In Alicante this week, a distinguished group of 75 experts from Spain and France gathered to mark the first scientific conferences at MARQ, titled Iberian Contestania Revisited. Researchers from the universities of Alicante, Almería, Murcia, Barcelona, Valencia, and Madrid, along with the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique de France (CNRS), are examining in depth the contributed work and ongoing studies through today and Wednesday. They are sharing new data on the antiquity of Iberian culture, guided by the work of the Alicante archaeologist Enrique Llobregat Conesa, on the occasion of his 50th anniversary.
The program features round tables, communications, and presentations centered on Iberian Contestania. A sequence of talks and briefings by young scholars from the universities of Alicante, Murcia, and Valencia is also planned. The conferences aim to update the foundational reference work by Enrique Llobregat and to foster ongoing research and knowledge about this culture, drawing on excavations conducted over the last five decades.
As vice president for culture, Julia Parra highlighted the collaboration of scholars from Spain and France at this renewed cultural gathering. She stated that the Diputación de Alicante Archaeological Museum continues to be a reference point for archaeological research, and she welcomed the forum as a catalyst for stronger cooperation between institutions and universities, enabling new developments through academic exchange and joint projects.
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The reference publication in focus is Enrique Llobregat’s Iberian Competition, the culmination of his doctoral thesis and a milestone in Spanish archaeological research. It links historical data with material evidence to offer an interpretive view of the Contestania region’s protohistoric inhabitants.
This book, presented fifty years ago, opened avenues of inquiry that influenced work in other geographic areas and laid foundations that remain productive today. Building on this premise, the University of Alicante and Diputación de Alicante, through the Department of Culture and MARQ, organized the scientific forum to discuss the current state of studies on the Iberian world within the territory formerly known as Contestania.
Follow-up of the conference can be pursued in person or online. Streaming is available through MARQ’s official platform, with details provided by the organizers and marked citations in official program notes.