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Field journals

Louis and Henri Siret gave Pedro Flores, the site supervisor on their excavations, a set of working guidelines, and this is reflected in the field journals or excavation diaries that Flores kept to record all of his finds, making the entries himself or dictating to his children.

This collection comprises over 100 notebooks with cardboard or oilcloth bindings; in most the leaves were sewn or stapled to the spine, and the pages consisted of graph or lined paper with red margins. Some contain loose sheets of paper with notes and drawings that provide additional information.

Despite their age, the majority of these small notebooks, no larger than 11 x 16 cm, are in good condition, and only a few have come unbound. Most of the covers bear a handwritten or pasted-on note indicating the contents of the journal, which were probably added by Louis Siret after reviewing each notebook sent by Pedro Flores.

The journals can be divided into several different groups. Pedro Flores always followed the same pattern: location of the tomb, description of its structure and grave goods, approximate number of interred individuals and, in most cases, a schematic plan with the location of the pieces.

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