Sources and archaeology 150px|Statue of Posidonius. National Archaeological Museum, Naples. The practitioners of the sacrifices are named only by Strabo, but the rites themselves are included in the work of Diodorus, Titus Livius and Plutarch, at least the first two being likely based on previous chronicles by Posidonius. Spanish and Portuguese archaeology, rich in findings related to mantic practices, offers corroboation , such as the inhumation of a probable human victim under the walls of Bletisama (current Ledesma), meant to consecrate the building. As human sacrifice is a controversial topic, interpretation of those classical sources has been done with caution due to its disputable objectivity,Guerrero Ayuso, V. M. (1983). En torno a los sacrificios humanos en la antigüedad. Maina, ISSN 0211-2116, Nº. 7, págs. 32-37. which makes equally possible that the rites are either ethnocentrist inventions against barbarian peoples or strange but truthful customs. In this case, Hispanic historians concede that the sources' s possible hostile tone, like Strabo himself, does not necessarily imply a total fabrication of the mentioned rituals, which could have been exceptional, even frequent events. The testimonies show an inner coherence that, despite their diversity, supports it..Santos, M. J. (2007). El sacrificio en el occidente de la Hispania romana: para un nuevo análisis de los ritos de tradición indoeuropea. Palaeohispanica 7, pp. 175-217. They have also considered that Greeks and Romans themselves acknowledge the realization of human sacrifice in their own cultures, it being notable the case of the prisoners sacrificed by burial after the Battle of Cannae (226 BC) or during the Roman-Gallic wars (216 and 114-113 BC). Authors have also noted similarities between the Lusitanian rite and the one attributed to other Indo-Europeans. Of Gaul druids, Diodorus recounts that they divined the same way: after killing the victim with a thrust to the body, they auscultated the form of his fall, the flow of blood and the convulsions of their members. Priestesses of the Cimbri also purportedly examined the entrails of prisoners, whom they previously drained off their blood by slaughter. Even Eurasian Scythians, whose customs are described by Herodotus, sport strong similarities with Lusitanians, as they would also sacrifice prisoners to Ares and would amputate the right arm as an offering. Immolation of horses and goats or sheeps , also an Scythian ritual, resembles Roman suovetauriliaBlázquez Martínez, J. M. (2001). La Religión Celta en Hispania. Celtas y Vettones, Ávila, 171-181 (también en J.M.ª Blázquez, El Mediterráneo y España en la antigüedad. Historia, religión y arte, Madrid 2003, 405-416). and Indian sautramani. Hieroscope 170px|Druids. Picture by Neuville, 1883. For several authors, the sacrificers named hieroscopes by Strabo might have been members of a hypothetical priestly office within the religion of northern Hispania, possibly related to Celtic druidism given the similarities of their divinatory practices.Cardete del Olmo, M. C. (2006). El sacrificio humano: víctimas en el monte Liceo. ’Ilu. Revista De Ciencias De Las Religiones, 11, 93 - 115.García Quintela, M. V. (1991). El sacrificio humano adivinatorio céltico y la religión de los lusitanos. POLIS, Revista de ideas y formas políticas de la Antigüedad Clásica [ISSN 1130-0728] 3, pp. 25-37. Those priests might have shared other trascendent functions, such as herbology, astronomy and creation of calendars, as well as the rituals of incubation associated to sanctuaries of the god Endovelicus. Historians attached to this theory reasone that the wide archaeological evidence of temples, sanctuaries, nemeta and rituals in Hispania could not be understood without a religious staff that keeped and managed them, especially given the level of social development of Hispanic cultures. They also cite findings such as the Vetton necropolis of La Osera (Ávila), the Luzaga's Bronze and the Botorrita plaque as possible additional evidence. An inscription on Queiriz, Beira Alta that reads ouatius has been identified by Quintela as the term vates (ouates''), associated to Gaul prophets and philosophers. Hieroscopes have been also compared not only to druids, but also Greek and Roman haruspices.
