Iberians
One, more general, referred to all the populations of the Iberian peninsula without regard to ethnic differences (Pre-Indo-European, Celts and non-Celtic Indo-Europeans).
The other, more restricted ethnic sense and the one dealt with in this article, refers to the people living in the eastern and southern coasts of the Iberian Peninsula, which by the 6th century BCE had absorbed cultural influences from the Phoenicians and the Greeks.
The rest of the peninsula, in the northern, central, and northwestern areas, was inhabited by Vascones, Celts or Celtiberians groups and the possibly Pre-Celtic or Proto-Celtic Indo-European Lusitanians, Vettones, and Turdetani.
Starting in the 5th century BCE, Iberian soldiers were frequently deployed in battles in Italy, Greece and especially Sicily due to their military qualities.
The peoples in the central and northwest regions were mostly speakers of Celtic dialects, semi-pastoral and lived in scattered villages, though they also had a few fortified towns like Numantia.
By the late 5th and early 4th centuries BCE a series of important social changes led to the consolidation of an aristocracy and the emergence of a clientele system.
Mausoleum of Pozo Moro near the town of Chinchilla de Monte-Aragón in Castile-La Mancha seems to mark the location of another big settlement.
Sagunto is the location of an ancient Iberian and later Roman city of Saguntum, where a big fortress was built in the 5th century BCE.
Their first colony on the Iberian Peninsula was founded in 1100 BCE and was originally called Gadir, later renamed by the Romans as Gades (modern Cádiz).
According to Arrian, the Iberians sent emissaries to Alexander the Great in 324 BCE, along with other embassies of Carthaginians, Italics and Gauls, to request his friendship.
Hamilcar Barca began this conquest from his base at Cádiz by conquering the Tartessian Guadalquivir river region, which was rich in silver.
After Hamilcar's death, his son-in-law Hasdrubal the Fair continued his incursions into Iberia, founding the colony of Qart Hadasht (modern Cartagena) and extending his influence all the way to the southern bank of the river Ebro.
After Hasdrubal's assassination in 221 BCE, Hannibal assumed command of the Carthaginian forces and spent two years completing the conquest of the Iberians south of the Ebro.
The war dragged on with Carthage sending more reinforcements until the Battle of Ilipa (modern Alcalá del Río in Sevilla province), which was a decisive victory for Publius Scipio Africanus.
Iberian society was divided into different classes, including kings or chieftains (Latin: "regulus"), nobles, priests, artisans and slaves.
A distinct feature of the culture, the pottery was primarily decorated with geometric forms in red but in some areas (from Murcia to the south of Catalonia) it also included figurative images.
The man-bull Bicha of Balazote (possibly a fertility deity) and various depictions of sphinxes and lions bear a resemblance to eastern Mediterranean mythological creatures.
Currently few native Iberian gods are known, though the oracular healing deity "Betatun" is known from a Latin inscription at Fuertes del Rey.
[13] There was clearly an important female deity associated with the earth and regeneration as depicted by the Lady of Baza and linked with birds, flowers and wheat.
Iberians performed their rites in the open and also maintained sanctuaries in holy places like groves, springs and caves.
In Iberian eschatology, "death was seen as the starting point for a journey symbolised by a crossing of the sea, the land or even the sky.
In set piece battle, Iberians were known to regularly charge and retreat, throwing javelins and shouting at their opponents without actually committing to full contact combat.
