Guide Fossil: Archaeology of the Spanish Civil War

The temporary exhibition Guide Fossil: Archaeology of the Spanish Civil War seeks to create a meeting point between the material traces of the past and contemporary society. In archaeology, the concept of a ‘guide fossil’ refers to a material or object that serves as a defining marker of an entire period. It is an artefact that belongs exclusively to a specific historical moment – one that appears neither before nor after a particular point in time and place. As such, a guide fossil also functions as a dating tool. This exhibition asks a simple question: what are the guide fossils of the 1936 Spanish Civil War that still endure in today’s Basque landscape? The remains of concrete fortifications, combatants’ graffiti, fragments of paper, ammunition components and other objects recovered from trenches all help answer that question.