Grahame Clark and Spain

Abstract

This article explores how Grahame Clark's archaeology was received in Spain on the basis of the correspondence sent to three of the most important archaeologists of Francoist Spain (1936/39–1975), Julio Martínez Santa–Olalla (1905–1972), Luis Pericot García (1899–1978) and Martín Almagro Basch (1911–1984). The letters show that they exchanged the specialist journals published by the institutions they were involved with, in addition to other publications, and that Clark even lectured in Spain in 1952 and 1963. In the 1950s, he also encouraged several students to undertake research in Spain. Michael W. Thompson, John Evans and John Scantlebury were among the earliest to follow this route. Only the first of these successfully completed his research, but his move away from academia meant that his work failed to have the impact it would otherwise have had. After this first batch of students, others educated at Cambridge followed in the 1960s and 1970s, but none seems to have been directly connected to Clark. The second part of the article will undertake an analysis of the extent of Clark’s influence on Spanish archaeology. Several aspects will be analysed, including the number of reviews of Clark’s publications in Spanish journals and the translations into Spanish of his work. Some thought is given to the reasons for an interest in economic and social archaeology in Spain. Instead of seeing this as the result of Clark’s influence, this article will suggest that a series of works in this area were an echo of the French Annales School, which entered Spain via the studies of the medieval and modern historian, Jaime Vicens Vives.