Schulten was born in Elberfeld, Rhine Province, and received a doctorate in geology from the University of Bonn in 1892.

Schulten led the 1905-12 excavations of the Celtiberian city of Numantia and the Roman camps nearby and in 1924 searched without success for the location of Tartessos.

Starting in 1948 he worked on the ruins of Tarraco and in the localities of Mainake, Munda and Segeda.

In recognition of his work, Schulten received a doctorate honoris causa from the University of Barcelona and the Grand Cross of the Civil Order of Alfonso X, the Wise, from the Spanish state in 1940.

His works feature Numantia, in Die Keltiberer und ihre Kriege mit Rom (1914); Tartessos (1924); Viriato; Sertorius; L'amour, l'amour est la véritable clef de l'Histoire; Los cántabros y astures y su guerra con Roma (1943) is Schulten's most important monograph on his excavations.