Museo Nazionale Preistorico Etnografico "Luigi Pigorini"
The Museo Nazionale Preistorico Etnografico "Luigi Pigorini" is located on the Piazza Guglielmo Marconi in the Roman district of EUR . The museum, which is divided into two separate areas, is spread over three floors and presents a large collection of objects on non-European ethnography on the one hand, and the most important collection on the prehistory of Italy on the other . The museum also houses an important specialized library.
history
When Luigi Pigorini was appointed head of department in the General Directorate of the Musei e Scavi d'antichità in Rome in 1870 , he took the opportunity, as spiritus rector, to encourage the establishment of a museum dedicated to the development of civilization on Italian soil . The museum was inaugurated in 1876 as the Regio Museo Nazionale Preistorico Etnografico di Roma by Ruggero Bonghi , then Minister of Education of the young Italian state, and installed in a wing of the Palazzo del Collegio Romano . The location offered itself because the Collegium Romanum housed the Museo Kircheriano , which had been built since 1651 , which already owned a collection of prehistoric and ethnographic objects and, like the entire building of the Collegium, was confiscated by the newly founded Italian state in 1873.
Under the name Musei Preistorico Etnografico e Kircheriano , both museums have now been placed under the joint management of Pigorini. In addition to the continuous build-up of the collection, it was Pigorini's merit to make the museum in the field of prehistoric archeology of Italy the center both for the coordination and implementation of the excavations and for the dissemination of the results. After Pigorini's death in 1925, the museum was named Museo nazionale preistorico ed etnografico “Luigi Pigorini” in his honor .
Between 1962 and 1977 the museum moved into its building, which is still in use today, the Palazzo delle Scienze, a building typical of the EUR of Italian rationalism . The occasion was the 6th International Congress on Prehistory, which was held in Rome in 1962. For this purpose, the Museo della Preistoria e Protostoria Laziale was initially housed in the palazzo as a permanent relocation , from 1975 to 1977 all holdings and administration from the Collegium Romanum moved to the new seat of the museum.
Collections
For the opening of the museum, the then general director of per i Monumenti e gli Scavi , Giuseppe Fiorelli , called on his inspectors to support the establishment through “reliquie preistoriche” (“prehistoric relics”) in their respective areas. Around 35 inspectors complied with this request and thus formed the basis of the museum. In the course of the next few years, other finds were added, e.g. B. 4000 stone tools excavated by Concezio Rosa in Abruzzo . At the beginning of the 1890s, 700 objects from Rodolfo Lanciani's excavations in Veii were donated to the museum . Over the years, more and more collections came to the museum, which has thousands of objects.
The holdings of the Museo Kircheriano included pieces from the missions of the Capuchins in the Congo and Angola and the Jesuits in China , Brazil and Canada . There were also other large collections from Italian explorers of the 18th and 19th centuries, including the Hawaiian objects from James Cook's third voyage to the South Sea .
The collections are divided into two areas: the ethnographic area, which is devoted to objects relating to the cultures of every single non-European continent, and the prehistoric area, in which finds, complexes and findings mainly from Italian prehistory are exhibited.
Prehistoric Department
“Hands-on museum” is presented by the prehistoric department, which is structured according to partly thematic, partly chronological aspects and, with numerous exhibits, allows visitors to touch them and experience them tactile. The rich prehistory of Italy is the focus, but also allows a view over the peninsula.
Why, why, why?
The first area is dedicated to the basics and methods of researching human prehistory: the origin and development of Homo sapiens, the formation of first cultural expressions, control of fire, funeral customs are central aspects. The various disciplines that work together in the broad field of prehistoric research are presented: paleoethnology, archeozoology , archaeobotany , geoarchaeology and others. The following items are on display: the reconstruction of the site of the early Paleolithic camp site of Castel di Guido from original pieces; Grave and workshop for stone tools from the late Paleolithic period, a section through a Neolithic settlement and a hut from the Metal Age , as well as plants from the Pleistocene . Which critical moment the excavation of a finding is - however destructive - should be made clear to the visitor and the basis for understanding the other sections should be laid.
Natural history of man
The theory of evolution , the development of the homininae and the human tribal history are predominantly presented using plaster casts. There is also a reconstruction of the Nariokotome boy and a cast of the footprints of Laetoli in Tanzania .
Paleolithic. Hunters and collectors
Stone and bone tools of the Acheuléen , the skull fragments of the Neanderthal man from Saccopastore and the cave of Guattari, techno complexes of the Moustérien . In the exhibition, graves and finds document the conceptual and symbolic thoughts of early humans as well as the first “works of art” of this time.
From village to city
The department closes the time frame of prehistory and combines the Neolithic, Copper Stone Age , Bronze and Early Iron Ages . The most important stages of cultural development are shown on the basis of numerous objects from Italian and other European prehistory: the emergence of agriculture, the development of metalworking, the emergence of the ruling classes of the population. Finds from the Grotta Patrizi, a reconstruction of the Tomba della Vedova from the Copper Age necropolis of Ponte San Pietro , the dugout canoe from the necropolis of Caolino near Sasso di Furbara near Cerveteri are among the exhibits, as well as numerous vessels from Lazio .
Immerse yourself in the past
The Neolithic site of La Marmotta near Anguillara Sabazia is the focus of the last section and presents finds and documentation of the underwater archaeological excavations in Lake Bracciano . There, the remains of a Neolithic settlement with large quantities of ceramics, stone tools, a dugout canoe, numerous remains of wood and basket weaving were found on the lake bottom, which together allow a detailed insight into the living conditions of this settlement community. The bone finds show that sheep and pigs were slaughtered as young animals, whereas cattle were only fully grown. Common flax and opium poppies were grown for medicinal purposes . This section, which concludes the tour, serves to convey the image to be obtained.
