Negotiating Colonial Encounters:

Hybrid Practices and Consumption in Eastern Iberia (8th–6th centuries BC)

Abstract

Patterns of interaction between Phoenicians and indigenous communities in eastern Iberia between the 8th–6th centuries BC are examined through a study of social practices. Two contexts of interactions are identified according to the way colonial situations were developed. The contributions of all groups involved in the creation of new cultural forms, hybrid practices and, above all, the way in which material culture can illustrate the local system of significances and their transformation, will be evaluated in accordance with postcolonial theoretical perspectives. Moreover, I focus my analysis on the exchanges as evidence of the commercial nature of the colonial encounter, and the associated consumption patterns as a significant expression of social practices.