World's Largest Human Fossil Cast Collection Goes Public

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World's Largest Human Fossil Cast Collection Goes Public

Fri, Oct 21, 2011

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Used as an important resource by scholars, teachers and students globally, the most significant collection of human fossil casts in the world are now open for public view and handling.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABFOErfEgVM&feature=player_embedded#t=0s

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Penn Museum in Philadelphia has developed the world's largest collection of hominid fossil casts, most of them painstakingly recreated from molds of important original fossils in what makes up the human evolutionary record. Over several decades, these molds have been made at different sites around the globe by physical anthropologists Janet Monge (Associate Curator of the Physical Anthropology Collection) and Alan Mann (Curator Emeritus of that collection).

The importance of those casts to the ongoing study of human evolution remains, even in this age of three dimensional scans and other hi tech imagery, vital. The reproduction casts from those molds are requested by teachers and scholars around the world, as they allow students and scholars to study and compare fossils from disparate parts of the world, learning from the direct evidence.

Now, the ongoing story of human evolution—one that scientists trace back more than 200,000,000 years—is the subject of a long-term exhibition, Human Evolution: The First 200 Million Years, which opened at the Penn Museum in Philadelphia on September 18, 2011. The exhibition draws upon material from the Penn Museum's major traveling exhibition Surviving: The Body of Evidence, which opened in April 2008 with funding from the National Science Foundation. In particular, the exhibition employs casts created in the Museum's own Casting Laboratory. Dr. Janet Monge is Director of the Museum's Casting Laboratory. Begun by Dr. Alan Mann, Curator Emeritus of the Physical Anthropology Section at the Penn Museum (1969 to 2001) and co-curator of Surviving, the Penn Museum's extensive human fossil research cast collection was developed over several decades. Casts from the collection, reproduced by Lisa Gemmill, were created from important original fossils excavated at sites on several continents.

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Visitors have the opportunity to explore the process of evolution with actual fossil evidence on display at the Penn Museum’s Human Evolution: The First 200 Million Years interactive exhibition. Photo: Penn Museum

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Visitors can also trace the lineage of their human ancestors by viewing more than 100 touchable casts of fossil bones on display at the Penn Museum’s Human Evolution: The First 200 Million Years exhibition. Photo: Penn Museum.

[Warhammer]

Through an interactive approach, the exhibition features a variety of multi-media programs, as well as more than 100 touchable casts of fossil bones from primate and human evolutionary records. Actual fossil cast evidence can be physically examined by scholars, students and the lay public alike. Moreover, members of the visiting public have the opportunity to learn how physical anthropologists and other scientists work to interpret the evidence.  A complementary website offers an avenue for further exploration at www.penn.museum/humanevolution.

"Human evolution is the critical piece of the story of humankind-it's a story that the Penn Museum is uniquely able to tell," noted Dr. Richard Hodges, Williams Director of the Penn Museum. "We are also fortunate to have cutting-edge physical anthropological and early human archaeological research being carried out at this Museum and the University. This new long-term exhibition gives us the opportunity to share some of that research on evolution with the wider public."

Human Evolution is located in the Jacqueline W. and John C. Hover II Gallery on the second floor of the Penn Museum (University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Cover photo, top left: Marge Campagno and granddaughter Victoria enjoy an interactive experience at the Penn Museum’s Human Evolution: The First 200 Million Years exhibition, which gives visitors a number of ways to engage and explore evolutionary science. Photo: Penn Museum.

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For additional information: Penn Museum is located at 3260 South Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104 (on Penn's campus, across from Franklin Field). Public transportation to the Museum is available via SEPTA's Regional Rail Line at University City Station; the Market-Frankford Subway Line at 34th Street Station; trolley routes 11, 13, 34, and 36; and bus routes 12, 21, 30, 40, and 42. Museum hours are Tuesday and Thursday through Sunday, 10:00 am to 5:00 pm, and Wednesday, 10:00 am to 8:00 pm, with P.M. @ PENN MUSEUM evening programs offered select Wednesdays. Closed Mondays and holidays. Admission donation is $10 for adults; $7 for senior citizens (65 and above); $6 children (6 to 17) and full-time students with ID; free to Members, PennCard holders, and children 5 and younger; "pay-what-you-want" the last hour before closing. Hot and cold meals and light refreshments are offered to visitors with or without Museum admission in The Pepper Mill Café; the Museum Shop and Pyramid Shop for Children offer a wide selection of gifts, books, games, clothing and jewelry. Penn Museum can be found on the web at www.penn.museum. For general information call (215) 898-4000. For group tour information call (215) 746-8183.

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This article was adapted and edited from material provided by Pam Kosty, Public Relations Director, Penn Museum.

http://popular-archaeology.com/issue/september-2011/article/world-s-largest-human-fossil-cast-collection-goes-public

[Andrew Waters]

Judging by the pictures it seems National Geographic television was right a few months ago when they said all the fossils from human evolution around the world accumulated thus far will fit in the bed of a pickup truck. Looks to me like they need to get more shovels in the arsenal. 

What's up Booke.