The Iberian: a mosaic of people

The Iberians were the people who inhabited the eastern part of the Iberian Peninsula between the sixth and second centuries B.C. Their cultural traits varied from one territory to another. Those who lived in the area of Valencia were called Ilercavones, Edetanos and Contestanos by some Greco-Latin travelers and geographers. However, the name given by the Iberians themselves remains unknown given that their writings, in Iberian language, cannot be deciphered.
Iberians were a hierarchical society ruled by high-ranking elite that organized farming exploitation and controlled trade relations from fortified cities. Daily life took place in villages of varying size. The central space of the family life was the house. Here, not only did they cook, ate and slept, but they also carried out crafts and metallurgy activities, as well as rituals to the ancestors and deities.
Pottery from archaeological sites such as Los Villares (Caudete, Valencia), La Solivella (Alcalá de Xivert, Castellón) or La Cova del Cavallo (Liria, Valencia) illustrate the most ancient moments of this period, during the seventh and sixth centuries B.C. It was during this time, that they adopted the potter’s wheel and the dual-chamber furnace for pottery (reproduced in a model). Social changes resulted in the emergence of aristocratic-family elites associated to the control of resources.