A recent study led by the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) shed new light on the ritualistic significance of severed heads in ancient Iberian cultures. The research analyzed seven decapitated male skulls from the ancient city of Ullastret and the settlement of Puig Castellar to understand human mobility patterns during the Iron Age in the northeastern Iberian Peninsula.
Severed heads are a funerary practice within the Iberian world, offering a rare opportunity to analyze these communities due to the scarcity of anthropological records resulting from their predominant cremation rituals. The study, published in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, provides direct evidence of human mobility patterns during this period.
At Puig Castellar, isotope analysis revealed that three of the four individuals differed from the local strontium reference, suggesting they were probably not from the local community. These findings indicate that the skulls were likely used as symbols of power and intimidation against outsiders, representing "war trophies" intended to demonstrate power and coercion.
In contrast, at Ullastret, two local individuals were found exposed on walls or doors of adjacent houses in a street in the middle of the city. A third skull of possible foreign origin was found in a pit outside the walls, which could represent a war trophy, according to Ara. This suggests that in some Iberian settlements, decapitated heads were used to venerate individuals linked to the community, with the location of the skulls indicating they were "important inhabitants, venerated by the local society."
"The practice of severed heads was applied differently at each site, which seems to rule out a homogeneous symbolic expression, although more research will be needed to ensure this," said Rubén de la Fuente Seoane, an archaeologist at the UAB and first author of the study, according to Ara. This differentiation reflects a dynamic and complex society with local and external interactions.
As reported by 20 Minutos, to conduct the study, the research team combined bioarchaeology and stable isotope analysis of strontium and oxygen in the dental enamel of the seven decapitated male skulls. This analysis made it possible to discern which individuals matched or did not match the local bioavailable strontium range and identify whether they were local or not.
The study was coordinated by researchers from the Department of Animal Biology, Plant Biology, and Ecology at the UAB and included collaboration from the Museum of Archaeology of Catalonia (MAC), the Torre Balldovina Museum, and the universities of Lleida, Bordeaux (France), and Tübingen (Germany), according to VilaWeb.
This article was written in collaboration with generative AI company Alchemiq