The Institute of Archaeology in Iași has its origins in the efforts to institutionalize archaeological research within the higher education of Iași. Although the Institute gained autonomy only in 1990, after half a century of functioning within the “A.D. Xenopol” Institute of History, the beginnings of the Institute, in the form of the University Museum of Antiquities, date back to the first decades of the 20th century. In 1916, the Museum of Antiquities was founded in Iași, by Professor Orest Tafrali, who had already been the Head of the Department of Archaeology and Antiquities at the University of Iași for three years. The Museum of Antiquities was the “laboratory” of the Department established at the University of Iași in 1895, consistently contributing to the promotion of field research and the growth of collections of archaeological materials. The scientific research activity within the Museum, combined with the teaching activity at the University of Iași, required the establishment of a specialized institute in the field of history and archaeology, which led Professor Ilie Minea to propose the transformation of the Romanian History Seminar, of which he was director, into the Institute of Romanian History …