Museo de Prehistoria de Valencia

"Casa de la Beneficencia", in which the museum is housed

The Museum of Prehistory Valencia is a museum that exhibits archaeological material from the Paleolithic to the Gothic . Since 1982 it has been housed in the "Casa de la Beneficencia", which was built in 1841 in the "Byzantine" style. In 1995, the complete restoration of the building began under the direction of the architect Rafael Rivera .

The building consists of a ground floor, two additional floors and five inner courtyards. On the ground floor there is the museum shop, the canteen, two temporary exhibition rooms, rooms for workshops, small shops and the laboratories for restoration as well as for the fauna and flora of the Quaternary . There is also the “Servicio de Investigación Prehistórica de Valencia” (SIP, a scientific institution for researching the prehistory of Valencia). Also worth mentioning is the church that can be found in the hall. The first floor houses the library and parts of the permanent exhibition, which range from the Paleolithic to the Neolithic to the Bronze Age . On the second floor there is the part of the permanent exhibition devoted to Iberian culture and Roman times .

Servicio de Investigación Prehistórica (SIP)

The Research Institute (SIP) as a facility of the "Diputación de Valencia" (Administration of the Province of Valencia) and the Museum of Prehistory were founded in 1927 at the request of Isidro Ballester Tormo as a scientific institution. It is dedicated to the archaeological heritage of the city of Valencia. Some of the most famous Spanish archaeologists have worked in the museum, including Lluís Pericot Domingo Fletcher , Enrique Pla (former director of SIP) and Miquel Tarradell, Miracles Gil-Mascarell and Carmen Aranegui. Since the beginning, the SIP has developed extensive archaeological research. The materials and results of the excavations carried out by the SIP quickly led to results whose scientific value made the SIP and its museum an important museum nationwide.

The most important finds were made in the Bolomor Cave, in the municipality of Tabernes de Valdigna, where the remains of the oldest known man in the Valencia area were discovered. Further excavations, the processing of which was not yet completed in 2014, were carried out at the Fuente Flores and in the Cinto Mariano with findings from the Copper Age. The Bronze Age settlement of Lloma de Betxí and the Iberian settlements Bastida de les Alcuses and Los Villares (municipality of Caudete de las Fuentes) as well as the Iberian-Roman site of "La Carencia" in the municipality of Turís (stand : February 2015).

The Research Institute Library (SIP)

The SIP library was founded in the same year as the Museum of Prehistory (1927). The library is a special library that built its basic holdings through foundations and acquisitions. Over the years, individual works have been acquired based on the following two main criteria: general objects of scientific value or any material that comes from prehistory.

In order to increase the stock, they thought of an exchange program with other institutions. It was planned to offer the “Archivo de Prehistoria Levantina” published by the SIP in exchange, but due to economic problems 16 years passed between the publication of the first and the second volume. They therefore switched to offering the SIP “Memoria Anua” in exchange.

Publications

The SIP publishes its results in national scientific publications. In addition, the SIP publisher of the journal “Archivo de Prehistoria Levantina” and a series of individual works (“Serie de Trabajos Varios”). The SIP also publishes exhibition catalogs, brochures and teaching materials.

Female head from the Iberian necropolis of Corral de Saus, 5th / 4th century. Century BC Chr.
Warriors of Mogente, 5th / 4th centuries Century BC Chr.
Punic head from Covalta near Albaida
Footwork of the Iberian culture from Bastida de les Alcusses
Roman statue of Apollo from Pinedo