The new Research Centre in the Prehistory and Archaeology Museum (MUPAC) today opened its doors in the installations provided by the Education, Tourism and Sports Ministry in the Government of Cantabria, in the area of Las Llamus Campus. This is opposite the Government Building in the University of Cantabria (Avenida de Los Castros, No. 65-67, Santander), a large space of more than one thousand square metres which will house the specialized services of the museum: research, conservation and restoration.
There we will find the archive, library, administrative offices and an area for the International Institute of Prehistoric Research in Cantabria (IIIPC), which will have more laboratories and work-space near its head offices in the Inter-Faculty building. This will allow it to promote one of the strategic areas in the Cantabria International Campus Project of Excellence (CCI) which is devoted to heritage, language and culture, within the continuous work carried out by the UC and its members to transform the autonomous community into a region of knowledge.
Besides, the Centre will have an exhibition area open to the public, which can be visited from Monday to Friday during working hours, in able to enjoy the 1,200 archaeological pieces from different eras and origins, displayed throughout 39 cabinets. The museum circuit will cover the Ancient Paleolithic era to the Middle Ages, including a section for other archaeological realities: Pre-Columbian America, the Middle East and Africa. Also important is the presence of materials originating from the caves and sites in Cantabria: El Mirón, La Garma, El Castillo, La Pasiega, Julióbriga, Flavióbriga, etc.
The collection will be completed with around 300,000 pieces which are catalogued in 2,334 boxes, 22,000 volumes and 700 journals in the library. The centre is heir to the area devoted to research in the old Prehistory Museum in Puerto Chico, Santander. Its exhibition area will be moved to the lower area in the Mercado del Este, in accordance with an agreement with Santander Town Council, a move which is expected in Spring 2011, within the project set out by MUPAC.