CONNECTION, NOT AN IBERIAN PIECE · CONNECTION · CELTIBERIAN AND LANCIA

Fibula from Lancia

The rider carries a head under the horse

A warrior's ornament travelled to a city of the Astures that later became Roman.

Museum documentation · free public access, no account required.

Fibula of Lancia: interpretative reconstruction on black background based on the photograph of the original MAN 22925. — **RECONSTRUCTION FROM THE ORIGINAL · AI · CC BY-SA 3.0**
Reconstruction · Declared visual hypothesis
Interpretative reconstruction with AI from photograph by Luis García (Zaqarbal). CC BY-SA 3.0. Changes: black background, lighting and surface finish. It is not an archaeological photograph nor a certified restitution. Microdetails, finish and colour are interpretative approximations.
Tracekeepers / OpenAI ImageGen; source photograph: Luis García (Zaqarbal) · National Archaeological Museum of Spain · Inventory: MAN 22925 · CC BY-SA 3.0
Source and provenance ↗Terms of use ↗

**RECONSTRUCTION FROM THE ORIGINAL · AI · CC BY-SA 3.0**
Reconstruction · Declared visual hypothesis
Interpretative reconstruction with AI from photograph by Luis García (Zaqarbal). CC BY-SA 3.0. Changes: black background, lighting and surface finish. It is not an archaeological photograph nor a certified restitution. Microdetails, finish and colour are interpretative approximations.
Tracekeepers / OpenAI ImageGen; source photograph: Luis García (Zaqarbal) · National Archaeological Museum of Spain · Inventory: MAN 22925 · CC BY-SA 3.0
Source and provenance ↗Terms of use ↗

History and context

The bronze fibula represents a horse and a rider fabricated separately and soldered. Beneath the animal's head appears a severed human head, a motif related to victory, prestige and warrior memory.

Its discovery in Lancia does not automatically make the piece Asturian nor the city Celtiberian. The object could have travelled, changed owner or survived transformations of the settlement. Provenance is the beginning of the question, not its complete answer.

Evidence and interpretation

Documented fact: material, technique, dimensions and iconography are in the MAN 22925 catalogue. Interpretation and caution: the head as a defeated enemy and belonging to an elite are comparative readings; the catalogue itself retains reservations about the exact provenance of Lancia.

Catalogue facts

Narrative date: ≈300–100 BCE
Location: Lancia, Villasabariego (León)
Material: Cast and soldered bronze · 9.2 × 7.4 cm
Context: Celtiberian fibula found in Asturian/Roman city
Classification: Comparative connection · must not be presented as an Iberian piece
Visual reference: CER.ES · catalogue photograph MAN 22925

A SHARED TOPIC, DIFFERENT MOMENTS

Objects connected through time

Follow a topic across the collections. A shared tag is a way to compare objects, not proof that one culture influenced another.

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≈300–100 BCE

Fibula from Lancia

Iberians

Approximate dating according to the record.

Current record

Bronze23 dated objects

19 / 23In the centre: Fibula from Lancia

Also connected, without a comparable date (6)

These objects are not placed after the others: an unknown date does not mean a more recent object.

Daegok-ri grave goodsGojoseon and early Korea · from c. 5th century BCE
Early metallurgyAncient China · c. 1900–1500 BCE
Four offerersIberians · Iberian period · individual dating according to catalogue
Iron changes the frontierGojoseon and early Korea · 3rd–2nd centuries BCE
The workshop inside the ditchYayoi Japan · 4th century BCE–3rd century CE, peak in Middle and Late Yayoi
Weapons under the LakeCeltic worlds · Mainly 3rd–1st centuries BCE

You can scroll the first group without JavaScript. The other topics are also available below.

