exploring the relationship of the object and the museum

LSA 2009/10 Theme Year

Home // Exhibitions // Exhibit Museum of Natural History

Exhibit Museum of Natural History

September 25 - ongoing

"Archaeology!: Current Research in the University of Michigan Museum of Anthropology"

Opening Reception: September 25, 5:00 - 7:00pm
Fourth Floor Gallery

Archaeology!

Archaeological research by curators, research scientists, and affiliated students of the UM Museum of Anthropology encompasses the full scope of human cultural evolution from our earliest tool-making hominid ancestors to the more recent emergence of ancient states and historic empires. Today's archaeologist makes use of a wide variety of scientific methods and techniques to recover and study material remains in order to ask questions about how human societies developed, lived, and changed over the last 2.5 million years.

This exhibition features ongoing research by UM archaeologists to examine both the kinds of questions that contemporary archaeologists ask about the past and the techniques that they use to answer them. Among the many topics featured are: underwater archaeological research beneath Lake Huron, studies of the remains of 19th century Ann Arbor, excavations of ancient village communities in northern Arizona, the analysis of ancient ceramics from Asia and Mesopotamia, and how archaeologists study the diets of ancient people.

^ back to top

September 25, 2009 - May 31, 2010

"Collecting for Science: Collections, Science, and Scholarship in the U-M Research Museums"

Opening Reception: September 25, 5:00 - 7:00pm
Rotunda

Collecting for Science

This display showcases collections research at the U-M Museums of Anthropology, Paleontology, and Zoology, and the Herbarium. Museum specimens substantiate collecting events and provide a basis for scientific research. They are a reliable source that any researcher can use to test previous research, conduct new studies, and compare newly collected material to earlier discoveries. Well-documented collections of objects are necessary to address broad questions about climate history, ecosystems, and biological and cultural diversity and evolution.

^ back to top


For information on these and other Exhibit Museum of Natural History events visit: http://www.lsa.umich.edu/exhibitmuseum/