The Government Council has taken note of the exhibition ‘La Joya. Life and eternity in Tartessos‘, a display that gathers over two hundred funerary pieces from the La Joya necropolis at the Huelva Museum, one of the most prominent in southern peninsular archaeology. This exhibition, open until January 12, 2026, aims to offer a comprehensive and accessible view of Tartessian culture to all audiences, focusing on one of its most emblematic sites: the La Joya necropolis. Additionally, a full-scale recreation of the Tumba 17 chariot, the most princely of the excavated tombs, is a major highlight.
The exhibition is the result of over ten months of prior research and selection carried out by a multidisciplinary team of up to ten specialists in ancient history, museography, and heritage conservation. The coordination was led by three curators: archaeologists Clara Toscano, Javier Jiménez Ávila, and Rafael C. Robles Romero. Organized by the Department of Culture and Sports of the Andalusian Regional Government, it has the notable collaboration of the Atlantic Copper Foundation and the Arqueohuelva Association.
This exhibition brings together over 200 pieces, 80% of which have never been displayed before. Its main goal is to showcase Tartessian culture, one of the richest, yet complex and popular cultures in our history. The display offers a comprehensive view of life, death, and eternity, according to the Tartessian worldview, using the findings from the La Joya necropolis, first excavated in the sixties by archaeologists Juan Pedro Garrido Roig and Elena Horta, as a guiding thread.
‘La Joya. Life and eternity in Tartessos’ is divided into two parts: the first delves into the funerary ritual and the different stages related to the deposition of grave goods in the tombs. The Tumba 17, the princely tomb, is depicted as it was found at the time of its discovery in the sixties. The second part of the exhibition, featuring the grave goods from Tumba 17, is accompanied by the recreation of the Tartessian chariot and the original pieces from the said chariot.
Undoubtedly, one of the key elements of this exhibition is the full-scale recreation of the aforementioned La Joya chariot, one of the most emblematic pieces found in the necropolis. Its reconstruction, based on detailed archaeological studies and a combination of traditional craftsmanship and new technologies, allows visitors to understand its significance in the funerary context and its role in Tartessian society as a daily use item. This object, besides being a status symbol, was placed as grave goods in the deceased’s tomb.
This exhibition is an example of a self-produced showcase carried out through public-private collaboration, with the Atlantic Copper Foundation, with whom the Huelva Museum developed the temporary exhibition ‘Idols. Millennia-old perspectives from the southwestern edge of Europe’ to celebrate its 50 years of history in 2023.