The historiographical discipline is key to understanding the professionalization process of Archaeology. In addition to uncovering the past of a profession so Romanized in its beginnings and present, it allows us to be more critical with our own methodology and documentary work. In this article, we will describe and analyze the trajectory of Luis Siret.
During the 19th and 20th centuries in Spain, a form of archaeology based on antiquarianism and collecting was left behind, and greater scientific specialization began to take shape. An example of this was the creation in 1856 of the Higher School of Diplomacy that would train the Corps of Facultative Archivists and Librarians with the Moyano Law, and in 1868, the Corps of Archivists, Librarians, and Archaeologists. This marked the exclusion of prehistoric studies from the realm of the Natural Sciences, alongside biologists, geologists, or engineers. Continuing this line, at the beginning of the 20th century, Luis Siret appears (Díaz-Andres, 1993-94 pp.194-195).
Louis Siret (hispanicized, Luis), was born in Sint-Niklaas-Waas (San Nicolás de Waes) on August 26, 1860. Raised in a family with a preference for history, he developed a great passion for the past. After studying Civil Engineering and Mining at the École Spéciale des Mines at Louvain University, he moved to Almería. Following his brother's footsteps, also an engineer Enrique Siret (1857-1933), who had been working in the argentiferous galena mines of Sierra Almagrera and the water supply project for Cuevas del Almanzora for two years, a young Luis settled in the area (Almagro-Gorbea, 2011, p. 17).
Due to his profession, they carried out archaeological interventions between 1881 and 1886. In this last year, Enri moved to Belgium and Pedro Flores joined as foreman for the next excavations.
Luis Siret stood out for his thorough methodology, reflected in the extensive documentation he collected and published over the years and his archaeological drawings and planimetric surveys that accompanied it (Image 2) (López Castro, 2004, pp. 168-169). The application of new theoretical-methodological criteria marked a before and after in the description and recovery of material records. Pioneer of archaeology in southeastern Iberian Peninsula. Among his contributions to the discipline are the systematization of prehistory and the pre-Roman antiquity in southeastern Iberia (which generated great debate between his theory with French prehistorians due to its low chronology, the current recent prehistory); the discovery and excavation at El Argar, Los Millares, and Villaricos, and the introduction of geological elements into a pre-stratification of excavations. (Gonzalbes Cravioto, 2009-2010, p. 66).
The large number of excavations in sites in Almería, Granada, and Murcia led to the formation of a significant collection consisting of the material culture of these enclaves, many of which were donated to European museums and institutions. From this legacy, rooms were created in the main galleries, such as the Museu Arqueológic de la Diputació de Barcelona (1888), even after his death at the University Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology in Cambridge in 1951 (Mederos Martín, 1996, p. 381).
Some collections reached American museums, not forgetting the funds bequeathed to the Royal Academy of History or the current Museum of Almería, which was born from Siret's donation to the State (Decree of March 28, 1933, Madrid Gazette of April 4, 1933) (Almagro-Gorbea, 2011, pp. 17-18; López Castro, 2004 ,p. 174), among which the Phoenician stele of Villaricos and "Sphinx of Villaricos" stand out.
To this must be added the publications of his findings. Enrique and Luis Siret became famous due to their magnum opus «The First Ages of Metal in Southeastern Spain» in 1887, whose Spanish version was published in 1890 and illustrated with over 8,000 drawings and plans made by Louis Siret himself (Almagro-Gorbea, 2011: 17). Thanks to this work, they were awarded gold medals at the Expositions Universales of Toulouse (1887) and Barcelona (1888), among others. Other publications that stood out were «L’Espagne Préhistorique» in 1893 (the original is housed in the National Archaeological Museum), a synthesis with the first results from Los Millares, and «La fin de l’époque néolithique» in 1892 (Mederos Martín, 1996, pp. 380-381).
After this initial phase as a researcher, he acquired mining concessions creating the Societé Miniere d’Almagrera S.A. in 1900 causing a pause in his publications until «Orientaux et Occidentaux en Espagne aux temps préhistoiques» between 1906-1907, except for occasional publications. However, Luis Siret was named a member of the Real Academia de Historia in 1905 (Mederos Martín, 1996, p. 387). His proposal was signed by Francisco Fernández y González, Fidel Fita, and Antonio Sánchez Móguel based on some of the most representative findings from his excavations at Villaricos, housed in the Cabinet of Antiquities (included among Prehistoric Antiquities, dedicated to Phoenician Colonization) (Almagro-Gorbea, 2011, pp. 15-16, 22).
The nomination proposal for Luis Siret on May 12, 1905 referred to him as a person «worthy of this Royal Academy by the generous donation he made of extremely valuable prehistoric and archaeological objects».
