The Spanish CivilWar and Its Aftermath

The Civil War (1936–1939) and Franco’s dictatorship (1939–1977) in Spain

were characterized by mass violence and human rights violations. Hiding and destroying criminal evidence were systematic and intentional.

Documentary sources were purged or destroyed, concentration camps

were dismantled, and mass graves were eliminated or hidden. In recent

decades, archaeology has contributed to revealing the Franco regime’s repressive strategies. The focus on materiality, or the materiality turn, has

greatly advanced the production of historical knowledge. Mass graves, concentration camps, labor camps, and prisons have been archaeologically

investigated, producing new narratives surrounding contemporary Spanish

history. Forensic archaeology has unearthed the traces of those who sometimes left no documents but left material evidence of their existence. This

review aims to contribute to the studies of mass violence that reveal the

technologies of exclusion, disappearance, and erasure of specific political and

gender-neglected groups of society under Franco’s repressive system.

Forensic archaeology. Mass graves. Repression. History. Fascism. Francoism.