Museo de la Rinconada. Colecciones Arqueológicas y Paleontológicas en memoria de Francisco Sousa

About the museum

The museum's collection began in 1982, when Francisco Sousa, a religious brother and teacher at the Miguel de Mañara secondary school, set up a group with some of his students to study the nearby Cerro Macareno archaeological site and the fossil remains found in the gravel pits of the La Jarilla area. The first rooms opened in the school itself in 1986.

In 1997 ownership of the collection passed to the La Rinconada town council, which moved the pieces to their permanent home, premises created specifically in the Centro Cultural de la Villa. After Sousa's death, the council decided that the museum would bear his name. It is managed by Espiral Patrimonio, which also runs the educational programmes.

In archaeology, the museum displays a large collection of pottery from Cerro Macareno, with Tartessian, Phoenician, Greek, Iberian and Roman pieces from the 8th to the 1st century BC, mostly everyday objects such as loom weights, sling shots, terracotta votive figures, amphora fragments and oil lamps. Highlights include a large vessel for storing grain, several stone querns and Roman marble elements. In palaeontology there are fossils from all geological eras, and the most notable piece is the remains of an Elephas antiquus, with large molars and tusks, one of them about four metres long.

Highlights

• Remains of an Elephas antiquus with a tusk of about four metres
• Cerro Macareno pottery (8th–1st century BC): Tartessian, Phoenician, Greek, Iberian and Roman
• Large ceramic vessel for storing grain
• Fossils from all eras: corals, trilobites, ammonites, plants and fish
• Audiovisuals and interactives that place the pieces in context

Permanent exhibitions

• Colección arqueológica del Cerro Macareno – Pottery and everyday objects from the Cerro Macareno site (8th–1st century BC), including Tartessian, Phoenician, Greek, Iberian and Roman pieces.
• Colección paleontológica – Fossils from all geological eras and remains of an Elephas antiquus that lived in La Rinconada around 100,000 years ago.

Operated by

Ayuntamiento de La Rinconada (gestión: Espiral Patrimonio)

Admission & discounts

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Accessibility

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Kids & families

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Getting there & parking

The museum is in the Centro Cultural de la Villa, in San José de La Rinconada, where the town council's Culture Department also has its offices.

Amenities & dining

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Events & venue rental

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