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5. ANTHROPOLOGICAL MUSEUM OF MOSCOW STATE UNIVERSITY AND HUMAN DIVERSITY IN ITS COLLECTIONS

ANTHROPOLOGICAL MUSEUM OF MOSCOW STATE UNIVERSITY AND HUMAN DIVERSITY IN ITS COLLECTIONS

Balakhonova Ekaterina

Research Institute and Museum of Anthropology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia

Balakhonova Ekaterina, e-mail: balakhonova@gmail.com.

Аннотация

Last year we marked the 130th anniversary of the Museum of Anthropology. The idea of its creation belongs to a famous Russian scientist – zoologist and anthropologist A.P.Bogdanov. He devoted 20 years of his life to overcome difficulties, connected with the organization of the Museum. First, he established the Society of Amateurs of Natural history, Anthropology and Ethnography in 1864, then - three exhibitions – Ethnographical (1869), Polytechnic (1872) and Anthropological (1879). The key goals of the latter were to acquaint society with essential natural principles of anthropology, to establish Anthropological museum and to obtain studying materials for the chair of anthropology. The materials of this exhibition formed the founding collection of the Museum of Anthropology. The collection united paleoanthropological, archaeological and ethnographical objects, to serve as a base for studying ancient history of mankind. The Museum opened its doors in 1883 and D.N.Anuchin became its director and main implementator of the Bogadanov’s idea. He continued to hold office for 40 years and created curatorial departments that remained unchanged till nowadays. They are: Morphology and Human Evolution, Paleoanthropology, Archaeology, Ethnography and Illustrations. The department of Morphology and Human Evolution possesses originals and copies of fossil discoveries of ancient humans across the territory of Russia and neighbouring countries (Teshik-Tash, Staroselie, Afontova Gora etc.). There are high-class copies of the main fossil hominids from Africa, Europe, Asia, skeletons and stuffed models of modern primates also. The department of Paleoanthropology unites the collections of skulls and skeletons from Upper Paleolithic to 17-18th centuries across the territory of our country. The collections of Archaeological department embrace the whole history of mankind from prehistoric past to the Slavic antiquities, including ivory figurines from the Avdeevo site. The department of Ethnography houses the collections from Africa, the Americas, the Pacific and Siberia that were gathered in the second half of the 19th century and demonstrates native cultures at the period of the first contacts with Europeans. The department of Illustrations contains photos, glass negatives, drawings, death masks and busts of the peoples from different parts of the Earth, including pencil drawings of the famous Russian scientist N.N. Miklukha-Maklay, made during his voyage to the New Guinea. The collections of the Museum of Anthropology are deeply involved in the research process, serving as a base for preparing scientific articles, term papers, diplomas and theses.

Ключевые слова

anthropology, museum, museology, history, collections

Цит.: Balakhonova Ekaterina ANTHROPOLOGICAL MUSEUM OF MOSCOW STATE UNIVERSITY AND HUMAN DIVERSITY IN ITS COLLECTIONS // Вестник Московского университета. Серия XXIII. Антропология, 2014; 3/2014; с. 103-104