Siret Archive

The Siret Archive enabled the foundations of the prehistory of the south-east Iberian Peninsula to be laid and is still an essential tool in archaeological studies, as well as giving insight into Siret’s methodology and scientific thinking.

It consists of over 150 excavation notebooks, information about each of the sites investigated, valuable manuscripts, messages between Siret and his foreman Flores describing the daily routine of excavations and findings and an enormous number of drawings, photographs and texts in the form of archaeological studies, folders and notes. But its importance lies not only in the amount of information but in its scrupulous collection at the excavation itself,, which gives it lasting value.

Together with this archaeological documentation, the museum has the correspondence between Henri and Louis Siret and scientific personalities of the time and institutions interested in their studies, press cuttings from the end of the 19th century to the 30s of the 20th century, folders of preparatory documentation for their participation in conferences and tributes and abstracts and extracts made by Siret of articles and books he had read.

As well as Siret’s personal archive, when the collections were added to the National Archaeological Museum, its staff created a parallel archive consisting of the documents arising from the archive organisation and inventory work of the documentation and collection carried out between the 50s and 90s of the 20th century.

To this should be added the typewritten transcripts of Flores’ notebooks and the assembly of a photographic collection complementing study of the pieces.