The Archaeological Museum of Murcia is located in the city of the same name, in the Region of Murcia. It has its origins in the old Provincial Museum which was created by Royal Order of the Ministry of Development on 6 July 1864 thanks to the contributions of the Provincial Monuments Commission. Its first venues were the Teatro de los Infantes (1864), the Contraste de la Seda building (1866) and the current Museo de Bellas Artes de Murcia (1910).

In 1953, the archaeological collections of the Provincial Museum were moved to the current building, built between 1941 and 1953 by Luis Moya Blanco and José Luis de León for the Casa de la Cultura, giving rise to the Archaeological Museum of Murcia. In 1962, the archaeological collection and the building were declared Historic-Artistic Monuments.

The museum houses a permanent exhibition of the archaeology of Murcia and its region from the Palaeolithic to the Late Roman period. The medieval Islamic archaeology section is currently on display in the nearby Museum of Santa Clara.

Ground Floor

Room 1: Conceived as an introductory space to the museum, the room presents a model of the Region of Murcia and a virtual tour of its main archaeological sites, arranged by culture and municipality.

Room 2: Dedicated to the Palaeolithic. During this long cultural period, which spans from the origin of hominids (more than two and a half million years ago) to the climatic changes of the Holocene (about ten thousand years ago), humans evolved as a species, learned about fire and developed different technological advances within a subsistence economy based on hunting, fishing and gathering. In the case of the Region of Murcia, the period is well documented from the Middle Palaeolithic onwards. The room displays collections from Mousterian sites such as Las Toscas (Molina de Segura), Cerro de la Fuente (Yecla) and Cueva Antón (Mula), with the Epipalaeolithic collection from the Cueva del Algarrobo (Mazarrón) also standing out. An audiovisual on human evolution explains the steps of human evolution, while another shows the variety of Palaeolithic lithic objects and their functionality.

Room 3: Dedicated to the Neolithic. A decisive period in the history of human evolution (8th-4th millennium BC), it is characterised by the gradual sedentarisation of societies and the beginnings of agriculture and livestock farming, after slow and uneven processes of experimentation. In the room, a model of a hut has been reconstructed and a collection of decorated ceramic fragments from the Hondo del Cagitán site (Mula) and a set of axes from the Neolithic-Eneolithic tradition are exhibited in the adjoining display case.

Room 4: Prehistoric Art. From the Upper Palaeolithic and up to the Bronze Age, European communities developed the first manifestations with an aesthetic and symbolic intention that today can be defined as art. The importance of rock art in the Region of Murcia led to its declaration by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site on 2 December 1998. In the room, two audiovisuals are projected in parallel: one shows the process of making a painting and the other reproduces, on the scenography of a cave, the tracings of the main prehistoric paintings known in the region.

Room 5: Dedicated to the technological advances that allowed prehistoric societies to adapt to the environment and gradually improve their living conditions. In the room, three videos show the making of lithic, bone and ceramic tools, while a selection of tools in different manufacturing processes and with different degrees of complexity emphasises the concept of evolution.
Room 6: Recreates an archaeology workshop. A laboratory environment, with different analytical instruments and replicas of archaeological objects, shows the scientific nature of archaeology and its value as a science that allows us to decipher the keys to our past.

Room 7: Dedicated to the Chalcolithic. Between the 4th and 2nd millennium BC, numerous transformations in settlement patterns and in the funerary world reveal the emergence of more advanced societies. Throughout the period, important technological advances took place, including the emergence of copper metallurgy. In the first part of the room, dedicated to everyday life, a model of a Chalcolithic house is displayed along with several display cases with a selection of lithic, metallic and ceramic materials that explain the development of economic activities in the settlements, with the one at Murviedro (Lorca) standing out. In showcase 4, a valuable collection of bell-shaped elements can be seen, a cultural horizon of European diffusion between the Chalcolithic and the Bronze Age. The heterogeneity of the burial rituals characteristic of the period is explained in the last part of the room; the display cases here show funerary offerings from different sites with multiple burials such as Barranco de La Higuera (Fortuna), Loma de los Peregrinos (Alguazas) and Murviedro, while an audiovisual film describes the construction process of a megalithic funerary monument.

Room 8: Focusing on the archaeology of death. An audiovisual presentation takes us into the world of death and beliefs in prehistoric times and explains how the study and analysis of funerary practices helps us to learn many details about past societies.

