3rd century BC-1st century AD. A ceramic kalathos storage jar, drum-shaped with flared rim, two arched ledges handles with ropework detailing above; painted decoration comprising ivy-leaf panels below the handles, guilloche bands to the sidewalls, two figural panels each depicting a horseman riding across a field of scrolled tendrils and other ornament with falcata brandished in the right hand, crested helmet, cuirass with skirt of pteruges and tight-fitting breeches. 3.3 kg, 33cm (13"). From an important English collection; acquired in the 1990s. In the fifth century BC came the first written accounts of the Iberian Celts, by such writers as the Carthaginian Himilco, and Herodotus, who calls them the Cynetes. The colonial activities of the Phoenicians, Greeks and Romans offered a continuous supply of stimuli to the Celtic populations. The Iberian peninsula had important reserves of precious metals, and the Hallstatt inhabitants of central Europe held important trading links with the area. Scenes of warfare figure highly on the distinctive pottery of the area and could have been of a ritual nature. Large quantities of pottery were found at the hill fort of Numantia. This site is famous for its role in the Celtiberian Wars. In 133 BC the Roman Senate gave Scipio Aemilianus Africanus the task of capturing the city. After thirteen months of siege, the Celtiberians decided to burn their city and die free rather than surrender to Rome. Fine condition, fire damaged and repaired.