Jewellery and adornment

Hohle Fels · ≈40,000 years · Aurignacian · Prehistory
'Jamila's' necklace · ≈7250–7000 BCE · Prehistory
The Gold of Varna · Towards 4600–4200 BCE · Thracians
Puabi headdress · ca. 2600–2450 BCE · Sumer
Cemetery R-37 · ca. 2550–2030 BCE · Indus civilisation
Carnelian beads · ca. 2600–1900 BCE · Indus civilisation
Grave Circle A and Chrysolakkos · 18th–16th centuries BCE · Greek worlds
Burial at K IV · circa 1750–1550 BCE · Nubia, Kerma and Kush
Tutankhamun's grave goods · death towards 1323 BCE · Ancient Egypt
Fu Hao’s burial goods · ca. 1200 BCE · Ancient China
Before the Iberias · Final Bronze, c. 1000 BCE · Iberians
Tomb 1 at Kuntur Wasi · c. 800 BCE · Pre-Inca cultures
Beads from Cerro de los Vientos · 8th–7th centuries BCE · orientalizing · Iberians
Gold at Kuntur Wasi · c. 800–550 BCE · Pre-Inca cultures
Regolini-Galassi tomb · ca. 675–650 BCE · Etruscans and Rome
Condomina Earring · 6th century BCE · Iberians
Steppe kurgans · 7th–4th centuries BCE · Scythians and Saka
Vix Tomb · c. 500 BCE · Celtic worlds
La Venta grave goods · ca. 600–400 BCE · Maya worlds
Ezerovo Ring · 5th century BCE · chronology discussed in the bibliography · Thracians
Grave goods of Baza and Toya · First half of the 4th century BCE · Iberians
Treasure of Jávea · 4th century BCE · Iberians
Susa grave goods · c. 350 BCE · Achaemenid Persia
Punic head pendant · Mid 4th–3rd centuries BCE · Phoenicians
Treasure of Cheste · Jewellery from the 4th–3rd centuries BCE; concealment at the end of the 3rd century BCE. · Iberians
Marina Alta Hoard · Jewellery: 5th–2nd centuries BCE; concealment probably around 80–73 BCE. · Iberians
Golyamata Kosmatka · End of the 4th century – beginning of the 3rd century BCE; ritual burial at the beginning of the III according to Iskra. · Thracians
Mairena Hoard · 3rd century BCE · Iberians
Chão de Lamas pectoral · 3rd–2nd centuries BCE · concealed in the early 1st century BCE · Iberians
Fibula from Lancia · ≈300–100 BCE · Iberians — You are viewing
Northern mound · 2nd–1st centuries BCE · Yayoi Japan
Horse fibula · 2nd century BCE · disputed chronology · Iberians
Simancas-type belt buckle · Second half of the IV century–V century CE · Iberians
Pakal’s grave goods · sealed on 28 August 683 CE · Maya worlds
Missing grave goods · 13th–15th centuries according to the heritage overview · Bantu-speaking worlds

Without a comparable date (not part of the chronological order):

Dressing to be seen · 6th–1st centuries BCE · Iberians

Casting

Akkadian sovereign head · Akkadian period · 23rd century BCE · Sumer
Bassetki Statue · Akkadian period · 23rd century BCE · Sumer
Jue · c. sixteenth century BCE · Ancient China
Bull-leaping · c. 1600–1450 BCE · Greek worlds
Liding · 12th–11th centuries BCE · Ancient China
Talayotic sword · ≈1200–1000 BCE · destruction of the talayot towards 790 BCE · Iberians
The lute-shaped dagger · Towards 1000–400 BCE · Gojoseon and early Korea
The great Greek krater of Vix · ≈530–500 BCE · Greek worlds
Scorțaru cauldron · 6th–5th centuries BCE · Thracians
A battle on a comb · Early 4th century BCE · Scythians and Saka
The blade became straight · 5th–1st centuries BCE · Gojoseon and early Korea
Geometry in very fine lines · 3rd–2nd centuries BCE · Gojoseon and early Korea
Eight voices in one hand · 3rd–2nd centuries BCE · Gojoseon and early Korea
Fibula from Lancia · ≈300–100 BCE · Iberians — You are viewing
Horse fibula · 2nd century BCE · disputed chronology · Iberians
A sky over the liver · End of the second–beginning of the first century BCE · Etruscans and Rome
Thirty-nine buried bells · Buried towards the 1st century BCE–1st century CE · Yayoi Japan
Kongo crucifix · 16th–17th centuries · Bantu-speaking worlds

Without a comparable date (not part of the chronological order):

