Archaeological investigations have revealed the subsistence strategies (hunting, fishing and foraging) and technical advances in the manufacture of tools of the prehistoric people who occupied caves and shelters near rivers.

In Asturias, images of great beauty are to be found in nearly fifty caves, where our remotest ancestors carved or painted animals, symbols and summary representations of the human body.

The people that populated our region about 4,500 years ago felled forests, cleared the first fields for crops and opened up areas of pasture land for raising animals.

The castros had an autonomous nature, with the defenses being the most outstanding boundary element, emblematic of these communities that appeared to be quite dissociated and divided into clans.

With the arrival of Rome to the distant lands bordering the Bay of Biscay in the times of the emperor Augustus, Asturias became part of the Roman Empire.

From the 13th century on, new urban centers and towns (Asturian polas) concentrated the population and centralized administrative, trade and craft activities.

Towards the end of medieval times, there emerged a new aristocracy which played a major role in the political, economic and social life of the region.

In this way, we continue to recognize the most prolific essayist of the 18th century, whose intellectual work marked a milestone in the evolution of thought and science of that time.

Another section is devoted to the dissemination and appreciation of World Heritage sites in Asturias: Paleolithic cave art and monuments of the Asturian monarchy.

Through a series of interactive screens and audiovisuals, visitors are given relevant information on these heritage sites as well as the various archaeological routes that can be taken to enjoy this cultural legacy.

These pieces constituted the source of the Museum of Antiquities’ collection, which gradually grew through the donations made by several of its members, as well as by collectors and scholars concerned with the past.

Once in the 20th century, the development of scientific archeology meant expanding the horizon towards prehistoric times, after Palaeolithic cave art was discovered in Asturias.

This especially includes objects from the Middle Ages, collected from the historic centers of Asturian cities and towns, as well as from the numerous churches and monasteries which have been examined prior to their restoration.

The documentary typology is varied and although the weight is made by monographs and magazines, it also has cartographic material, images, audiovisual supports, drawings, plates, pictures, posters and manuscripts.

The library of the Archaeological Museum of Asturias was born with the Provincial Commission of Monuments, an organism created by the real Order of July 24, 1844.

After the desamortización of the ecclesiastical possessions in 1836, it was necessary to organize a public system in order to protect the buildings and artistic objects that had become property of the State.

In 1868, it was allocated, as the first building to house the collection of the museum and the library, the Chapel of the Third Order of the Convent of San Francisco of Oviedo whose reform and installation was prolonged for seven years.

The Library was an attention focus in the museum, as it said Fermin Canella Secades in 1882: "it has enriched enough in these last years, with books of history, archaeology, fine arts, etc., and between these, we found the remarkable publication of architectural Monuments of Spain and a special section of works, brochures and historical asturian papers".

The building assigned in 1918 was provisional, and it was the low floor of the Dean's house, Benigno Rodríguez Pajares, in the plazuela de la Corrada del Obispo.

From this moment the library, the archive and the collection of pieces of the museum remained there with restricted access; this situation propitiated the fact that the building did not suffer extreme damage by the violent attacks of the Revolution of October, in 1934 and the Civil War.

In 1939, the Deputation took care of the reconstruction and restoration of the building of the Benedictine Monastery of Saint Vicente, the final site for the museum, with a work commissioned by the architect Luis Menéndez-Pidal.

After 8 years of closing and of internal work, on March 21, 2011, the Archaeologic Museum of Asturias reopened to the public in its historical headquarters, rehabilitated and expanded with a building of new plant.