Room 9: Dedicated to the Argaric Bronze Age. The second millennium BC in the southeast of the Iberian Peninsula is represented by a peculiar cultural horizon with very well-defined features, known today as the Argaric culture. An interactive introduction allows visitors to leaf through the facsimile edition of the book Las primeras edades del metal en el sureste de España, by the Siret brothers, pioneers of archaeology in the area and especially of the Argaric culture. Display case 2 contains a series of high quality ceramic materials, including the carinated vases from La Bastida de Totana, the cup from Cabezo Negro (Lorca) and the lenticular vase from Monteagudo. In the next display case, materials that explain the proliferation and generalisation of the use of metals such as copper, bronze and silver to make tools, weapons and ornaments, with the sword from Cabeza Gorda and the eight-rivet dagger from Monteagudo being very significant. Next, the recreation of the Y/Z house at El Rincón de Almendricos (Lorca) introduces us to the daily life of an Argaric settlement. The house exhibits characteristic materials such as millstones, pottery, loom weights, lithic and bone industry and fragments of roofing from sites such as La Bastida and El Rincón de Almendricos. The Argaric funerary world is characterised by the burial of corpses inside the settlements or in areas close to them. A large display case shows different models of Argaric burials in urns, cists and double urns from the sites of Puntarrón Chico (Beniaján, Murcia), Los Molinicos (Moratalla) and Loma del Tío Ginés (Puerto Lumbreras). Showcases 6-7 display exceptional material found in two important Argaric sites in the Region of Murcia, Monteagudo and La Bastida de Totana. In showcase 8, dedicated to funerary offerings, the one from cist number 1 at Rincón de Almendricos, in Lorca, stands out.

Room 10: Dedicated to the Late Bronze Age. At the end of the 1st millennium BC, human communities in the southeast of the Iberian Peninsula underwent a series of transformations as a result of the superimposition of various cultural contributions from the Atlantic and European Bronze Age and later from the Mediterranean. Throughout the period, we can see survivals of previous periods, but we can also detect new forms of exploitation of natural resources, an increase in exchange networks, the development of metallurgical activities and the introduction of important technological advances. The room displays a series of metallic materials, including a side-ringed axe of Atlantic-type technology from Peña Rubia (Lorca). The collection of materials from the Llano de Los Ceperos burial complex (Lorca) is evidence of the use of cremation in the burial rituals of the period. The room is completed by an interactive with the great cultural groups of the European Late Bronze Age and the Phoenician trade routes in the Mediterranean.

Room 11: Focuses on metal technology. Metallurgy is one of the most important technological advances in recent prehistory. The room explains the metallurgical process with an audiovisual projection and the exhibition of different materials related to mining and metallurgical work.

Room 12: Dedicated to the appearance of writing as a key element in the transition from prehistory to historical societies. In this room, different alphabets known in the Mediterranean area are projected, such as Phoenician, Greek, Iberian and Latin.

Room 13: This room focuses on Iberian culture. The internal evolution of the indigenous societies of the late Bronze Age and the contributions made by peoples from the eastern and central Mediterranean (Phoenicians, Punic-Carthaginians, Greeks and Etruscans) promoted the development of Iberian culture in a large part of the peninsular territory between the 7th and 1st centuries BC. In the first part of the room, materials from the Los Molinicos site (Moratalla) accompany the recreation of a house from the same site and give us an insight into the forms of Iberian economic exploitation and the development of life in the settlements. Showcases 3 and 4 display ceramic materials that show the formal and decorative evolution of Iberian ceramics. Alongside the splendid ceramic assemblages, an audiovisual recreates a potter making a calatos. All of this shows the important development in specialised pottery production that resulted from the proliferation of the use of the potter's wheel. Among the materials on display are the calatos from burial site 500 at Verdolay, dating from the 2nd century BC. The most important of the materials on display are the calcareous vase from burial site 500 at Verdolay, dating from the 2nd century B.C., and a two-toned conical vase with a highly realistic zoomorphic decoration known as the "vase of the goats and fish". A good selection of Attic, Punic and Rosic pottery can be seen in the room dedicated to trade, with examples such as the Attic skyphos from Castillejo de los Baños (Fortuna), the bell-shaped craters from Cabecico del Tesoro (Verdolay, Murcia) and Galera (Granada) or the red-figure enochus from Alcantarilla. The Iberian religious world, which was undoubtedly influenced by indigenous and other Mediterranean elements, is well represented in the room by the extraordinary materials found in the Sanctuary of La Luz (Verdolay, Murcia), including a collection of bronze votive offerings and the head of a goddess made in stone. Iberian society is known to a large extent thanks to the funerary offerings recovered from the necropolises, as these show the differences in status and gender. In this room, grave goods belonging to warriors are on display, with extraordinary panoply items, such as those found in grave 597 in Cabecico del Tesoro and grave 7 in Castillejo de Los Baños. The processes of transformation of Iberian society are explained through the analysis of the evolution of the grave goods found in the necropolis of Cabecico del Tesoro, from the 4th to the 1st centuries BC. C., which is thus linked to the process of Romanisation of the territory. Finally, a series of sculptural elements found in funerary contexts, including the funerary monument of Coy (Lorca) and the seated sculpture of Verdolay, highlight the artistic development achieved in the Iberian period.

