The purpose of this work is to make known a scientific instrument that, due to its importance, was acquired by the State to form part of the Modern Age collections of the National Archaeological Museum.
HistoryLab
for Civic Engagement
HistoryLab
for Civic Engagement
Texts
The National Archaeological Museum (MAN) displays an important collection of scientific instruments from different periods, some of which are of extraordinary value, such as the Roman clock of Belo, the Andalusian planispheric astrolabe of Ibrahim ibn Said al-Sahli, the great astrolabe of Gualterus Arsenius (said of Philip II) and the Rabdologic abacus. There are other objects of interest in the collection where art and mathematics merge. The objects in the collection of Professor Manuel Rico y Sinobas (1819 – 1898), physicist and doctor, are not of the same quality as those mentioned above, but are of interest. The theodolite/astronomical clock by Gualterus Arsenius, which would be an excellent piece if it were complete, is unique of its kind. The collection of 18th-century pantographs is very remarkable. Among the carpenter’s and navigator’s slide rules there is an extraordinarily rare square-headed ruler.
The Amazonian universe encompasses innumerable themes (gender, mythology, archaeology, social relations, the vision of the “Other”, war, autochthony, etc.). In short, an exclusively female society, or one where women control all areas, is considered a matriarchy (regardless of concepts such as matrilineality, matrilocality or both). It has filled pages, not only in antiquity, and has remained in the human mind for millennia. The emergence of matriarchal theories in the 19th century served to revive a dormant but never forgotten discussion of gender that greatly influenced early contemporary analyses of one of the best-known Greek myths. Many of the postulates that emerged then, such as matriarchy or the existence of a primordial Great Mother Goddess, now superseded, are still defended by various authors to support the supposed real existence of a society with these characteristics that deserve critical analysis.
The scientific expedition of the armoured frigate Arapiles led by Juan de Dios de la Rada across the Mediterranean in 1871 brought to the National Archaeological Museum a collection of 319 objects from Italy and the eastern Mediterranean. Of these, just over 77 came from Cyprus and all were donated by the Italian Consul in Larnaca, Riccardo Colucci. Here we analyse his role as a collector and his relationship with the donation to the Museum, highlighting the importance of his figure in the genesis of the Museum’s collection of archaeological objects.
We present an ethnoarchaeological study of an alzada, a seasonal habitat in the high mountains of Lugo, linked to summer pastoral activity and, to a lesser extent, to agricultural activity, in order to establish, in accordance with the data obtained through anthropological and geographical fieldwork, an explanatory model of the process of almost total abandonment of the site and the acquisition of new functions and meanings that it has recently taken on. In this way it is possible to understand, in the light of the ethnographic, historical and anthropological context, the archaeological remains of this place of occupation.
When, after almost two centuries of isolation, Japan opened its borders to Western pressure in 1854, it was confronted with a world very different from its own. However, its knowledge of what had happened in the area in connection with the colonisation of Asia by the Western powers put it on its guard and it was able to prevent a repetition of the same situation in the Japanese archipelago. This attitude of observation and vigilance was put into practice not only in the fields of diplomacy and politics, but also in economics and art, as evidenced by the pieces studied in this work. The great demand for Japanese pieces meant that artistic production was mass-produced for the Western market, a market that often valued exoticism more than quality. The result was that on many occasions, as is the case today, the European or American buyer was buying products designed exclusively for them, and not something ‘authentically Japanese’.
Alabaster is one of nature’s few industrial minerals that is described as ornamental, scarce and rarely concentrated in mineable accumulations.
The biography of the famous jurist Don Juan de Solórzano Pereira is well known, but not so much his relationship with artistic issues. We examine the goods that he possessed, among which there were numerous objects from the Indies, and we present new aspects of his patronage of the main chapel of the Madrid monastery of Caballero de Gracia.
The old Isla Plana, off the coast of Alicante and Santa Pola, has long been an insular enclave valued both for its geographical position and for the wealth of fish in its surrounding waters. However, it remained uninhabited until the last third of the 18th century, when an ambitious project for a military stronghold and civil colonization of the island was promoted, in accordance with the reformist philosophy of the Spanish Enlightenment in the time of King Carlos III. , halfway between utopia and reality. That project would be known as Nueva Tabarca, in memory of the origin of its first settlers. Two characters were key in its configuration and development: the former captain general of Valencia and later president of the Council of Castilla, the Count of Aranda, and the military engineer, Infantry Colonel Fernando Méndez de Rao Sotomayor.
This article deals, with a didactic intention, with the evolutionary study of writing during the medieval centuries in Christian Spain, up to the Modern Age, with reference to some pieces preserved in the collection of the National Archaeological Museum, analysing their essential characteristics, from a palaeographic point of view, and explaining the different cycles that developed, the historical and social context in which they arose, the causes that influenced the different forms of writing, including the writing materials, giving an overall view of the use of writing in the Middle Ages, and explaining the different cycles that developed, the historical and social context in which they arose, the causes that influenced the different forms of writing, including the written materials, giving an overall view of the use of writing in this period, as a cultural expression and testimony of human activity.
Page 9 of 68
This project has been funded with support from the European Commission.
This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
© History Lab. All Rights Reserved.
Developed by JASBAT: IT Services
Developed by JASBAT: IT Services