Lost wax cast Necklace designs by Elaine Coyne. Lost wax is the process by which a duplicate metal sculpture is cast from an original sculpture.  The oldest known examples of this technique are the objects discovered in the Cave of the Treasure (Nahal Mishmar) hoard in southern Israel, and which belong to the Chalcolithic period (4500–3500 BC). Conservative estimates of age from carbon-14 dating date the items to c. 3700 BC, making them more than 5700 years old.