The local appropriation of warrior ideals in Late Bronze Age Europe: a review of the rock art site of Arroyo Tamujoso 8 and the ?warrior? stela of Cancho Roano (Badajoz, Spain)

This study offers new insights into the local appropria-tion of warrior ideals in Late Bronze Age Europe. Through the new study of the carvings of Cancho Roano and Arroyo Tamujoso 8, located in Southwest Iberia and their landscape settings with state-of-the-art digital technologies, this pa -per unpicks some of the key idiosyncrasies of Iberian Late Bronze Age warrior iconography, revealing that responses to the warrior ideals circulating across Europe during that pe-riod were diverse. To understand the contexts of circulation and appropriation of these ideas from a local perspective, we also consider very briefly the multiscale connections in which the communities who created warrior stelae in Iberia were involved. The ultimate goal of this paper is to lay the groundwork for further work developing more detailed com-parisons between Iberian warrior stelae and Swedish warrior iconography on rock art, also taking into account other evi-dence.

Automated summary

This study provides new insights into the local adaptation of warrior ideals in Late Bronze Age Europe by examining carvings and landscape settings in Southwest Iberia. The research reveals the unique characteristics of Iberian Late Bronze Age warrior iconography and the diverse responses to warrior ideals circulating across Europe at that time. Additionally, the study briefly considers the multiscalar connections of the communities who created warrior stelae in Iberia.