Petroglyphs of bowls: linked to fertility rites? (Spain)

The labyrinths and bowls were carved into the rock about 4,500 years ago, which makes them one of the oldest groups in the world. In many past and present societies throughout the world, rituals linked to female fertility and rites of passage have been described, associated with open spaces with certain characteristics, such as the presence of water or concrete rocks, carved in the form of stela or engraved with petroglyphs.

In the Maragatería (León, Spain), in different places at the foot of the Teleno mountain range, there are petroglyphs of labyrinths and cups engraved in flat rocks, whose meaning is not well known, although some authors associate them with fecundity rites.

For generations, the children of Lucillo and nearby towns that herded flocks of sheep, knew and played around Peña Fadiel’s petroglyphs. They are attributed more than 5,000 years old.

Fertility worship

Despite being an asexual figure, it has been linked to female deities and beliefs about fertility worship, linked from early days to farming societies.

Photo, Verónica Schulmeister Guillén

2500 [BC.]. Large-eyed idol. Extremadura. Probably from the South of the Guadalquivir valley(Spain) © Museo Arqueológico Nacional