Una plaquita de hueso con esfinge procedente de Segobriga (Cabeza de Griego, Saelices, Cuenca). Paralelos y cronología

Abstract

A rectangular bone plaque with the representation of a sphinx was found during the archaeological excavation campaign carried out in Segobriga in 1982. It was found in a layer dated to the Late Antique period, where this small artefact was found apart from the box it originally decorated. The stylistic similarities between this piece and the sphinx plaque from Ibiza suggest an Etruscan artistic origin. However, the sphinx from Segobriga seems to be more archaic, closer to the Ionian/Oriental figurative technique which, from a chronological point of view, would date it to the last quarter of the 6th century BC or the beginning of the following century. This piece should be added to the list of Iron Age materials documented either by the archaeological work carried out in Segobriga or from isolated finds, which confirm the existence of a pre-Roman settlement on the Cabeza de Griego hill from at least the 6th century BC. The presence of this object along with others, such as a phallic pendant of Punic origin and a glass aryballos from the Greek area, is testimony to the arrival of luxury products destined for the local aristocracy settled on this Celtiberian hill fort. The sphinx plaque complements the distribution map of kibotia imports —Etruscan or Greek— in the western end of the Mediterranean from the 6th century BC onwards, where this type of object is scarce, especially in sites in the interior of the Iberian Peninsula.