Room 14: Room dedicated to Rome. From the 2nd century BC onwards. BC, the indigenous societies of the Iberian Peninsula were immersed in a profound process of transformation due to the Roman conquest of the territory, following the clashes between the Romans and the Carthaginians at the end of the 3rd century BC. C. The importance of the mining wealth of the southeast of the peninsula explains the efforts of Carthage and Rome to control the region. An audiovisual display, together with the exhibition of a significant collection of mining objects from Mazarrón and Cartagena, provides a closer look at the economic importance of this activity during that period. Also in this first part of the room you can see materials from the Republican period, among which the set of terracottas from Calvi and the inscribed mosaic from Loma de las Herrerías (Mazarrón) are particularly noteworthy. The region traded with neighbouring areas and with Rome, so the recreation of a ship explains the continuous flow of commercial activities in the Mediterranean. Mining and agricultural and fishing activities attracted colonisers and traders and led to the emergence of elites, the gradual growth of urban centres and an important process of monumentalisation of the cities, a particularly relevant case in the southeast of the peninsula in the city of Carthage Nova (Cartagena), which has been recreated in a model. Urban growth and differences in wealth and social status generated different architectural solutions for housing the population. The domus in urban centres and the villa in rural areas are the characteristic models of the period. The room displays crockery and domestic ornamentation with examples of mosaics and parietal decoration from the villas of Paturro in Portmán (La Unión) and Los Torrejones (Yecla). Another display case exhibits objects related to personal ornamentation and hygiene, such as needles, glass ointments and amulets from various sources. Finally, the sculptural ensemble consecrated by the dispensator Albanus from Mazarrón, the Hercules from Los Torrejones (Yecla), the Pudicitia from Cartagena, the hermae found in Calle Monroy in the same city and the sculptural fragments from the villa of Paturro. At the end of the room is an epigraphic collection of a commemorative and funerary nature and the aras from Begastri (Cehegín) and Monteagudo (Murcia).

Room 15: Focused on ancient Christianity and the Visigothic period. Factors of many different kinds, such as the continuous pressures on the borders of the empire and the growing autonomy of the provincial aristocracies, provoked a profound crisis in the Roman state and society. Imperial authority was maintained until late in the 5th century AD on the Murcian coast, but the establishment of the Visigothic kingdom at the end of that century led to its disappearance and the consolidation of local aristocracies, based on agricultural landowning as an economic model. The continuous crises of the Visigothic monarchy facilitated a short-lived Byzantine occupation of southeastern Spain and part of Andalusia under Emperor Justinian in the mid-6th century AD. The room displays important architectural elements from the Martyrium of La Alberca, dating from the mid-4th century AD and one of the most important Late Antique buildings on the Iberian Peninsula, and from the Basilica of Algezares, dating from the 6th century AD and described as an important religious complex belonging to the local aristocrats of the time. Also of note are the fragments of sarcophagi from Murcia and Los Torrejones (Yecla) together with a splendid batch of late-antique materials from the dredging of Puerto de Mazarrón (Mazarrón) and Salto de la Novia (Ulea).
Room 16. Audiovisual. Visions of Archaeology. The tour of the permanent exhibition rooms ends with an audiovisual showing different moments in the archaeologist's work, from the prospecting and excavation of the site to the study of the materials in the laboratory.