Under the heading "The Bulls of El Argar. Clay figurines from the Bronze Age".The MARQ is exhibiting for the first time the pieces of bovine found in the Laderas del Castillo archaeological site in Callosa with more than 3,500 years old. The exhibition is completed by two similar items from the archaeological site of El Argarin Almeria, which were discovered 150 years ago and are kept at the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium.
The Member of Parliament for Culture and Education, César Augusto AsencioThis morning he inaugurated the new proposal, in the great hall of access to the facilities, together with the mayor of Callosa de Segura, Francisco José MaciáThe director of Exhibitions and Dissemination of the MARQ, Jorge Solerthe managing director of the Fundación CV MARQ, José Alberto Cortésand the curator of the exhibition, Dr. Juan Antonio López Padilla. "The group that we have brought together in Alicante represents a third of the figures of this type that exist in the whole of Spain and three of them have been located thanks to the MARQ excavation campaign, which is why the Provincial Council is proud to bring this unique exhibition to the public", said the deputy.
In 2013, during the excavation campaign conducted by the Museo Arqueológico The figurines were located and, after arduous restoration work carried out by MARQ technicians, it was revealed that one of them is the largest one found to date. The experts are now focusing the debate on determining the role played by these small clay sculptures, whether they were children's toys or small idols with ritual content.
At the end of the 19th centuryBelgian engineers and archaeologists Henri and Louis Siret the first clay pieces representing bovine figures were found in Almeria and were related to the Argaric culturedeveloped in the south-eastern lands of the Iberian Peninsula between 2,200 and 1,500 B.C..
The Argar represented a drastic break with the preceding Copper Age societies. Now, two of those statuettes belonging to the Siret Collectionare on display for the first time at MARQ, together with the three found at the site of Callosa de Segura.
