Numantine Museum of Soria

The original building was a single storey with three wings dividing two courtyards. The wings remain, but in the 1980s, the main block was expanded to three floors.

Conceived in chronological order, the visitor's route begins in the Lower Paleolithic. From the Bronze Age, notable items include weapons and tombstones, while from the Iron Age, there are ceramic vessels from the castros, or hill forts. From the Celtiberian period, the collection includes pottery, brooches, pectorals, weapons, and tools from the fields of Numancia, Uxama, Tiermes, and other sites in the province. From the Roman period, objects found in villages and cemeteries are displayed. The route concludes with the Middle Ages, represented by preserved architectural ruins, pottery, and coins.

The route is accessible to blind and partially sighted individuals. With this in mind, a number of pieces and reproductions are available for tactile interaction.

Human remains from Palaeolithic Soria are scarce, but there are impressive remains of a prey species, Palaeoloxodon antiquus, from the Torralba and Ambrona sites, where the animals were butchered about 400,000 years ago. The displays also highlight the Solutrean piece known as the Placa de Villalba. Discovered in the 1980s, this piece represents Palaeolithic fauna. The deposits in the southwest of the province yield numerous Neolithic objects.

The Bell Beaker culture from the Chalcolithic^[2] and the Bronze Age are also represented by pieces from the Covelda deposit and the Villar del Alba menhir.^[3]

The Iron Age is represented through finds from several sites, notably Numantia, Tiermes, and Uxama. This period occupies the exhibition halls on the upper floors, which make up the Celtiberian Section.^[4] The Celtibérica exhibition is also organized chronologically and divided into three periods: early, middle, and late, with numerous pieces from each. Notable items include a remarkable funerary pediment with swords and antennas, brooches, pectorals, spiral plates, and funerary urns. The ceramic collection is also particularly significant.^[5]

The Roman occupation was significant due to its social and political changes. The museum displays findings from the sites of Cuevas de Soria, Santervás del Burgo, and Quintanares de Rioseco, with particular emphasis on those found at Numantia.

There is a Visigothic collection from sites that were consolidated as the towns of Numancia, Osma, and Tiermes.

There are important Muslim pieces reflecting the strong Muslim presence in the province, where they established the Marca Media, with its capital in Medinaceli. After the Muslim departure, the Christian repopulation introduced Romanesque and Gothic art.^[6]

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41°45′51.72″N 2°28′13.92″W / 41.7643667°N 2.4705333°W / 41.7643667; -2.4705333