Symbols and warriors - Richard J. Harrison

It is fair to say that warrior ideology was rife in Bronze Age
Europe but all too often it is discussed in generalised and
overly simplistic terms. This detailed study of the imagery and
ideology of Bronze Age Spain and Portugal draws on a corpus of
more than one hundred stelae. Describing them as `multi-vocal
monuments' Richard Harrison examines how they embody ideological
codes centred around militarism, masculinity and hierarchy,
reflected in the symbolism of the imagery, the geographical
location of stelae and their function. In Harrison's opinion the
stelae contain a `treasure-trove of well-preserved ideas' of a
society seeking to mark physical possession of territory,
commemorate their great leaders and warriors and, in some cases,
mark their burial. Discussion of examples and particular types of
symbolism and imagery from Iberia lead to broader discussions of
stelae practices, social evolution and warrior ideology in Bronze
Age Europe as a whole.