Manuel
Castro Priego

He is currently a professor of Archaeology and coordinator of the Archaeology: Landscapes, Colonialism and Cultural Heritage research group at the UAH. He holds a degree in History (Prehistory and Archaeology-UAM), and his doctoral thesis, focused on Medieval Archaeology in Alcalá de Henares, won the UAH-Sociedad de Condueños award in 2012. He has had a long international career, both in the USA and Italy, as well as in Latin America, where he has directed various research projects (Prometeo-Ecuador Programme, Ministry of Culture and Sports, Palarq Foundation). His main line of research is in the field of Medieval Archaeology. He is co-director of the annual research project in the Visigoth city of Reccopolis (6th-9th centuries) (Guadalajara, Spain, funded by JCCM), as well as the excavations in the medieval medina of Uceda (9th-17th centuries) (Guadalajara, funded by JCCM, Uceda Town Council and Guadalajara Provincial Council) (2022-present) and the Almazanejo count's palace in Daganzo de Arriba (15th-16th centuries) (funded by the Community of Madrid and Daganzo Town Council). The results of his research have been published in journals such as Medieval Archaeology, Arqueología y Territorio Medieval, Arqueología de la Arquitectura, Archivo Español de Arqueología, and Nature Communications, and he has edited two monographs (Archeopress, among others). One of his longest-running lines of research has been the analysis of coins in medieval archaeological contexts. Within this field, he has received international scholarship contracts from the International Commission of Numismatics and the Spanish Ministry of Culture (2002), with stays at the American Numismatic Society in New York. He has le in a regional research project (SBPLY/21/180501/000205), the results of which have been published in academic journals such as Revue Numismatique, Medieval Archaeology, Journal of Medieval Iberian Studies, Arqueología y Territorio Medieval, among others. In Latin America, he has been responsible for various research projects focusing on two areas: the protection of tangible and intangible historical heritage, designing training and heritage protection models in Latin America (Ecuador), with the aim of creating studies in anthropology and cultural heritage (PROMETEO-SENESCYT), and the protection of traditional bamboo architecture, with a strong local fusion with Spanish carpentry traditions (SENESCYT-INPC). The results have been published in: Revista Española de Antropología Americana and Ed. UAM. The second line of research has focused on archaeology of the early European colonial period in the northern Pacific region of Latin America, being responsible for the project Persistence, continuity and rupture. New realities of inequality on the central Ecuadorian coast (16th-17th centuries) (Funding from the Spanish Ministry of Culture and Sport-IPCE 2 years), Palarq Foundation (3 years). The results of the project can be seen in: Virtual Archaeology Review, Radiocarbon, Ed. Routledge. He has recently led a transfer project within the University of Alcalá's own research program: ACCARQ: Accessibility, Archaeology and Dissemination, funded by the University of Alcalá, CAM and JCCM. He has supervised a doctoral thesis. He has organised international conferences such as LAC 2024, and recently the international conference Suburban landscapes, material contexts and productivity: the Mediterranean in the postclassical period (4th-8th). He has won two awards for transfer and connection with society: 2nd Prize for the Creation of Technology-Based Companies UAH-Madrid Council of Commerce (2010) and, recently, the UAH-Social Council Award (2025).