CYLINDRICAL LARGE-EYED IDOL
Copper Age
CYLINDRICAL LARGE-EYED IDOL
Polished marble limestone. Decorated with incised lines.
Height: 20 cm. Maximum diameter: 10.2 cm.
Late prehistory. Around 2500 B.C.
Origin
Torrecera. Jerez de la Frontera. Cádiz.
Description
Although somewhat smaller and less carefully crafted than the Museum's other example, both have very similar formal decorative features - so much so that they look as though they have come from the same hands. In this case, hair is also seen on the top part of the idol. Furthermore, the back part has been deliberately cracked, which we must perhaps relate to the asymmetrical distribution of the motifs. These types of idol have recently been interpreted as symbolic manifestations of ideology/religion relating to the emergence of an élite and the first clear indications of social hierarchy. This example became part of the Museum's collection in 1995 thanks to a group of schoolchildren from Torrecera (part of the municipal boundaries of Jerez), who found it by accident near the Guadalete River.
Bibliography
- González, R.; Barrionuevo, F. y Aguilar, L. (1997): Museo Arqueológico Municipal de Jerez de la Frontera. 'Municipal Archaeological Museum of Jerez de la Frontera' Ayuntamiento de Jerez, p. 59.
