Essentialism, normativism, postmodernism: ethnic interpretations in Spanish archaeology

Abstract

This article presents a diachronic view of the ways in which Spanish Archaeology has approached the study of past ethnicity and consequently the image this has created of the peninsular “peoples”. To this end we begin with a review of the precedents contained in the historiography of the Early Modern Period which will be followed by a look at the initial phases of the discipline, the introduction of the cultural-historical method of the German School and the influence of the Franco regime. In the final section we will examine the approaches used since the beginning of the 1980s as well as the public interest and debate this issue has created as a result of the development of the Autonomous Communities.