This article reviews a set of miniatures from domestic contexts in Iron Age eastern Iberia, and interprets them in terms of their role in forging social personae. After an introduction to the historical case under consideration, the miniatures are described in terms of their typology and their contexts of provenance are outlined. Though not abundant, they tend to occur in central places in the landscape; specifically, they are often found in houses of the powerful. The vast majority are miniatures of pottery and tools, though some miniature weapons are recorded. We contend that these objects were used as a means of enculturation and for the learning of values and norms. It is no coincidence that they emerge in the archaeological record of Iron Age Iberia at the same time as the rise of a social structure based on hereditary power.

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This paper focuses on ideas of body construction in the Phoenician

Representations of ships, sailors and seafarers are common in many ancient societies. They were carved, drawn or painted on a great variety of raw materials -stone, wood, metal, textiles and pottery -and can be found in settings such as caves, tombs or royal palaces. Their presence at these sites raises the possibility that these images of maritime life have symbolic or ritual connotations.This paper presents examples of representations of Phoenician and Punic ships from the first millennium BC, in an attempt to understand the role of both their creators and their audiences. These images are subsequently analysed in more detail, focusing on their technical features and their historical contexts. This paper concludes with a consideration of the social and religious aspects of ancient Mediterranean navigation.introduction Representations of ships, sailors and seafarers are frequent in many ancient societies. Navigation was a very common means of transport in antiquity; it was more efficient and safer than land transport and facilitated the moving of greater volumes, where this was needed. The representations of ships were carved, drawn, or painted on raw materials such as stone, wood, metal, textiles and pottery, and are found in a variety of contexts, for instance caves, tombs and royal palaces. This paper sets out to explore the symbolic connotations and ritual implications of these representations. We focus on a selection of ancient Mediterranean images, mainly Phoenician and Punic ships dated around the middle of the first millennium BC. 1 Moreover, to reinforce and enrich our arguments about Phoenician and Punic ship representations, we are going to refer to some Egyptian examples as their civilization is rich in such evidence.

Scholars have studied the long-distance movements of people and goods in Phoenician and