served a religious purpose or whether they were symbolic elements designed to distinguish one individual or group from another.

Towards Inequality (Late Chalcolithic, 2600-2200 BC)

The Late Chalcolithic was a period of increasing social inequality, manifested in both funerary and residential contexts. The necropolises remained collective, but now there were clear differences between graves and between the grave goods buried with the dead. This period was also characterized by the development of major settlements that can be described as proto-urban, with large numbers of inhabitants and robust fortifications.