Warrior of Hirschlanden


The Warrior of Hirschlanden is a statue of a nude ithyphallic warrior made of sandstone, the oldest known Iron Age life-size anthropomorphic statue north of the Alps. It was a production of the Hallstatt culture, probably dating to the 6th century BC. It is now in the Württembergisches Landesmuseum in Stuttgart, with a copy at the Hirschlanden site, where it was found. The preserved height is 1.50 m, but the feet have been broken off.

Description

The warrior wears a torc, a belt with a typical late Hallstatt dagger, and a pointed hat, possibly made of birchbark.
While the legs are modelled with some realism, the upper body is rather schematic and the face is extremely sketchy, leading to speculation that the man might be intended to be seen as wearing a mask, as is known from burials in Klein-Klein, Styria, Austria, Trebeništa and the much earlier shaft-graves of Mycenae, ca. 1500 BC.
The statue shows significant weathering, suggesting that it stood exposed to the elements for a long time before being buried. Other anthropomorphic statues of the early Iron Age have been found in Rottenburg, Tübingen, Stammheim and Stockach, but they are far more stylised, more carving than statue. In the following La Tène period, anthropomorphic statues are still very rare, but examples include the finds from Glauberg, Holzgerlingen, the Mšecké Žehrovice Head, and the sculptures at Roquepertuse.
Greek influence has been discussed. Numerous black figure vessels from fortified settlements of the period attest trading contacts with the Mediterranean, probably via the Rhône River and the Greek colony of Massilia. Much closer stylistic connections exist with the far more elaborate statues from Capestrano, Picenium, Italy and Casale Marittimo.

History

The statue was found in Hirschlanden in 1963 when a low barrow was excavated. The barrow was surrounded by a stone circle and a dry stone wall. It contained 16 burials, ranging from the very beginning of the Iron Age to the beginning of the Late Iron Age. The statue was found north of the barrow, but is supposed to have been originally placed on the top.

Literature