Address:
Johann Friedrich Blumenbach Institute
Bürgerstr. 50
37073 Göttingen
Opening hours/access:
Public exhibition: no
Guided tours: by appointment
Contact person:
Dr. Birgit Großkopf
Tel.: +49 (0551) 39-23649
E-Mail: Dr. Birgit Großkopf
Homepage der Sammlung
The objects from the anthropological teaching and research collections are used in many courses. Virtually all theses completed in the department are based on the skeletal material in the collection. Regular inquiries from scientists at other institutions (such as the Max Planck Institute in Jena or MPI Leipzig) demonstrate its position in anthropological research and teaching.
Collection history:
A few objects still date from the time of J.F. Blumenbach (1752-1840). In the 1950s, the foundation was laid with the transfer of an extensive collection of human skulls from the Hamburg Ethnological Museum. A collection of primate skulls was added in the 1970s. Dr. Birgit Großkopf is making intensive efforts to expand the collection to include series of skeletons from different periods from different regions of Germany.
The Anthropological Collection is divided into seven sub-collections:
- Archaeological skeleton series
- Histological specimens of bone microstructure
- Mummies of different cultures
- Skull collection from worldwide populations
- Pathological preparations
- Primate skulls and primate skeletons
- Cast collection of hominid finds
Total number of objects:
approximately 6,500
Status of development and digitization:
The collection holdings are indexed in different inventory forms: from handwritten index cards to local research databases, in which around 70% of the holdings are recorded, although at very different levels.
Only a tiny fraction has been published online so far, and of this only around 5% are illustrated. The publication of selected holdings in this portal is in preparation. These are either indexed in the Göttingen collection database and captured photographically, or integrated into the portal presentation through data conversion.
