Archaeology and politics: development of Spanish archaeology in its historical context

Abstract

This paper offers an outline of the history of Spanish archaeology during the eighteenth. nineteenth and twentieth centuries. This article focuses on the relationship between the development of archaeology and the political interests which marked each historical moment. Spain is embedded in a European context. As in the other European countries archaeology has been influenced by régime changes throughout the last three centuries. In the eigthteenth century archaeology was used as a tool by the monarchy in order lo legitimize its prerogatives. In the nineteenth century the emergence of nationalisms motivated its institutionalization. Political changes in this century have also found their expression in archaeology. Over the whole of this period there has been a clear, though seldon explicit, relationship between archaeology and power.