Blood-curdling battles and war dances in Iberia? Reflections and insights from literary and iconographic sources

Abstract

This study critically examines the hypothesis of non-lethal ritual combat and warrior dances in ancient Iberian societies. Through a multidisciplinary methodology combining analysis of Greco-Roman literary sources, iconographic, and comparative historical frameworks, the research challenges the existence of bloodless duels in pre-Roman Iberia. The literary record reveals eight documented single combats between the years 206 and 45 BCE, all culminating in fatalities except one ambiguous account. Iconography consistently depicts lethal outcomes, with weapons piercing bodies or corpses present, while collective “war dances” are distinguished, among other things, by the absence of direct confrontation. We get to the conclusions that non-lethal duels are anachronistic projections of modern honor codes onto ancient contexts, where weapons served lethal purposes and Iberian iconography differentiates between mortal combat and ritual group dances.