The Aulos and the Trumpet: Music, Gender and Elites in Iberian Culture (4th to 1st Centuries BCE)

Abstract

Despite the impossibility, due to the lack of organological remains, ofreconstructing their musical instruments or of delving more-deeply intothe sound world of the Iberians, the music iconography is, nonetheless,abundant and rich in information, and can tell us many things about thecultural function of music in Iberian societies, and, furthermore, aboutsome symbolic concepts and cultural behaviours (Merriam 1964). It canalso provide some clues which enable us to interpret how music may have been historically constructed, socially maintained and individually applied (Rice 1987: 469-488) as well as inform about the performance of the genders in Iberian culture and their roles.