In 1914, a series of decisive events coincided that clarified the future for Catalan archaeology and marked the way forward for archaeological research both within Catalonia and beyond its frontiers for many years to come.

The declaration of the Catalan Mancommunity on 6 April 1914 by Enric Prat de la Riba, President since 1907 of the Barcelona Provincial Council, was the culmination of a series of projects – for example, in 1911 the agreement by the country’s four provincial councils to create a joint federation – that over the years had furnished Catalonia with progressive and coherent supra-provincial instruments of government, which were both more democratic and more participative.

The winds of change were blowing. In 1914, almost seven years after the founding of the IEC, the Barcelona Provincial Council – almost certainly due to prompting by its President, Prat de la Riba, and with the complicity of Puig i Cadafalch – set aside 2,500 pesetas of its annual budget for the ‘exploration of pre-historical sites’. Puig i Cadafalch suggested that the Historical-Archaeological Section of the IEC be consulted and requested the Section to draw up a project designed to capitalize on this potential financial support.

This was the first serious attempt to set up an archaeological research programme in Catalonia with official support and a guaranteed source of funding.