History Museum Research Articles

ND70 Series Basaltic Glass Reference Materials for Volatile Element (H2O, CO2, S, Cl, F) Measurement and the C Ionisation Efficiency Suppression Effect of Water in Silicate Glasses in SIMS

We present a new set of reference materials, the ND70‐series, for in situ measurement of volatile elements (H2O, CO2, S, Cl, F) in silicate glass of basaltic composition. The materials were synthesised in piston cylinders at pressures of 1 to 1.5 GPa under volatile‐undersaturated conditions. They span mass fractions from 0 to 6% m/m H2O, from 0 to 1.6% m/m CO2 and from 0 to 1% m/m S, Cl and F. The materials were characterised by elastic recoil detection analysis for H2O, by nuclear reaction analysis for CO2, by elemental analyser for CO2, by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy for H2O and CO2, by secondary ion mass spectrometry for H2O, CO2, S, Cl and F, and by electron probe microanalysis for CO2, S, Cl and major elements. Comparison between expected and measured volatile amounts across techniques and institutions is excellent. It was found however that SIMS measurements of CO2 mass fractions using either Cs+ or O− primary beams are strongly affected by the glass H2O content. Reference materials have been made available to users at ion probe facilities in the US, Europe and Japan. Remaining reference materials are preserved at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History where they are freely available on loan to any researcher.

Looking for the Signs An Unfinished Royal Bowl from Karmir-Blur of Minua, King of Urartu

Among the most representative objects not only of metallurgy, but of the Urartian kingship itself, there is a rather conspicuous group of bronze bowls bearing short inscriptions in cuneiform. These texts allow to attribute the ownership of these objects to a series of Urartian rulers. Since 2022, a new project has been underway to study comprehensively these objects, most of which are stored in the History Museum of Armenia. The present article deals with two bowls referable to king Minua, son of Išpuini, one of which, unpublished, bears an unfinished inscription. A reconstruction of this inscription is given based on microscopic analysis of the epigraph preparation marks.

The genocidal disruption of Johannes Jacob Manissadjian’s (1862–1942) lifework: a biographical approach to mass violence and indigenous knowledge production

ABSTRACT Relying on a biographical approach that reconstructs the life and work of Johannes [Hovhanness/Յովհաննէս] Jakob [Hagop/Յակոբ] Manissadjian [Manisacıyan/Մանիսաճեան] (1862–1942), a highly successful scientist at the Anatolia College (Merzifon/Marsovan/Մարզվան), who established a meteorological station and a natural history museum with an extensive collection of specimens, the paper traces the routes of disappearance, dispersal and ruination of indigenous lives, people, and knowledge within the context of the Armenian genocide. Drawing on documents from Ottoman, German, and American archives, I stress the potential of biographical methods to study the processes and structures of mass violence targeting the Ottoman Armenians, as well as to foreground the agency and subjectivity of genocide survivors. The article also focuses on post-genocide scientific (dis)engagements of Manissadjian in light of Theodor W. Adorno’s ‘after Auschwitz’ discussions and from the perspective of indigenous knowledge production. In particular, his two ‘archival acts’ in the post-genocide context, the ‘Catalogue’ of the collection of the Anatolia College Museum that he prepared as ‘the former Curator’ and his small pamphlet entitled Proverbs of Turkey, which provided an ethnographic portrait of Anatolia, were his humble acts of saving a treasure trove of knowledge that was in danger of becoming debris.

Prevalence and characteristics of osseous bridging between vertebral bodies in the cervical spine: A skeletal study.

Osseous bridging (OB) in three or more segments of motions (SOMs) of the mobile spine was initially defined as diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis (DISH), located particularly in the thoracic spine (T-spine). This pathological phenomenon is often characterized by calcification and ossification, which take place simultaneously or separately. The soft tissues, mainly ligaments and entheses, are calcified, with bone formation not originating from the anterior longitudinal ligament (ALL). DISH formation can involve osteophytes, which are created by the ossification process and can involve soft tissue such as the ALL. The ALL can also be calcified. Until recently, the prevalence of DISH in the general population was considered low (0%-5%) and rare in the cervical spine (C-spine). In a cross-sectional observational skeletal study, we investigated the prevalence and location of C-spine OB between vertebral bodies with fewer than three SOMs. We tested a large sample (n = 2779) of C-spines housed in the Cleveland Museum of Natural History (Ohio, USA). The human sources of the samples had died between the years 1912 and 1938 and represented both sexes and two different ethnic groups: Black Americans and White Americans. The process development can be seen on the ALLs as calcification, osteophytosis, and candle-shaped. Among all of the specimens, 139 (5%) were affected by OB, mostly in one SOM. Prevalence tended to be higher in women, White Americans, and the older age group. The levels most affected were C3-C4, followed by C2-C3 and subsequently, C5-C6. OB involving two consecutive SOMs was found only at C5-C7. We believe it is important to respond to the presence of a single SOM with a presumptive diagnosis of OB and to follow up, identify whether the diagnosis is correct, and take preventive action if possible. There is a need for updated diagnostic criteria and research approaches that reflect contemporary lifestyle factors and their impact on spine health.

