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ΕλληνικάMIXED TREASURE · LA SAFA
Treasure of Cheste
Ancient jewels, younger coins and a late concealment
A deposit can gather objects made at very different times.
Museum documentation · free public access, no account required.
Generated reconstruction · Declared visual hypothesis
Declared visual reconstruction, created for museographic contextualisation; not a photograph of the original nor does it constitute documentary evidence.
History and context
The treasure combined torques, pendants, a gold fibula and a large monetary set hidden in containers. The alloy analyses show variable proportions of gold, silver and copper and help to distinguish technical traditions and chronologies.
The coins date the concealment, not necessarily the manufacture of the jewellery. Some may have circulated, been inherited or kept for generations before being buried during a period of instability at the end of the 3rd century BCE.
The hoard tells a story of accumulation: bodily adornment, convertible wealth and money coexisted in the same decision to hide.
Evidence and interpretation
Documented fact: general provenance, mixed composition and partial preservation at the Museu d'Història de València. Interpretation and caution: the exact date of discovery, original inventory and reason for concealment show documented discrepancies.
Catalogue facts
- Narrative date
- Jewellery from the 4th–3rd centuries BCE; concealment at the end of the 3rd century BCE.
- Location
- Partida de La Safa, Cheste (Valencia)
- Material
- Gold, silver and coinage
- Context
- Mixed hoard found in the 19th century
- Classification
- Iberian collection or explicit interpretive resource
- Visual reference
- Catalogue of the Museu d'Història de València · Cheste Hoard
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.
The order uses the midpoint of each approximate date range; ranges can overlap. Spacing does not represent elapsed time. Swipe, scroll or use the arrows. With the sequence focused, use ← / →, Home or End.
Gold32 dated objects
Towards 4600–4200 BCE
The Gold of Varna
Thracians
Date of the Varna funerary assemblage, not of an individual piece.
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ca. 2600–2450 BCE
Puabi headdress
Sumer
Approximate dating according to the record.
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ca. 2600–2400 BCE
The goat from PG 1237
Sumer
The function as support is not resolved.
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20th–18th centuries BCE
Before Phoenicia
Phoenicians
Approximate dating according to the record.
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death towards 1323 BCE
Tutankhamun's grave goods
Ancient Egypt
Approximate date of burial, not date of manufacture of the entire trousseau.
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14th–13th centuries BCE
Stag Vessel
Hittites
Approximate dating according to the record.
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second half of the 14th century–beginning of the 13th century BCE, according to NAIM; other publications use wider intervals from the Late Bronze.
Valchitran
Thracians
The full 14th–13th centuries BCE provide broad limits for chronological ordering; the record specifies the second half of the 14th and early 13th century according to NAIM; other chronologies for the assemblage are broader.
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Final Bronze, c. 1000 BCE
Before the Iberias
Iberians
Date of the treasure, not of the preceding general period.
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c. 800 BCE
Tomb 1 at Kuntur Wasi
Pre-Inca cultures
Approximate date of the funerary context.
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c. 721–664 BCE
Kushite king
Nubia, Kerma and Kush
Interval attributed to the specimen in the catalogue.
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c. 800–550 BCE
Gold at Kuntur Wasi
Pre-Inca cultures
Approximate dating according to the record.
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ca. 675–650 BCE
Regolini-Galassi tomb
Etruscans and Rome
Date of the funerary assemblage.
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6th century BCE
Condomina Earring
Iberians
Approximate dating according to the record.
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Towards 510 BCE
Uni was also Astarte
Etruscans and Rome
Approximate dating according to the record.
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5th century BCE · chronology discussed in the bibliography
Ezerovo Ring
Thracians
The attribution to the 5th century BCE is discussed.
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Second half of the 5th century – beginning of the 4th century BCE
Overlapping datesCoțofenești helmet
Thracians
The full 5th–4th centuries BCE provide broad limits for chronological ordering; the record specifies the second half of the 5th and early 4th century.
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Early 4th century BCE
Overlapping datesA battle on a comb
Scythians and Saka
The fourth century BCE is used in its full extent as an outer ordering framework; the entry specifies the beginning.
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4th century BCE
Overlapping datesThe Kul-Oba vase
Greek worlds
Approximate dating according to the record.
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4th century BCE
Overlapping datesThe Solokha gold comb
Greek worlds
Approximate dating according to the record.
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Type introduced from the late 6th century; specimen from the 4th century BCE.
Overlapping datesThe archer in gold
Achaemenid Persia
Century of the specimen; not an earlier introduction date of the type.
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4th century BCE
Overlapping datesTreasure of Jávea
Iberians
Approximate dating according to the record.
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c. 350 BCE
Overlapping datesSusa grave goods
Achaemenid Persia
Date of the funerary assemblage.
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664–30 BCE
Overlapping datesThoth in the form of a baboon
Ancient Egypt
Approximate dating according to the record.
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Second half of the 4th century BCE
Overlapping datesFaces of the Steppe
Scythians and Saka
Approximate dating according to the record.
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Second half of the 4th century BCE
Overlapping datesPoroina Mare Rhyton
Thracians
Second half of the 4th century BCE; the specific ritual is not known.
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You are viewingJewellery from the 4th–3rd centuries BCE; concealment at the end of the 3rd century BCE.
Treasure of Cheste
Iberians
Interval of the jewellery, not of the later concealment.
Current record
Jewellery: 5th–2nd centuries BCE; concealment probably around 80–73 BCE.
Overlapping datesMarina Alta Hoard
Iberians
Interval of the jewellery, not of the Sertorian concealment.
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late 4th century – early 3rd century BCE, towards 300 BCE
Overlapping datesPanagyurishte
Thracians
«Towards 300 BCE.» It is explicit orientation of the whole.
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3rd century BCE
Overlapping datesMairena Hoard
Iberians
Approximate dating according to the record.
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Second half of the 2nd–beginnings of the 1st century BCE
Patera from Perotito
Iberians
The full 2nd–1st centuries BCE provide broad limits for chronological ordering; the record specifies the second half of the 2nd century and the early 1st.
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9th–11th centuries CE
Moulds for gold
Mande Worlds
Date range of the archaeometallurgical material in its documented context.
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ca. 1220–1290; found in 1933
Gold rhinoceros
Bantu-speaking worlds
Date of the object/context; 1933 is the year of discovery.
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A closer look
About 1 min to read · 1 section. Further reading and sources · free access. Editorial review recorded: .
The fibula contains more silver than the pendants
The analysis by Ferrero and colleagues found a functionally interesting difference: the torcs and pendants were around 90% gold, while the fibula was approximately 85%, with a higher proportion of silver. The authors suggest this recipe may have sought greater strength in a fastening object. They did not take a single measurement per piece: they analysed several points with a portable device in the museum and compared the results with reference alloys. Electron microscopy later complemented the study of the decorative elements, separating chemical composition from manufacturing structure.
Where it is held
Museu d’Història de València
Component of the group · Documented collection
Documented custody of part of the assemblage; it is not claimed that all pieces are on display.
The holding institution is documented; public display may change. Check its official record before visiting.
Sources and references
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