The Archaeology of the Modern Era in the Basque Country

Past, present and future

Vitoria-Gasteiz (Spain), 14-15 November 2017

The late development of Post-medieval Archaeology in Europe and its scarce presence in Spanish universities has caused that, in general, the archaeological analysis of post-medieval chronologies has been widely neglected and mainly carried out by developers funded projects. In the last few years, there has been a growing interest on the archaeological investigation of contemporary contexts (such as the Spanish Civil War or emerging heritages), or on the archaeology of Spain’s colonial past. The Modern Era, on the contrary, has received less attention by researchers from an archaeological perspective. Although the number of researchers has increased in the last few years and, therefore, the amount of available information is now quite remarkable, the Archaeology of the Modern Era in the Iberian Peninsula has not been theorized yet and it lacks a research and outreach agenda.

The main aim of this conference is to offer a critical overview of the works that have been carried out in recent years in the Basque Country on the archaeological record of the Modern Era and the transitions (before and after), and reflect on the future of this discipline.