Signa Equitum de la Hispania céltica

An analysis is made of several bronze objects of the Celtiberian Culture whose use as signa equitum, cavalry insigns, is proposed. This interpretation is based on its shape and parallels with other Celtic European cultures. These insignias, together with the horse and horseman fibulae, are a status item belonging to the equestrian elite which held the political power in the Celtiberian area in the moment of its confrontation with Rome. This equestrian class controlled all the aspects of the civic life: councils, magistracies and so on, in the Celtiberian urban-like settlements, the oppida, and was the social group which the Romans used in the control of Celtiberia, embodying them in their client network.