In this context, the law of July 7, 1911 on Archaeological Excavations was created, and in compliance with this legal mandate, a regulation was drafted on March 1, 1912 for its implementation. The Ministry of Public Instruction and Fine Arts was responsible for enforcing these provisions. Additionally, the Superior Board of Excavations and Antiquities (JSEA) was established, an active body between 1912 and 1933 tasked with overseeing its application and, above all, managing the policy of archaeological excavations in Spain (Díaz-Andreu, 1993-94, p. 196).
«It allowed the State to interrupt works, obtain ownership of remains and relics found incidentally or suddenly, and carry out archaeological excavations on private property or in public domain through execution and materialization» (Macho de Quevedo Alonso, 2022, p. 30).
Regarding this regulatory framework, Enri and Luis Siret were pioneers in emergency excavations, such as those carried out at Cuevas de Almanzora (previously mentioned) or the necropolis of Villaricos due to the construction of a mining railway from Herrerías to Villaricos.
To this more institutional period of Luis Siret, he added participation in International Congresses on Anthropology and Prehistoric Archaeology in Monaco 1906 and Geneva 1912. In 1908 he published his well-known work «Villaricos y Herrerías, antiquities punic, Roman, Visigothic, and Arab» in the Bulletin of the Royal Academy of History XIV and «Questions de chronologie et d’etnographie ibériques», published in Paris in 1913 (Mederos Martín, 1996, pp. 383-388) combining experimental archaeology with analytical studies of prehistoric axe pieces from the Iberian Peninsula, where he analyzed a series of Late Bronze Age pieces conserved at the National Archaeological Museum alongside Ramón de Cala and López (Montero-Ruiz, et al., 2011, p. 592).
The last years of research (or third phase) were marked by the First World War, and Luis Siret's departure to Brussels where he was detained and transferred to Holland, causing a collapse in the mining production from Herrerías and Sierra Almagrera, leading to work paralysis in 1931 (Mederos Martín, 1996, p. 394).
As recorded by the Royal Academy of History (Martín Mederos, 2018): «he was encouraged to resume his fieldwork, returning to excavate in 1932 at Almizaraque alongside Juan Cuadrado to complete documentation on the settlement. But when exploring a possible prehistoric gallery in the Campaniforme village of Las Rozas de Herrerías, he contracted pneumonia and died on June 4, 1934, aged seventy-four, being buried next to his wife in Águilas (Murcia)».
Conclusions
The need for a historiographical review as the beginning of the professionalization process of the archaeological discipline goes beyond simple dates and findings, but also critiques methodology and documentation employed.
The contribution of the Siret brothers, especially Luis, to the archaeological discipline marked before-and-after in field methodology and documentation. His legacy encompasses publications, theories, graphic records, and a material heritage exhibited in numerous international museums. His intervention in Andalusian and Spanish archaeology was characterized by his novel vision influenced by foreign currents, highlighting the delayed development of the discipline in our territory. Thanks to his work, many museums took over future research.
Bibliography
Almagro-Gorbea, Martín (2011): Luis Siret and the Royal Academy of History. In J.A Cano García (Ed.), Almería, an open-air museum. The importance of our province in the history of Archaeology (pp. 13-35). Institute of Almeria Studies.
Díaz-Andreu, M. (1993-94). Archaeology in Spain in the 19th and 20th centuries: A synthesis view. O Arqueólogo Português, 11/12, 189-209.
Gozalbes Cravioto, E. (2009-2010). Historiography of Archaeology in Andalusia. In M. Á. Núñez Beltrán and G. A. Herrera (Eds.), Anuario de Hespérides. Scientific Research and Didactic Innovations, 17-18, 55-68.
Montero-Ruiz, I., Cacho, C., Galán, E., García-Vuelta, O., & Murillo-Barroso, M. (2011). Luis Siret: Experimental Archaeologist. In Memorial Luis Siret, I Congress of Andalusian Prehistory. The protection of prehistoric heritage (pp. 529-532). Junta de Andalucía, Department of Culture.
López Castro, J. (2004). Luis Siret and the beginnings of Archaeology in Southeastern Spain. Revista de los museos de Andalucía, 4, 168-175.
Macho de Quevedo Alonso, S. (2022). The Law of Archaeological Excavations of 1911. [Bachelor's Thesis, Pontifical University of Comillas]. http://hdl.handle.net/11531/60900
Martín Mederos, A. (2018). Luis Siret and Cels. Royal Academy of History. https://dbe.rah.es/biografias/15008/luis-siret-y-cels
Martín Mederos, A. (1996). The first proposal of the prehistoric sequence in southeastern Iberia: Luis Siret and Cels. Tabona 9, 379-397.
Siret, E., & Siret, L. (1890). The First Ages of Metal in Southeastern Spain: Results obtained by the authors from excavations carried out between 1881 and 1887. Henrich y C.a Typography, Successors of N. Ramírez y C.a.
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