On the First Steps of Institutional Archaeology in the Former Protectorate of Spain in Northern Morocco

This paper aims to consider the first steps of the establishment and construction of the management structures of the Archaeological Heritage in the North of Morocco, in the context of the political status quo of the Protectorate that emerged after the International Conference of Algeciras (1906). To achieve these objectives throughout our career as researcher we have approached the primary and secondary sources on the subject, taking into account both the archival documentation existing in Spain and Morocco on this issue, the Historiography on the subject and the current publications. Among the main conclusions emerging from the study of Archaeology in Northern Morocco we find that the archaeological discipline does not only have to do with research, since field research is inserted in a higher framework regarding the management, conservation and preservation of the Archaeological Heritage in Northern Morocco throughout the first half of the Twentieth Century, with cultural Heritage in general and Archaeological Heritage in particular being a matter of entire Moroccan Sovereignty even under the Protectorate regime.