The Minister of Culture and Sports, Patricia del Pozo, the Mayor of Huelva, Pilar Miranda, and the President of the Atlantic Copper Foundation, Heliodoro Mariscal, inaugurated the exhibition ‘La Joya, life and eternity in Tartessos‘, which can be seen at the Huelva Museum until January 12, 2026. The exhibition brings together over two hundred funerary pieces from the La Joya necropolis, one of the most prominent in southern archaeology. Many of the selected pieces have been restored for the occasion and are being exhibited for the first time.
«With this unprecedented exhibition, the largest held at this museum to date, Huelva asserts itself as the neuralgic center of Tartessos,» stated Del Pozo during the opening ceremony. The inaugural event was attended by the Government Delegate in Huelva, José Manuel Correa, the Vice President of the Provincial Council, José Manuel Zamora, and the President of the Arqueohuelva Association, Jorge Cotallo, among other authorities.
This ambitious exhibition aims to offer a comprehensive and accessible vision of Tartessian culture, focused on what is undoubtedly «one of its most emblematic sites: the La Joya necropolis.» Additionally, as a major attraction, a real-scale recreation of the chariot from tomb 17, the most princely of those excavated, has been included. Patricia Del Pozo noted that, despite the thousands of pages published about this rich culture, «today, the fascination that Tartessos arouses remains intact, both within and outside of Andalusia.» In this regard, she emphasized, «with this ambitious exhibition, Huelva looks to the future, showcasing its most emblematic past to the world.»
The exhibition is based on over ten months of research and selection work by a multidisciplinary team, composed 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 Ministry of Culture and Sports, it also received significant collaboration from the Atlantic Copper Foundation and the Arqueohuelva Association.
The Mayor of Huelva, Pilar Miranda, expressed gratitude to the Regional Government for bringing this exhibition to the city, as well as to the Atlantic Copper Foundation for their scientific work, which will increase the interest generated by the site among the scientific community, enhancing its international projection and thus promoting visits not only from researchers and historians but also from tourists and travelers interested in archaeology.
Miranda highlighted that this exhibition «is an opportunity to learn about the origins of the oldest city in the West, highlighting our valuable Tartessian past and the treasures of our archaeological heritage.» «One of the pillars on which we base the roadmap we have designed for the future of Huelva is the enhancement of our history. We want to showcase, bring closer, and celebrate the heritage of the city of Huelva for the enjoyment of the people of Huelva and, of course, all those who visit us because making a city attractive for the people of Huelva, and for those who come from outside, is a guarantee of growth and development, of new opportunities, and to achieve this, it is essential to take care of our heritage, recover our history, and that’s what we are working on from the Huelva City Council.»
On the other hand, the President of the Atlantic Copper Foundation, Heliodoro Mariscal, highlighted as «a very important milestone» the fact that the Joya Chariot, with this recreation, can be enjoyed by society as a key piece of an exhibition that helps to understand «a fascinating historical period.» «It is a demonstration that our commitment to the heritage of Huelva materializes in real and concrete actions,» stated Mariscal, who thanked the Ministry of Culture and Sports, the territorial delegation, and the Huelva Museum for the implementation of this initiative.
«We maintain a fruitful collaboration with these institutions, of which the recreation of the Tartessian chariot is the latest example, following another important cultural project like the exhibition ‘Idols. Millenary views from the southwestern end of Europe’ and the publication of its catalog-guide that we developed the previous year,» emphasized the Foundation’s president.
An unprecedented exhibition
This large-scale exhibition brings together more than 200 pieces, of which 80% have not been exhibited before. Its main objective is to showcase Tartessian culture, one of the richest, as well as complex and popular in our history. The exhibition offers a comprehensive vision of life, death, and eternity according to the Tartessian worldview, using the findings of the La Joya necropolis, excavated for the first time in the sixties of the last century by archaeologists Juan Pedro Garrido Roig and Elena Horta, as a guiding thread.
The La Joya necropolis is one of the most representative sites of Tartessian culture. Its study has provided a profound insight into their funerary beliefs and ritual practices. This site has become a reference point for archaeology, due to the quality and variety of the objects found, many of which have a high symbolic value.
‘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 moment of depositing the grave goods in the tombs. Tomb 17, the princely one, is represented as it was found at the time of its discovery in the sixties. The second part, which includes the grave goods of Tomb 17, is accompanied by the recreation of the Tartessian chariot and the original pieces of the chariot.
Undoubtedly, one of the key elements of this exhibition is the life-size recreation of the chariot from La Joya, one of the most emblematic pieces found in the necropolis. Its reconstruction, based on detailed archaeological studies and traditional artisanal techniques combined with new technologies, allows visitors to understand its significance within the funerary context and its role in Tartessian society as an everyday use item. This object, besides being a status symbol, was deposited as a grave good in the tomb of the deceased.
This exhibition also incorporates visual and interactive resources to provide an immersive experience for visitors. The Huelva Museum has developed an extensive program of complementary activities, such as guided tours by experts, lecture series on Tartessian society, and educational workshops aimed at different segments of the public.
The Golden Age of Tartessos
Tartessian culture, although still surrounded by some popular fantasy, after decades and even centuries of misrepresentation being linked to mythical and imaginative aspects, is one of the fundamental pillars, from an academic perspective, to understand the evolution of the archeological cultures that inhabited the southern Iberian Peninsula. The Tartessians flourished between the 9th and 6th centuries BC, in a geographical environment where Mediterranean and Atlantic influences converge.
Their location in the Guadalquivir River basin and the proximity to the sea on the southwest coast allowed them to develop in a context of commercial exchange, especially of mineral-metallic products, which in turn generated a culture rich in traditions, art, and spirituality, as reflected in their material remains.