El ›Abrigo de las cinco albarcas‹ (Ligros, Albarracín, Teruel)

Un ritual celtibérico de paso de la infancia a la adolescencia

Abstract

The ›Abrigo de las cinco albarcas‹ is sa small shelter located in the Masada de Ligros, in the Albarracín Mountains, Teruel, Spain, in the wild territory of the ancient Lobetani. In its soil there are engraved five podomorphs measuring 16 by 8 cm and two long grooves ending in two holes dug in the rock. These cup-marked stones with grooves can be interpreted as the laciculi of the lusitanan sanctuary of Panoias, the bothroi of the Greek chthonic cult or the Baltic deyves. They extend from the circumalpine areas to Iberia, probably associated with ritual influences arrived at the beginning of the Late Bronze Age. The association of podomorphs with cup-marked stones with grooves identify a ritual performed in this shelter, almost hidden under a sacred rock located in a dominant place. The cup-marked stone with grooves serves for sacrificial libations according to a pre-established ritual judging by their parallels. The small size of the podomorphs correspond to human feet of about six years of age, which seems to document rites of passage from the maternal sphere of childhood to the pre-adolescent boyhood stage, which lasted until 15 years. This age class, until now scarcely documented in Celtiberia, is attested in other Indo-European peoples. The members of this age class would form small bands under the direction of a tutor, with a hardening mountainous life, in which they learned to use the sling, the bow and the javelin, and to survive from hunting and petty robberies before becoming part of the iuventus, the class age in which was practiced a warrior life characteristic of the ancient Indo-European peoples, specifically, in this case, of the Celtiberian tribe of the Lobetani who inhabited the rugged territories of the Albarracín and Cuenca Mountains.