Ethnographic Department
The exhibition in the ethnographic department includes objects that cover all tangible aspects of a culture, not just those related to religion or handicrafts. The exhibition is organized by continent, with each continent comprising several halls.
Africa
The Africa area records three stages in the encounter between the West and Africa: the exploration of the west coast by Europeans in the 15th century, the exploration of inner Africa in the 19th century and the discovery and adaptation of African art by Western artists at the beginning of the 20th century. The special pieces include ivory work from Nigeria and fetishes from the Congo Basin .
America
The America section is dedicated to the cultures of Central and South America , in particular the meeting of indigenous peoples with Europeans. Among other things, Mexican mosaic masks, feather ornaments and objects of the material culture of the Amazon basin are exhibited . A special area is the culture of the Andes . Using objects from the various cultures of Central and South America - such as the Olmecs , Mixtecs , Zapotecs , Totonacs , Aztecs - an attempt is made to depict what objects can say about the bearers of the underlying culture.
Oceania
The collection representing Oceania is one of the most important collections in Europe with around 15,000 objects. Are represented Melanesia , Polynesia , Micronesia and Australia . The largest part comes from New Guinea and is largely thanks to the researchers and explorers Lamberto Loria , Luigi Maria d'Albertis and Otto Finsch . The exhibition is dedicated to B. the Tambaran house , the secret ceremonial house of men and the whereabouts of the spirits. The ancestral cult of Oceania, the religion of Polynesia and the beliefs of the indigenous people of Australia are further topics of the Oceania exhibition.
Asia
The Asia department includes an extensive collection, which it owes to various Italian travelers to the Orient, among others. She owns over 4,172 objects from the collection of Vincenzo Ragusa , a traveler to Japan , including bronze and ceramic vessels, weapons, statuettes, musical instruments, and everyday objects. The museum owes around 2000 objects of domestic life in China to the interpreter at the Italian embassy in China, Giuseppe Ros. The museum acquired around 1200 pieces from Burma in 1889 from the explorer and zoologist Leonardo Fea . The museum acquired important jade works from Japan and China as well as cult objects of Tibetan Buddhism from the Italian zoologist and anthropologist Enrico Hillyer Giglioli . India is represented by an extraordinary collection of Indian musical instruments that the Bengali musicologist Raja Sir Sourindro Mohun Tagore gave to the Italian King Vittorio Emanuele II .
Scientific institutions
A number of scientific institutions are attached to the museum: archives, library, laboratories. The museum also publishes the Bullettino di Paletnologia Italiana , founded in 1875 - the oldest Italian magazine on prehistory and one of the first European journals in this field of science.
Library
The library comprises around 70,000 volumes on prehistory and non-European ethnography. Its basis goes back to the 8,000 volume library of the Museo Kircheriano and has been continuously expanded since the museum was founded. At the end of the 20th century, the holdings of the ethnosociologist Edmund Leach (1910–1989), the anthropologist Vittorio Lanternari (1918–2010) and the prehistorian Antonio Mario Radmilli (1922–1998) were acquired. The library holds around 1000 periodicals, around 400 of which are obtained in exchange for one's own bullettino .
Archives
The archives contain documents, photographs and audiovisual media. Around 60,000 manuscripts, scientific correspondence, drawings and diaries, which go back to the founding years of the museum, document, among other things, the research history of Italian prehistory from its creation to the present. The documents left behind by explorers, such as the 17,000 index cards from Enrico Hillyer Giglioli, are also part of the archives, as is the documentation of Italian activities in Malta . The photo archive, comprising tens of thousands of photographs, is divided into two areas: 1. Photographs taken by the museum itself as part of its archaeological and scientific activities and documentation; 2. Photographs from bequests from Pigorini himself or from Giglioli, some of whose photographs date from the 1850s. The photographic legacy of archaeologist Luigi Maria Ugolini from his excavations in Albania and Malta is also kept here.
Laboratories
Various laboratories are available in the museum to examine archaeological findings. In the area of archeozoology and paleontology, human and animal bone finds are analyzed, dated, morphologically examined and categorized in terms of evolutionary history. Tooth enamel examinations are used to determine the age at the onset of death of individuals. The Laboratory for Biological Anthropology maintains the Digital Archives of Human Paleobiology , which are made available as CD-ROMs. At the same time, it is responsible for the preservation and investigation of the human and hominid skeletons from excavations that are kept in the museum.
literature
- Bruno Brizzi, Maria Ornella Acanfora: The Pigorini Museum. Quasar, Rome 1976.
Web links
- Museum website (Italian)
Remarks
- ↑ page of the museum on its own history .
- ^ Page of the museum on the history of the collection .
- ^ Page of the museum on the area "Quando, come, perché" .
- ^ Page of the museum to the area " Homo. La storia naturale ” .
- ^ Page of the museum to the area "Il Paleolitico. Cacciatori e raccoglitori ” .
- ^ Page of the museum to the area "Dal villaggio alla città" .
- ^ Page of the museum to the area "Dal villaggio alla città" .
- ^ Page of the museum on Africa .
- ^ Page of the Museum of America .
- ^ Page of the museum on Oceania .
- ^ Page of the museum on Asia .
- ^ Page of the museum to the library .
- ↑ page of the museum to the archives .
- ↑ page of the museum to the laboratories .
Coordinates: 41 ° 49 ′ 56 ″ N , 12 ° 28 ′ 17 ″ E