is stinging archeologists first and doing nothing to help that vague yet vital concept known as "the Spain brand."

"It doesn't say a lot about a country's trustworthiness, and it has very negative effects on the prestige of Spanish science, which through great effort had managed to get on equal footing with scientists from the countries around us," laments Joan Sanmartí, head of a team from Barcelona University that conducts research at the archeological site of Althiburos, in Tunisia.

In the last few years, Spanish archeology has wrested some attractive sites from the traditional great powers such as Germany, Britain, France and the United States. Its hard work explains why desirable spots such as Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania, where humanity left evidence of its evolution in successive sediment layers, arein the hands of Spanish researchers. But prestige can be slow when you invest in it, and ephemeral when you use it up.

Denying the money has very negative effects on the prestige of Spanish science"

"Being deprived of the grant [of 10,000 euros] means the campaign will be conducted with minimum resources and puts the whole project in danger," says Rafael Hidalgo, head of a team from Pablo de Olavide University in Seville that is digging at Villa Adriana, an Italian World Heritage Site. The spot of one of the major landmarks of Roman heritage, and even though archeologists have been working here since the 16th century, until now it had never been opened to Spanish researchers.

In the 2012 grant application process, the state secretary for culture analyzed 64