Title

Fibula

Anónimo procedente de Castilla y León

Generic classification

Object

Date

Century

Cultural context / style

Dimensions

Material

Technique

Provenance

Current location

Inventory Number in Current Collection

Object history

The pre-Roman treasures of Palencia are a set of three treasures of undoubted beauty and value discovered throughout the twentieth century, and consisting of gold and silver jewelry, plus possibly denarii. These treasures, called I, II and III, were not discovered by archaeological work, so it is difficult to know the context of the pieces to carry out a complete study of them. The studies reveal that the Palencia treasures present unique characteristics, with decorative and formal elements that show their own identity. This suggests the existence of a specific jewelry tradition in the North Castilian Plateau. Moreover, the predominance of the use of silver over gold links them more closely to the Iberian productions of the Arrabalde (Zamora), Padilla de Duero (Valladolid), Monasterio de Rodilla (Burgos) and El Raso de Candeleda (Avila) sites, than to those of the Castros Culture of the northwest of the peninsula (Rodriguez and Castro, 2012).

We will focus on the so-called Tesoro 1 of Palencia, preserved in the Hispanic Society of America. This was discovered, on April 30, 1911 during construction work on the railroad connecting Palencia with Villalón de Campos, near the Carrión River in an enclave called Puente del Hierro (Iron Bridge). The pieces were inside an earthenware vessel, covered by a conical silver cup that was damaged during excavation. They date between the middle of the 2nd century and 72 B.C., as suggested by the studies and the denarii found next to them. The treasures were hidden for safety, possibly during the sieges of Palencia in the 2nd century BC and the wars of Sertorius (80-72 BC), the latest date for their concealment (Codding 2017, 88).

Francisco Simón Nieto acquired the jewels, retaining one torques in his personal collection and selling the rest to the French antique dealers Feuardent brothers. Subsequently, Archer Huntington, founder of the Hispanic Society, bought these pieces from them on October 8, 1912 (Rodríguez and Castro, 2012). The collection consists of a total of twenty-two gold, silver, and electro objects, including four bracelets, six torques, three bracelets, two fibulae, four earrings, two hair ornaments, and a conical vase (Codding 2017, 87).

Description

The pre-Roman bullae combined functionality and ornamentation, being elaborated by means of techniques such as casting or forging. Decorated with granulation, embossing or filigree, these pieces not only acted as clothing fasteners, but also reflected the social status of the wearer, being in some cases specific for high ranks. In addition, many fíbulas had a decorative and protective meaning, symbolizing power and spirituality in the pre-Roman culture (Bandera Romero, 1986).

As we have mentioned, the group of the Palencia treasures presents typical features of the Northern Plateau, however, there is a group of pieces such as the ceñidores, the chains and the fíbulas that present exclusive features of the Celtiberian jewelry (Delibes and Esparza, 1989).

In the Palencia treasure, there are two types of bullae, those with a double simétric foot and the annular ones with an ornamented foot and arch. The first, are fíbulas with curved foot and finished in buttons, generally of silver, include a specimen in gold from Palencia, with pyriform finials similar to those of the torques meseteños (Rodríguez and Castro, 2012).

The latter are preserved in the Hispanic Society. These fíbulas are recognized by their remarkable weight and their elaborate ornamentation which is organized by means of an arched bridge, whose ends curve and end in terminals shaped like small turrets adorned with buttons (Rodríguez y Castro, 2012). The decoration of the arc includes a gold leaf accompanied by braided filaments also made of gold. Flanking this lead are fifteen decorative triangles with dots inside. The bullfighter has a spring located at one end perpendicular to the arc, which ends in a needle designed to attach to the opposite end. It also features an incised mark composed of two parallel lines and two perpendicular ones that start from the right side of the second line (Codding 2017, 89).

Locations

• II B.C. - 1911

  province

  Palencia, Palencia (Spain)

• 1911 - 1912

  private collection

  Francisco Simón y Nieto, Palencia (Spain) *

• 1912

  dealer/antiquarian

  Feuardent Frères, Paris (France) *

• 1912 - 1930

  private collection

  Archer Milton Huntington, New York (United States) *

• 1930 - present

  museum

  The Hispanic Society of America, New York (United States)