Tartessos is, and has been since the early twentieth century, an important topic in Spanish academia, even a key piece for the reconstruction of the pre-Roman history of Iberia, including areas of Portngal. Its appearance in classical sources (e.g., Herodotos, Strabo, Pliny, and many others) makes it a problem of ancient history, but our lack of intemal written sources other than the still-undeciphered inscriptions means the weight of the internal evidence lies in archaeological investigation, and any new pieces of the puzzle (including epigraphical) are likely to come from the trenches. Thus, the field falls between the disciplines of history and prehistory, and has been a favorite for ancient historians, archaeologists, linguists, and epigraphists. Outside academic circles, Tartessos is a popular point of southern pride, a signpost of southem identity. Hotels and residential communities in Seville, Cádiz, and Huelva proudly wear its name, even a mining company operating in Río Tinto. It is not rare to find T-shirts and souvenirs in the streets of Andalusia's most touristic quarters (even in the rest of Spain) that also propagate the symbols of the oldest known far-westem civilization.

This is the first book in English about the earliest historical cicilization in the western Mediterranean, known as 'Tartesos'.

Peer Reviewed