The Cheste hoard () is an Iberian

hoard A hoard or "wealth deposit" is an archaeological term for a collection of valuable objects or artifacts, sometimes purposely buried in the ground, in which case it is sometimes also known as a cache. This would usually be with the intention of ...

discovered near the town of

Cheste Cheste (Valencian language, Valencian: Xest) is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Comarques of the Valencian Community, ''comarca'' of Hoya de Buñol in the Valencia (autonomous community), Valencian Community, Spain, located 26 ...

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...

, Spain, in 1864. Dating to about 200 BCE, the hoard was found buried in two pots and contained gold jewellery, silver coins and silver ingots. It is currently held in the Valencia History Museum. The jewellery consists of a necklace, three pendants and a ''fibula'' (brooch), all made from gold. The fibula is of particular interest because it is decorated with a human head in the style of the

La Tène culture The La Tène culture (; ) was a European Iron Age culture. It developed and flourished during the late Iron Age (from about 450 BC to the Roman conquest in the 1st century BC), succeeding the early Iron Age Hallstatt culture without any defini ...

, associated with the

Celts The Celts (, see pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples () are. "CELTS location: Greater Europe time period: Second millennium B.C.E. to present ancestry: Celtic a collection of Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancien ...

, showing Celtic or Celtiberian influence on the Iberian societies of the east coast of the peninsula. The hoard also included forty eight silver coins, including twenty two of Hispano-Punic origin, five local Iberian coins, three from Emporion, two from

Massilia Massalia (Greek: Μασσαλία; Latin: Massilia; modern Marseille) was an ancient Greek colony founded ca. 600 BC on the Mediterranean coast of present-day France, east of the river Rhône, by Ionian Greek settlers from Phocaea, in Western An ...

, and one from

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. The Hispano-Punic coins were some of the last issued by the

Barcids The Barcid ( phn, 𐤁𐤓𐤒, baraq) family was a notable family in the ancient city of Carthage; many of its members were fierce enemies of the Roman Republic. "Barcid" is an adjectival form coined by historians (''cf.'' "Ramesside" and "Abba ...

Carthage Carthage was the capital city of Ancient Carthage, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the classi ...

(including one depicting

Hannibal Hannibal (; xpu, 𐤇𐤍𐤁𐤏𐤋, ''Ḥannibaʿl''; 247 – between 183 and 181 BC) was a Carthaginian general and statesman who commanded the forces of Carthage in their battle against the Roman Republic during the Second Puni ...

), whilst the Roman coin is an early ''

denarius The denarius (, dēnāriī ) was the standard Roman silver coin from its introduction in the Second Punic War to the reign of Gordian III (AD 238–244), when it was gradually replaced by the antoninianus. It continued to be minted in very ...

.'' These imply the hoard was buried around the time of, or shortly after, the

Second Punic War The Second Punic War (218 to 201 BC) was the second of three wars fought between Carthage and Rome, the two main powers of the western Mediterranean in the 3rd century BC. For 17 years the two states struggled for supremacy, primarily in Ital ...

. The diverse mix of coins found at Cheste and similar hoards may reflect Rome and Carthage's need for large amounts of coinage to pay

mercenaries A mercenary, sometimes also known as a soldier of fortune or hired gun, is a private individual, particularly a soldier, that joins a military conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any o ...

, who often switched sides over the course of the war. The silver ingots are ''hacksilber'': cut or melted pieces of silver that were used as

bullion Bullion is non-ferrous metal that has been refined to a high standard of elemental purity. The term is ordinarily applied to bulk metal used in the production of coins and especially to precious metals such as gold and silver. It comes from t ...

and commonly found in Iberian hoards from this period. Unlike coinage, hacksilber was not controlled by the state, and could also be used in smaller transactions than the larger denomination coins in circulation. It was also used by silversmiths.

References

External links

{{commons category, Treasure of Cheste
Historia de Cheste
Ayuntamiento de Cheste (in Spanish) Archaeology of Spain Treasure troves of Spain Treasure troves of classical antiquity Iberian art 1864 archaeological discoveries Ancient art in metal Hoards of jewellery