The origins of the Archaeological Museum in Granada: The rise of Scientific Archaeology and the provincial committee for monuments

Abstract

In its inception, the archaeological museum of Granada, Iike other similar Spanish museums, was closely related to two phenomena characteristic of the 19th century. On the one hand, the rise of scientific archaeology, as opposed to any minimalist or idolizing approach. This was in turn the result of a new view of history which had been accepted by revolutionary bourgeois ideologues and was to become the established norm throughout Europe, fed by nationalist views and that of the 'poetry' of ruins. The second important factor was the establishing of legislation specifically designed to protect cultural assets, a legacy in technical, legal and ideological terms of the thought of the Enlightenment. Thus ex profeso administrative groups of an honourary character were set up and took their place within the historical and artistic committees established from 1844 onwards. This paper presents a brief summary of the effects of these two trends on the Granada museum of archaeology.