The ''Torito'' of Porcuna is an

Iberian sculpture Iberian sculpture, a subset of Iberian art, describes the various sculptural styles developed by the Iberians from the Bronze Age up to the Roman conquest. For this reason it is sometimes described as Pre-Roman Iberian sculpture. Almost all ext ...

depicting a

bull A bull is an intact (i.e., not castrated) adult male of the species ''Bos taurus'' (cattle). More muscular and aggressive than the females of the same species (i.e., cows), bulls have long been an important symbol in many religions, includin ...

. It shows orientalizing influences and it is also referred to as the ''toro orientalizante de Porcuna'' ("orientalizing bull of Porcuna"). It is sculpted in

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

. Found in 1946 in front of the

Guardia Civil The Civil Guard ( es, Guardia Civil, link=no; ) is the oldest law enforcement agency in Spain and is one of two national police forces. As a national gendarmerie force, it is military in nature and is responsible for civil policing under the a ...

barracks of

Porcuna Porcuna is a village and municipality in the province of Jaén in Andalusia, Spain, 42 km from Jaén and 50 km from Córdoba. The primary occupation of the 6,990 inhabitants is olive growing. The main tourist attractions are the tower ...

(ancient ''Obulco/Ipolca'') during some road works, it eventually came to be popularly known as ''torito'' ("small bull") because of its size relative to the bigger statues of bullocks found in the nearby site of Cerrillo Blanco. Originally, the bull possibly featured a number of ornamental add-ons on the head, and the missing horns were probably

metal A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. Metals are typicall ...

lic. The sculpture is also missing the snout and the hind legs. The artifact has been variously dated from either the 5th to 4th century BC (the first assessment of Blanco, 1960), second half of the 6th century BC (, 1980), late 6th to early 5th century BC (Rouillard, 1998) or as early as the beginnings of the 6th century BC (reassessment of Blanco, 1987). The surface of the statue is carved with floral ornaments, suggesting a sacred nature. It is similar to bulls featured in Phoenician ivory items and Greek and Cypriot cups.

References

;Citations ;Bibliography * * Iberian art 6th-century BC sculptures Archaeological discoveries in Spain Stone sculptures in Spain Sculptures of bovines {{Spain-sculpture-stub