Phoenician-style gold necklace from Tomb 18, Les Casetes necropolis, Villajoyosa (Alicante), Spain.
This ceremonial necklace, dating to the late 7th–6th century BCE, is composed of 38 elements including gold discs, cylindrical beads, glass inlays, and granulated spacers. (Image: adapted version of an image by the Vilamuseu, Villajoyosa.)
Long before the Romans marched into Iberia, and even before the Greeks set sail for the western Mediterranean, there came a people from across the sea. They were not conquerors, but sailors. Not empire-builders, but merchants and craftsmen. These were the Phoenicians — ancient seafarers from the eastern Mediterranean — who arrived on the shores of Spain over 2,800 years ago, and left behind treasures, stories, and mysteries that still stir the imagination today.
Who Were the Phoenicians?
The Phoenicians came from a narrow strip of coastline in what is now Lebanon and coastal Syria. Their cities — Tyre, Sidon, Byblos — were small but fiercely independent, and known across the Mediterranean for their maritime skills, purple dye, and fine goods. The Greeks called them phoinikes, or "purple people", for the deep purple dye they produced from murex sea snails — a luxury color fit for kings.
But the Phoenicians were much more than traders. They were cultural transmitters. From the 9th century BCE onward, they sailed westward, not to conquer, but to connect. They brought with them ideas, scripts, technologies, and beliefs — and they left behind colonies, trading posts, and cemeteries that now tell us their story.
Phoenicians in Iberia
By the 8th century BCE, Phoenician ships were reaching the southern and eastern coasts of the Iberian Peninsula. They founded settlements like Gadir (modern Cádiz) — one of the oldest cities in Western Europe — and Malaka (Málaga). From there, they moved up the coast, establishing outposts, trading with local Iberian tribes, and spreading their influence as far north as Villajoyosa on the coast of present-day Alicante.
What did they trade? Metals, above all. Spain was rich in copper, silver, and tin — highly sought after in the ancient world. In return, the Phoenicians brought luxury goods: fine textiles, ivory combs, glass beads, perfumes, and gold jewelry. But they also brought religious symbols, writing systems, and artistic techniques that profoundly shaped local cultures.
A Cemetery by the Sea: Les Casetes
One of the most revealing places where this Phoenician-Iberian connection comes to life is the necropolis of Les Casetes, just inland from the coast of Villajoyosa. Used between the late 7th and 6th centuries BCE, this burial ground contained over a hundred tombs, many of them belonging to members of a wealthy local elite — Iberians who had adopted Phoenician customs and prestige goods.
Some graves held weapons, others fine ceramics, and a few contained jewelry of remarkable craftsmanship. These weren’t mere decorations — they were status symbols, ritual offerings, and expressions of power and belief.
The Necklace of 38 Pieces
One of the most dazzling discoveries from Les Casetes came from Tomb 18: an elaborate gold necklace made up of nearly 38 individual elements. This magnificent piece features a combination of gold discs, cylindrical beads, glass elements, and intricate spacers, arranged in a symmetrical, ceremonial layout.
Each component was crafted with precision. Some were engraved with geometric patterns, others adorned with granulation — tiny gold spheres applied to the surface in decorative clusters. The inclusion of both gold and blue glass hints at trade networks stretching across the Mediterranean, and at symbolic meanings that blended Phoenician, Egyptian, and Iberian traditions.
The necklace was likely worn by a high-ranking individual, possibly a woman of great status. It speaks not just to wealth, but to belief — in protection, in legacy, in connection with the divine. It also illustrates the technical mastery of goldsmiths working in Iberia at the time, whether local artisans influenced by Phoenician style or visiting craftsmen from the East.
A Legacy Carried in Gold
The Phoenicians left no empires behind, no monumental cities in Spain. What they left was something more subtle — and perhaps more lasting. They were among the first to connect East and West, to blend belief systems and artistic styles, and to set the foundations of Mediterranean trade and cultural exchange.
In places like Les Casetes, their story is still being written, one excavation at a time. And in objects like the necklace from Tomb 18, their vision of a connected, meaningful world — adorned, luminous, and layered with memory — still speaks across the centuries.
