JEWELLERY · CAÑETE DE LAS TORRES

Horse fibula

A hunt fits in a brooch

A rider, a dog and a fawn decorate this silver brooch for fastening clothing.

Museum documentation · free public access, no account required.

Image of Horse Fibula — **DECLARED VISUAL RECONSTRUCTION · AI-GENERATED IMAGE · TRACEKEEPERS**
Generated reconstruction · Declared visual hypothesis
Declared visual reconstruction; not a photograph of the original nor documentary evidence.

History and context

On the silver bridge, a rider with caetra pursues a fawn while a dog runs in the opposite direction. Horse protomes and a figure of the Potnia theron type complete a piece where structure and scene are inseparable.

The fibula was cast, decorated and partially gilded. Its complexity could communicate equestrian rank, prestigious hunting and symbolic protection; these readings do not equate to identifying the owner or a deity with a secure name.

Evidence and interpretation

Documented fact: technique, materials, catalogued provenance and hunting scene are observable. Interpretation and caution: identification with Potnia theron and equestrian status are plausible iconographic and social readings, not preserved names.

Catalogue facts

Narrative date: 2nd century BCE · disputed chronology
Location: Cañete de las Torres (Córdoba)
Material: Cast silver, traces of overgilding
Context: La Tène-type fibula with plastic decoration
Classification: Iberian collection or explicit interpretive resource
Visual reference: National Archaeological Museum 23170; hypothetically generated image, not photograph of the original. CE/DA02821/35 corresponds to another fibula.

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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2nd century BCE · disputed chronology

Horse fibula

Iberians

The attribution to the 2nd century BCE is disputed.

Current record

Silver19 dated objects

16 / 19In the centre: Horse fibula

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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
Northern mound · 2nd–1st centuries BCE · Yayoi Japan
Horse fibula · 2nd century BCE · disputed chronology · Iberians — You are viewing
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

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
Horse fibula · 2nd century BCE · disputed chronology · Iberians — You are viewing
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):

Bhimbetka · Mesolithic–historical and medieval period · Prehistory
Eland Cave · Regional tradition of ≈4,000 years · up to historical period · Prehistory
Fawn spear-thrower · Middle Magdalenian · Prehistory
Game Pass Shelter · Regional rock art chronology · panel not dated in isolation · San histories
Kakadu · Regional corpus ≈20,000 BP–contemporary era · Prehistory
Leang Karampuang · Minimum 51,200 years · dating published in 2024 · Prehistory
Sierra de San Francisco · Broad tradition with direct dates ≈5290–295 BP · Prehistory
Tassili n’Ajjer · Corpus ≈6000 BCE–first centuries CE · Prehistory
The Thracian Horseman · Roman era · diffusion especially in the 2nd–3rd centuries CE · Thracians
Trumpet from Numantia · No individual dating published on this record · 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
Horse fibula · 2nd century BCE · disputed chronology · Iberians — You are viewing
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):

Early metallurgy · c. 1900–1500 BCE · Ancient China
Four offerers · Iberian period · individual dating according to catalogue · Iberians
Piece-mold casting · c. 1600–1046 BCE · Ancient China

A closer look

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

The horse's legs also close the brooch

The study by Consuelo Mata and collaborators allows tracking how anatomy becomes mechanism: the horse's front legs join to form the fibula's foot and needle housing; a prolonged appendix turns back toward the front animals. The review identifies the prey as a schematic boar by its curled tail, as opposed to the fawn described in CERES. Behind the rider, a short-haired figure with incised clothing and crossed hands over the waist is observed. These observations correspond to the Cañete specimen of the MAN, inventory 23170.

Research · Consuelo Mata and collaborators · Fibulae and gender: of animals and men in Iberian cultureAccess recorded: September 5, 2026.

Where it is held

Museo Arqueológico Nacional (Madrid)

Item or group in the record · Documented collection

CER.ES · inventory 23170. The inventory CE/DA02821/35 corresponds to another piece, not the Cañete fibula.

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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Horse fibula

History and context

Evidence and interpretation

Catalogue facts

Objects connected through time

Horse fibula

The goat from PG 1237

Stag Vessel

Before the Iberias

Twenty-six voiceless signs

Rogozen

The silver amphora of Chertomlyk

Treasure of Jávea

Thoth in the form of a baboon

Poroina Mare Rhyton

Borovo

Falcata from Almedinilla

Treasure of Cheste

Mairena Hoard

Chão de Lamas pectoral

Vase from Chão de Lamas

Horse fibula

The dismantled cauldron

Patera from Perotito

Denarius of Carisius

A closer look

The horse's legs also close the brooch

Where it is held

Museo Arqueológico Nacional (Madrid)

Sources and references

Did you enjoy this exhibit?