Hey! today is #FridayPaleoart, it is not #paleo, but is still #RockArt ?:

Site: Salcedo, Valderredible (Cantabria).
Place: MUPAC (Cantabria, Spain).
Piece: Statue-stele of Salcedo.
Motif: Anthropomorph and dagger.
Chronology: Early Bronze Age.

Today we’re going to travel to the Monte Hijedo, on the border between Cantabria and Burgos (Spain) to talk about the curious post-paleolithic phenomena that exists in this area, the anthropomorphs of “Monte Hijedo style”.

The piece was located by Ernesto Rodrigo in 2007, in a dump near to the village of Salcedo (Valderredible, Cantabria). Seven years later, in 2014, the piece was sent to Prehistory and Archaeology Museum of Cantabria (MUPAC), where it is exposed actually.

The stone, with six faces, has an anthropomorph profile. On the front face, was engraved a triangular sword dagger with the “pomo lunato” hilt on the left. Also, it has a ribbon surrounding the figure which is attached to the knife. The stone also presents modern alterations.

This piece appears in a “Monte Hijedo style” context, characterized by the schematic anthropomorph motif, the dagger placed inside and several holding elements. All of them are located in great walls of rock (like Peña Lostroso -look below-), except the statue-stele of Salcedo.

These representations are assigned to Early Bronze Age. This assignation is due to the similarities that the “pomo lunato” dagger presents with others sites in the area Mediterranean-Subalpine, and also the similarities that the figuration presents with its neighboring group...

“Peña Tú-Sejos-Tabuyo” in the Cantabrian Mountains. These representations reflect the process of social hierarchization.

See (Teira L. & Ontañón R., 2016): https://www.academia.edu/24465568/La_Estatua_estela_de_Salcedo_Valderredible_y_los_inicios_del_retrato_social_en_la_Prehistoria

You should not miss the visit to the statue-stele of Salcedo in MUPAC museum!

Eduardo Sainz-Maza ( @edu_0995)

End of thread!!!