Schnapp 1996: 53–4). In a short time this institution had been copied in other
European countries. As the French Education Minister proudly stated in
1847:
Commissions are being formed in Belgium, in Spain, in Italy and in Germany after the
example of our Historical Committees...Wewould be right to congratulate ourselves
for having, in this as in many otherWelds, taken the lead over other nations.
(in Lo ́pez Trujillo 2006: 178).The Historical and Artistic Monument Commissions established in Spain in
1844 were intended to protect buildings, monuments, and artistic objects
which, either for reasons of the beauty of their construction, or their age, their
origin, the use made of them or their historical importance, were considered
worth preserving. Of the Commissions’ three departments, one was devoted
to architecture and archaeology (Tortosa & Mora 1996: 201–3). The Imperial
Archaeological Commission set up in Russia in 1859 seems to have also dealt
with Slavic antiquities (Dolukhanov 1995: 327), in addition to colonial
archaeology (Chapter 9). In contrast, the earlier Archaeographical Commis-
sion of 1834 seems to have focused on the collections amassed in expeditions
(Whittaker 1984: 187).
The construction of an administrative frame for the modern state directly
aVected archaeology in the creation of posts in heritage, museums and
societies. Its inXuence, however, went beyond that, for jobs in other oYces
also had an impact in archaeology. This is exempliWed by creations such as
that of Ordnance Surveys in several parts of Europe, from Germany to Ireland
(1824) and, later on, to other countries such as Portugal (1848) and Spain
(1849). One of the earliest ones, the Irish Ordnance Survey, was founded in
1824 with the aim of acquiring a better knowledge of land distribution to
allow the reform of the country’s local taxation system (Waddell 2005: 97). In
the newly produced maps archaeological sites were located, thus making
available an enormous amount of archaeological information.
While there were only a few jobs in heritage, many more were created in
museums. Throughout Europe the role of museums in nation-building be-
came accepted, and, although their title as ‘national’ would only become the
norm in the last four decades of the century (Chapter 13), it became common
in all capitals and important cities to have the best museum of the whole
nation. Invariably, in these star institutions archaeological displays were
exhibited. In 1818 the National Museum in Pest was established, opening in
1823 (Sklena ́r 1983: 80). This, and the museum in Prague, would be the
largest ‘national’ museums in Central Europe at the time. In 1835, shortly
after Belgium’s independence, the Muse ́es Royaux d’Art et d’Histoire were
created. It was then subdivided and part of the collections became the basis of
358 National Archaeology in Europe