Traditional costumes recreate ancient Europe in Spanish carnival

In one of the most ancient carnivals in Europe, dating from before the Roman empire, companies of Joaldunak (cowbells) made up of residents of two towns, Ituren and Zubieta, parade the streets (Photo: AP)

A group of Joaldunaks called Zanpantzar, take part in the Carnival between the Pyrenees villages of Ituren and Zubieta, northern Spain (Photo: AP)

People watch from the windows of a house the Joaldunaks called Zanpantzar, during the the Carnival between the Pyrenees villages of Ituren and Zubieta, northern Spain (Photo: AP)

A group of female Joaldunaks called Zanpantzar, pose for a photographer as they part in the Carnival between the Pyrenees villages of Ituren and Zubieta, northern Spain (Photo: AP)

The yearly three day festivities, revolving mainly around agriculture and principally sheep hearding, run on the last Sunday, Monday and Tuesday of January where Navarra Valley locals from three villages dress up and participate in a variety of activites as they perform a pilgrimage through each village (Photo: AP)

A group of young Joaldunaks called Zanpantzar, rest with their cowbells during the Carnival between the Pyrenees villages of Ituren and Zubieta, northern Spain (Photo: AP)

A man holds up a cowbell before to takes part in the Joaldunaks called Zanpantzar Carnival between the Pyrenees villages of Ituren and Zubieta (Photo: AP)

They were costumed in sandals, lace petticoats, sheepskins around the waist and shoulders, coloured neckerchiefs, conical caps with ribbons and a hyssop of horsehair in their right hands and cowbells hung across their lower back (Photo: AP)