Collecting and colonial contexts at the Museu Nacional de Arqueologia and Museu Municipal Santos Rocha, 1893-1930

Over two thousand transnational objects (most with colonial origins) are currently in the Museu Nacional de Arqueologia in Lisbon and the Museu Municipal Santos Rocha in Figueira da Foz. Their histories are linked to nationalism, colonialism and the development of prehistoric archaeology in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This article cross-references multiple sources and periodicals to trace the journeys of these collections (primarily involving military campaigns in Africa) and the power networks that brought these objects to Portugal. The Eurocentric narratives, descriptions and categorizations that have endured since that time show how provenance research is essential to document and confront the colonial legacies of museums.

Keywords
Museu Nacional de Arqueologia; Museu Municipal Santos Rocha; History of collections; Colonial history; Provenance research