These Stone Faces Are The First Known Depictions Of A Long-Lost Ancient People

Archaeologists in Spain have for the first time been able to look upon the faces of the Tartessos people – an ancient civilization that vanished more than 2,500 years ago. Five life-sized busts have been unearthed from a sealed pit in the temple of Casas del Turunuelo, an ancient Tartessian site near modern-day Merida, that are probably the first representations of Tartessian people ever found. The busts date from the 5th century BC, near the end of the Tartessian era, and were found amid scattered animal bones from a mass sacrifice. Two of the reliefs are almost complete and likely depict female divinities – significant as the Tartessians were thought to portray gods as animals and plants.

These Stone Faces Are The First Known Depictions Of A Long-Lost Ancient People