Animal imagery

Lion-man · ≈40,000 years · Aurignacian · Prehistory
Before the San · ≈25.500–23.500 BCE · San histories
Before the name San · ≈25.500–23.500 BCE · San histories
Altamira · Assemblage ≈36,000–13,000 BP · bison ≈18,400–15,300 cal BP · Prehistory
Lascaux · ≈23,500–21,000 cal BP · debated contextual estimate · Prehistory
Zaraysk Bison · ≈23,000–21,000 years · Prehistory
Rondelle de Mas-d'Azil · ≈18,000–16,000 years · Prehistory
Lamp from La Mouthe · ≈20,500–13,000 years · Magdalenian framework · Prehistory
Engraved stone from Çakmaktepe · PPNA · site proposal: ≈9600–8800 BCE, provisional · Prehistory
Cueva de las Manos · Sequence ≈9300–1300 BP · Prehistory
Cylinder seal · c. 3500–3100 BCE · Sumer
Queen's Lyre · ca. 2600–2500 BCE · Sumer
The goat from PG 1237 · ca. 2600–2400 BCE · Sumer
Indus seals · ca. 2600–1900 BCE · Indus civilisation
Queen of the Night · 19th–18th centuries BCE · Sumer
Bull-leaping · c. 1600–1450 BCE · Greek worlds
Stag Vessel · 14th–13th centuries BCE · Hittites
Before the Scythians and Sakas · Final Bronze–Initial Iron, ca. 1200–600 BCE · Scythians and Saka
Ivory in Nimrud · 9th–8th centuries BCE · Phoenicians
Lamassu of Khorsabad · Reign of Sargon II · 721–705 BCE · Sumer
The Tello Obelisk · c. 800–500 BCE · Pre-Inca cultures
Ashurbanipal Hunt · 645–635 BCE · Sumer
Banquet under leopards · Around 480–470 BCE · Etruscans and Rome
The oldest knotted carpet · 5th–4th centuries BCE · Scythians and Saka
The silver amphora of Chertomlyk · 4th century BCE · Greek worlds
Thoth in the form of a baboon · 664–30 BCE · Ancient Egypt
Poroina Mare Rhyton · Second half of the 4th century BCE · Thracians
Borovo · 4th century BC C.; 350–300 BCE in the ISAW catalog. · Thracians
Leipzig Fish Plate · Last third 4th–early 3rd century BCE · Greek worlds
Dove of the Amarejo · 3rd century BCE · Iberians
Chão de Lamas pectoral · 3rd–2nd centuries BCE · concealed in the early 1st century BCE · Iberians
Fibula from Lancia · ≈300–100 BCE · Iberians — You are viewing
Horse fibula · 2nd century BCE · disputed chronology · Iberians
The dismantled cauldron · 2nd–1st centuries BCE · Celtic worlds
Kalathos of Alcorisa · 2nd–1st centuries BCE · Iberians
Egyptian oil lamp with a fish, held in Laon · 3rd–4th centuries CE · Ancient Egypt
Laon lamp with fish · 3rd–4th centuries CE · Etruscans and Rome
Gold rhinoceros · ca. 1220–1290; found in 1933 · Bantu-speaking worlds
Zimbabwe birds · main period of Great Zimbabwe, c. 12th–15th centuries · Bantu-speaking worlds

Without a comparable date (not part of the chronological order):

A closer look

About 1 min to read · 1 section. Further reading and sources · free access. Editorial review recorded: September 5, 2026.

An ornament that also produced sound

The horse's body bears stamped concentric circles, but not all its decoration was immobile. From the mane and tail hang small rings that could sound when the person wearing the brooch moved. Today the spring and the pin are missing, parts necessary to fasten the fabric. Modern history is also documented: it belonged to Juan Bautista Crooke, Earl of Valencia de Don Juan, passed to Antonio Vives and this one sold it to the National Archaeological Museum in 1913. These are known stages of collecting, distinct from its ancient trajectory.

Museum · National Archaeological Museum · Fibula of the little horse of LanciaAccess recorded: September 5, 2026.

Reference images and provenance

Photograph of the original: Fibula of Lancia, MAN 22925. — **ORIGINAL PHOTOGRAPH · Luis García (Zaqarbal) · CC BY-SA 3.0**
Documentary photograph without semantic retouching. Preserves the condition and visible details of the reference piece.
Documentary original · Exact correspondence
Luis García (Zaqarbal) · National Archaeological Museum of Spain · Inventory: MAN 22925
Image provenance CC BY-SA 3.0

Where it is held

Museo Arqueológico Nacional (Madrid)

Item or group in the record · Documented collection

CER.ES · inventory 22925.

The holding institution is documented; public display may change. Check its official record before visiting.

Sources and references

Expand this information and consult its provenance

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Fibula from Lancia

History and context

Evidence and interpretation

Catalogue facts

Objects connected through time

Fibula from Lancia

Jue

Bull-leaping

Fu Hao’s burial goods

Liding

Talayotic sword

Tribute to Assyria

Before Etruscans and Rome

The lute-shaped dagger

Kushite king

The great Greek krater of Vix

Scorțaru cauldron

Vix Tomb

Yan knife-money in the Gojoseon sphere

A coin with the memory of a blade

The blade became straight

Geometry in very fine lines

Eight voices in one hand

The Shield that Did Not Fight

Fibula from Lancia

A sky over the liver

Hand of Irulegui

Thirty-nine buried bells

Torreáguila fountain spout

A closer look

An ornament that also produced sound

Reference images and provenance

Where it is held

Museo Arqueológico Nacional (Madrid)

Sources and references

Did you enjoy this exhibit?