Museo di Antropologia
Museum of Anthropology
“Ancient Human Remains: Archives of Biodiversity”
Exhibition hall of the Museum of Anthropology.
Collections
More than 26,000 artifacts, prestigious osteological, archaeological and ethnographic collections, mostly dating back to the 19th century, make up the Museum’s anthropological heritage.
The Human Osteological collections, about 3,000 artefacts, including Nicolucci’s Cranioteca, represent an irreplaceable biological archive. Noteworthy are four South American human mummies from the pre-Columbian era recently restored.
Among the historical casts of human evolution, the infant skull of Australopithecus africanus, made by R. Dart in 1925, and the skull cap of Homo erectus pekinensis made in 1936 by F. Weidenreich stand out.
Valuable collections of lithic and archaeological artefacts, such as Paleolithicbifacials, Neolithic polished stone axes and Metal Age ceramics, document prehistory in various locations around the world. Maori ceremonial rods, African leather shields and ethnographic objects from Asia illustrate the culture of indigenous peoples.
The collection of facial casts made by L. Cipriani in the 1930s is particularly interesting. Noteworthy are the casts of the victims of S. Paolo Belsito and Ercolano, which attest to the tragic effects of the ancient Vesuvius eruptions on man.
Curiosity
Singular findings of tattooed human skin testify to the research conducted in the field of Criminal Anthropology by Abele De Blasio, a doctor and naturalist from Campania and a follower of Cesare Lombroso.
History
It was 1881 when the Museum of Anthropology was founded, thanks to the intervention of Francesco De Sanctis, then the Kingdom of Italy’s Education Minister. Thus, with the contemporary establishment of the Chair of Anthropology, one of the first in Europe, the study of modern human sciences began in Naples. The precious private collections of Giustiniano Nicolucci, an eminent anthropologist and the Museum’s first director, constituted the original nucleus of an anthropological patrimony which other authoritative scientists gradually enriched until the vicissitudes of the Second World War hit the Museum. In 1950, the illustrious biologist Mario Galgano saved the collections from dispersion by storing them in trunks.
The real rediscovery of the Museum began during the centenary of its institution with an intense work of historical reconnaissance and recovery of the collections. The anthropological patrimony was exhibited for the first time in the current location of the Collegio Massimo dei Gesuiti in 1999. The acquisition of a new room in 2019 allowed to expand the exhibition with prestigious finds rediscovered from the deposits. Currently, the Museum’s exhibition area is about 300 square meters.
Facial casts of African and Asian somatic types and Bolivian mummy in rope sack.
Direttore Tecnico
dr. Lucia Borrelli
.
