Experimental Archaeology in Spain (original) (raw)

From present to future. An academic perspective of Public Archaeology in Spain

AP: Online Journal in Public Archaeology, 2021

Ten years seems little time to assess the future of such a relatively young topic as Public Archaeology (PA) is, in special in Spain and in the academic arena. I divide my answer in two classic parts: present and future. By understanding the present (based on the past) we can try to guess (more or less) the future… Even if we think in the context of a pandemic, predicting the future of anything becomes really uncertain and reckless. If I may write, there is a high level of uncertainty and luck in getting it right.

Díaz-Andreu, M. and Ramírez Sánchez, M. 2004. Archaeological Resource Management under Franco's Spain: the Comisaría General de Excavaciones Arqueológicas. In Galaty, M. and Watkinson, C. (eds.), Archaeology under dictatorship. Hingham, MA, Kluwer/Plenum: 109-130.

In the first third of the twentieth century the study of prehistory in Spain became institutionalised and in this process the influence of Germany would be paramount. It was not a single-track process: several alternatives emerged. The earliest one — that of prehistory as part of the natural sciences — was headed by Professor Eduardo Hernández Pacheco from 1910. Although from 1916 the renowned Palaeolithic archaeologist, the German Hugo Obermaier, was associated with Hernández-Pacheco’s group, the impetus behind it can be considered a reaction against French imperialism. After Hernández-Pacheco and Obermaier fell out, a second alternative opened up — leading to the almost total demise of the first alternative — when the latter was offered a chair at the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters (i.e. Faculty of Arts) in 1922. It was therefore a German professor who would train most of the future archaeologists of the Madrid school. Yet circumstances such as the Civil War, the Second World War, Obermaier’s exile and his death would seem to have diminished the impact of the German influence on this school. Prehistoric archaeology in Spain would also be institutionalised through a third alternative — that of the Barcelona school. A chair of archaeology was created in 1916 at the University of Barcelona. It was obtained by Pere Bosch Gimpera, then a young man, who had been trained in archaeology in Germany. It is through Bosch Gimpera that most of the theories current in Germany at that time came to Spain. In this paper, the German influence on the development of professional archaeology in Spain will be analysed, paying attention to the main protagonists both in Spain and in Germany.

Characterization of Commercial Archaeology in Spain

En este informe se presentan los principales resultados de la "2ª encuesta a empresas de arqueología en España", así como las actividades previstas para la valorización de dichos resultados. El estudio se ha llevado a cabo en el marco del proyecto "Discovering the Archaeologists of Europe, 2012-2014", cuyo objetivo es definir y conocer la situación actual de la arqueología como profesión en el continente europeo (este documento se refiere únicamente al caso español). ¿Cuántos arqueólogos hay?, ¿cuántos son hombres y cuántas mujeres?, ¿qué formación poseen?, ¿para quién trabajan?, ¿qué tipo de tareas desempeñan?, ¿cuál es su salario?, ¿en qué condiciones realizan su trabajo?, ¿qué grado de movilidad geográfica existe en la profesión?, ¿cómo les afecta la actual crisis económica?, ¿qué medidas han aplicado para intentar adaptarse a esa situación?....son algunas de las preguntas a las que se pretende dar respuesta. [EN] This report presents the main results of &quot...