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Foundation of the Imperial Academy of Sciences’ craniological collections in 1840s

Hartanovich M.V.

Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (Kunstkamera), RAS, Saint Petersburg

Abstract

The article reviews the first stages of crania collection by the Imperial Academy of Sciences starting from the late 18th – through the 1840s. We note the contribution by Russian physicians to craniological collection of Johann Friedrich Blumenbach, professor of Gottingen University, who studied morphology of different nations’ crania; and his research contacts with Russian scientists are shown. We describe the beginning of legalization of cranium collecting in St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences and foundations for museum curation of craniological collections; we also specify principles of collecting and describing osteological materials during archeological excavations in Russia for further multidimensional documentation of an archeological site. Museum contacts of the Director of the Academy of Sciences’ Anatomical Cabinet Karl Baer with Swedish anthropologist and professor of anatomy in Karolinska Medical Institute Anders Retzius are indicated regarding the development of Russian craniological collection. Materials on organization of the Academy of Sciences’ expeditions with the aim to collect osteological materials are presented. We provide zoologist Aleksandr Middendorf’s notes on anthropological measurements of the people inhabiting the Taymyr Peninsula; ethnographer Mathias Castren’s correspondence on organization of excavations of ancient burial mounds and the attitude of people from the Minusinsk Region towards it; history of Hungarian researcher Antal Reguly’s expedition to the North Ural is mentioned in terms of anthropological research.

Keywords

Imperial Academy of sciences, craniological collection, archeological excavations, expeditions, instructions, Kunstkamera

Цит.: Hartanovich M.V. Foundation of the Imperial Academy of Sciences’ craniological collections in 1840s // Moscow University Anthropology Bulletin (Vestnik Moskovskogo Universiteta. Seria XXIII. Antropologia), 2017; 1/2017; с. 115-122