The Museum offers a new perspective, unique in Europe, for discovering history from the point of view in which societies relate to the environment that surrounds them. It analyses the relationship between elements such as demographics and their link to political, but also climatic factors.
Through its panels, technological elements, objects and machines, it presents us with a journey which begins with the first human settlements in the province, going from hunter-gatherers to cultures like the Millares and El Argar and their effects on the environment. This is followed by an analysis of the environmental impact of Roman mining, moving on to the major economic development during the period of Al Ándalus, with silk, trade and agriculture, among others, and its interaction with the landscape and nature.
The Almería Museum of Ecological History then takes us to the Modern Age of Almería, analysing the effects of the expulsion of the Moriscos and the repopulations.
The museum development transports us to a final stage, the 19th and 20th centuries, of major demographic growth, economically determined by foreign investment in mining and the export of grapes, which has clear effects on the ecology of the province.
The journey continues through the migratory movements and the introduction of machines such as the motor, which we can see inside, brought from England in 1928 to drive the old flour mill, which sought a new way of producing energy to replace the dwindling water.
We will see the old mill machinery and we will be able to touch the cereals and their transformations, fundamental from prehistory to today. Through a QR we will understand how this essential good in the ecological history of Almería was produced.
We will also discover through a QR a lovely story about the restored English motor and we will discover other noteworthy pieces, such as two original Arab tombstones and their particular story, as well as the Surveying Book, witness to the demography of a turbulent era.
We can also do a virtual visit to the geographical surroundings of Alcudia de Monteagud, thanks to 360 glasses, which will make us fly and understand how the different civilisations have interacted with the environment, adapting and shaping it. We will fly over holm oaks of the ancient Mediterranean forest, almond and olive trees, a basic resource of these sierras, and the art and hard work of obtaining cultivated areas, terracing with the ancient drystone technique, which we can see in a themed exhibition area of great interest next to the Museum. Before leaving we can check how much we’ve learned about the ecological history of Almería.
