The skull as a container for the soul in the Bronze Age and Early Iron Age in the Southwest of the Iberian Peninsula

Keywords: protohistory, funerary ritual, eschatology, principle of participation

Abstract

This paper analyzes the special treatment that the skull received in some funerary contexts dating to the Bronze Age and the I Iron Age in the western quadrant of the Iberian Peninsula. After addressing the case studies, it is proposed -based on multiple archaeological and textual parallels from the Near East, the Mediterranean, and Central Europe between the third and first millennia BC, as well as ethnographic evidence, that the soul, or one of the vital forces that comprise the individual, resides in the head. On this basis, the philosophical and anthropological foundations on which this idea rests are explored, with particular emphasis the principle of participation as a theoretical framework.

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Published
2026-06-26
How to Cite
Bermúdez Cordero M. (2026). The skull as a container for the soul in the Bronze Age and Early Iron Age in the Southwest of the Iberian Peninsula. Complutum, 37(1), 33-54. https://doi.org/10.5209/cmpl.109587
Section
Articles