Sources and archaeology 150px|Statue of Posidonius. National Archaeological Museum, Naples. The practitioners of the sacrifices are named only by Strabo, but the rites themselves are included in the work of Diodorus, Titus Livius and Plutarch, at least the first two being likely based on previous chronicles by Posidonius. Spanish and Portuguese archaeology, rich in findings related to mantic practices, offers corroboration , such as the inhumation of a probable human victim under the walls of Bletisama (current Ledesma), meant to consecrate the building. As human sacrifice is a controversial topic, interpretation of those classical sources has been done with caution due to its disputable objectivity,Guerrero Ayuso, V. M. (1983). En torno a los sacrificios humanos en la antigüedad. Maina, ISSN 0211-2116, Nº. 7, págs. 32-37. which makes equally possible that the rites are either ethnocentrist inventions against barbarian peoples or strange but truthful customs. In this case, Hispanic historians concede that the sources' possible hostile tone, like Strabo himself, does not necessarily imply a total fabrication of the mentioned rituals, which could have been exceptional, even frequent events. The testimonies show an inner coherence that, despite their diversity, supports it..Santos, M. J. (2007). El sacrificio en el occidente de la Hispania romana: para un nuevo análisis de los ritos de tradición indoeuropea. Palaeohispanica 7, pp. 175-217. They have also considered that Greeks and Romans themselves acknowledge the realization of human sacrifice in their own cultures, it being notable the case of the prisoners sacrificed by burial after the Battle of Cannae (226 BC) or during the Roman-Gallic wars (216 and 114-113 BC). Authors have also noted similarities between the Lusitanian rite and the one attributed to other Indo-Europeans. Of Gaul druids, Diodorus recounts that they divined the same way: after killing the victim with a thrust to the body, they auscultated the form of his fall, the flow of blood and the convulsions of their members. Priestesses of the Cimbri also purportedly examined the entrails of prisoners, whom they previously drained off their blood by slaughter. Even Eurasian Scythians, whose customs are described by Herodotus, sport strong similarities with Lusitanians, as they would also sacrifice prisoners to Ares and would amputate the right arm as an offering. Immolation of horses and goats or sheep , also an Scythian ritual, resembles Roman suovetauriliaBlázquez Martínez, J. M. (2001). La Religión Celta en Hispania. Celtas y Vettones, Ávila, 171-181 (también en J.M.ª Blázquez, El Mediterráneo y España en la antigüedad. Historia, religión y arte, Madrid 2003, 405-416). and Indian sautramani. Hieroscope 170px|Druids. Picture by Neuville, 1883. For several authors, the sacrificers named hieroscopes by Strabo might have been members of a hypothetical priestly office within the religion of northern Hispania, possibly related to Celtic druidism given the similarities of their divinatory practices.Cardete del Olmo, M. C. (2006). El sacrificio humano: víctimas en el monte Liceo. ’Ilu. Revista De Ciencias De Las Religiones, 11, 93 - 115.García Quintela, M. V. (1991). El sacrificio humano adivinatorio céltico y la religión de los lusitanos. POLIS, Revista de ideas y formas políticas de la Antigüedad Clásica [ISSN 1130-0728] 3, pp. 25-37. Those priests might have shared other transcendent functions, such as herbology, astronomy and creation of calendars, as well as the rituals of incubation associated to sanctuaries of the god Endovelicus. Historians attached to this theory reason that the wide archaeological evidence of temples, sanctuaries, nemeta and rituals in Hispania could not be understood without a religious staff that kept and managed them, especially given the level of social development of Hispanic cultures. They also cite findings such as the Vetton necropolis of La Osera (Ávila), the Luzaga's Bronze and the Botorrita plaque as possible additional evidence. An inscription on Queiriz, Beira Alta that reads ouatius has been identified by Quintela as the term vates (ouates''), associated to Gaul prophets and philosophers. Hieroscopes have been also compared not only to druids, but also Greek and Roman haruspices.
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corroboation
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sheeps
sheep
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kept