Contour decoupé of an ibex head
La Garma-Galería Inferior, Cantabria, Spain
Bone
Length: 6.2 cms
Museo de Prehistoria y Arqueología de Cantabria, Santander
GI-1002
This ibex head is well proportioned and correctly to scale. It is clearly that of a male animal as the beard is shown as a small projection on the outline behind the chin. Made from part of the hyoid bone from the throat of a horse, the details of the horn and face are engraved onto the sculpted form. This head was originally perforated for suspension through a hole at the base of the horn, below the ear and possibly another lower down through the neck where there is ancient damage. Such a thin, delicate piece required considerable craftsmanship and artistry to produce. This is the only piece of this kind known from La Garma but at some Pyrenean sites they are numerous and include representations of horse heads as well as ibex. Eighteen ibex heads are known from the cave of Labastide, Hautes-Pyrénées, France. A single ibex from the Cantabrian cave of La Viña is unusually perforated through the nose rather than at the back of the head and another example from Tito Bustillo has eye sockets that may originally have held pieces of coloured or shiny stones.
The confidence and skill with which these pieces were made and varied suggests that they were valued. Although the significance of this ornament remains unknown, it is nonetheless possible to appreciate its quality as a small work of art.
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