They have now recorded collect drones or orthophotos or to configure computer operations, in the 30s The last century of the last century involved a long process of drawing, planimetry, photographing and development. This evolution in archaeological study faithfully documents the MARQ archive, a department established in 2005 to preserve the province’s history and to continue digitization as a strategy to safeguard these testimonies and make them accessible to researchers.
The archive holds up to 150,000 documents, with about 95,000 digitized thanks to the work of Miguel Benito Iborra, the archaeozoologist responsible for the project since 2005. Plans, drawings, texts, technical reports, photographs or excavation reports form part of this documentation.
The collection covers material dating back to 1932, when the Alicante Archaeological Museum opened at the Provincial Palace. The archive benefits from the visit of Niceto Alcalá-Zamora to the city, while the origin lies in the old collection from the center’s library moved here in 2005, according to the archive’s custodian.
Collections and backgrounds
The archive houses exclusive collections and highlights the preservation and development of archaeological excavations in the province. Among the notable names are Figueras Pacheco, Father Belda, Vicente Martínez Morellá, and Enrique Llobregat.
Learning about the Figueras Pacheco collection, Alicante, and the museum’s history is considered essential. All excavations flowed through this repository, notes Miguel Benito Iborra, who adds that old photographs of Albufereta, documentation, drawings, and memoirs of excavations initiated at Tossal de Manises and Illeta de El Campello are preserved there.
A particularly interesting portion of this legacy is the set of drawings from finds, later painted by hand and handed over to printers to reproduce on postcard-like formats.
Drawings by Figueras Pacheco were later transferred to printed cards, a process captured in a caption by Hector Fuentes.
There is also a basic encyclopedic work attributed to Figueras Pacheco, Alicante State Geography, linked to Career and Candi, published in 1915. It remains the original copy containing the province’s heritage and history from town to town.
The Martinez Morella family, a historian, and later officials handed over the entire photographic collection to MARQ, along with a long-standing archive involvement by the Institute of Alicante Studies and the Gil-Albert foundation, who contributed to the photographic collection.
Another key collection includes glass plates by Sánchez de Prado, viewable with a stereoscopic device. The plates document urban development and family travels, including the Universal Exhibition in Paris in 1905 and Alfonso XIII’s visits, offering thousands of plaques that chart Alicante’s urban evolution.
In 2005, the full documentary legacy of the museum’s first director, Enrique Llobregat, became part of MARQ’s holdings. The family’s photographs from the 1960s, Palestinian and Israeli studies, and excavations were deposited, along with drawings and papers from national congresses attended by the director.
One of the drawings from an excavation is preserved as an artifact of the era, as noted by a curator.
The Tossal site also includes memoirs that comprise volumes of graphic and documentary records. The MARQ project, initiated in 1999, revealed the museum’s contents and purpose.
The archive spans the journey from the first room on the ground floor of the Provincial Palace to today’s museum transfers. Much of the material is organized in folders and much of it has already been digitized. Exhibition materials and graphic documentation from international exhibitions that came to MARQ are also preserved.
Another important area is the press archive, with published news about provincial heritage, archaeology, and folklore. The collection includes material from the 1960s to 2000, with partial cataloging.
MARQ’s permanent collection has also been digitized. This was prioritized in 2005 to ensure daily access for researchers documenting transfers or other needs.
History of a society
There is a vast amount of the province’s archaeological history here, according to MARQ’s director. The archive also contains photographs from other museums in Dénia and Alcoy, especially from the 1930s and 1940s, marking the early stages of archaeology in Alicante.
These files serve as the memory of a society, with a responsibility to preserve documentary heritage and ensure access while maintaining integrity. Contemporary media is used to preserve and protect access, reducing risk of manipulation.
The ultimate aim is to put this documentary legacy online, with emphasis on the photographic and documentary record from the first half of the 20th century. The challenge is to examine what can and should be digitized and made publicly accessible.
According to the director, this archive is an essential museum service, supported by many people who contribute to this area. The continuous effort to maintain the archive is largely driven by Miguel’s perseverance and the team’s dedication.
[CITATION: MARQ Archive descriptions and historical records attributed to museum staff and associated researchers.]