Look at me! The museographic project beneath the Italian Museum of Planetary Sciences in Prato (Italy)

Designing museum exhibitions is a hot topic for architects, designers, museologists, and scholars since museography represents a powerful tool for valorizing collections, promoting education, communicating cultural values, and ensuring suitable conservation conditions for the exhibited specimens. This is especially true for museums displaying authentic objects which are conveyors of scientific, cultural, social, and ethical values. In particular, natural history and science museums often compete with the leisure industry, and thus their museographic solutions have to meet more and more demanding requirements to increase visitor engagement. This paper describes the museographic concepts beneath the Italian Museum of Planetary Sciences in Prato (Italy, hereinafter MISP). MISP is the only museum in Italy entirely devoted to illustrating planetary sciences and displays important collections of extraterrestrial materials (meteorites, tektites, and impactites). The exhibition layout, characterized by a continuous wall belt design, recalls the outer space while providing non-invasive visual means to improve visitors’ emotional engagement with the displayed specimens. MISP museographic strategies also outline the importance of spatial designs and transpositions focusing on the illustration of the exhibited collections, thus going against some current museographic practices emphasizing, for example, the use of augmented reality and digital stimuli.Graphical abstract

DNA barcodes from over-a-century-old type specimens shed light on the taxonomy of a group of rare butterflies (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae: Calinaginae).

We analyzed COI barcode sequences from 138 over-a-century old specimens of Calinaga including 36 name-bearing type specimens stored at the Natural History Museum London. These new data, combined with previously available RPS5 sequences, divide the Calinaga samples into four well-supported mitochondrial lineages that together with a novel wing-pattern analysis, support the recognition of six species (lhatso, buddha, brahma, aborica, formosana and davidis), with all other names subsumed either as subspecies or synonyms. One new taxon is described, Calinaga aborica naima Vane-Wright, ssp. n.

The taxonomic composition and chronology of a museum collection of Coleoptera revealed through large-scale digitisation

IntroductionHistoric museum collections hold a wealth of biodiversity data that are essential to our understanding of the rapidly changing natural world. Novel curatorial practices are needed to extract and digitise these data, especially for the innumerable pinned insects whose collecting information is held on small labels.MethodsWe piloted semi-automated specimen imaging and digitisation of specimen labels for a collection of ~29,000 pinned insects of ground beetles (Carabidae: Lebiinae) held at the Natural History Museum, London. Raw transcription data were curated against literature sources and non-digital collection records. The primary data were subjected to statistical analyses to infer trends in collection activities and descriptive taxonomy over the past two centuries.ResultsThis work produced research-ready digitised records for 2,546 species (40% of known species of Lebiinae). Label information was available on geography in 91% of identified specimens, and the time of collection in 39.8% of specimens and could be approximated for nearly all specimens. Label data revealed the great age of this collection (average age 91.4 years) and the peak period of specimen acquisition between 1880 and 1930, with little differences among continents. Specimen acquisition declined greatly after about 1950. Early detected species generally were present in numerous specimens but were missing records from recent decades, while more recently acquired species (after 1950) were represented mostly by singleton specimens only. The slowing collection growth was mirrored by the decreasing rate of species description, which was affected by huge time lags of several decades to formal description after the initial specimen acquisition.DiscussionHistoric label information provides a unique resource for assessing the state of biodiversity backwards to pre-industrial times. Many species held in historical collections especially from tropical super-diverse areas may not be discovered ever again, and if they do, their recognition requires access to digital resources and more complete levels of species description. A final challenge is to link the historical specimens to contemporary collections that are mostly conducted with mechanical trapping of specimens and DNA-based species recognition.

Breathing new life into industrial heritage: the digital era's influence on transforming Safawi cinema into a historical museum

PurposeThis paper aims to identify and evaluate the industrial heritage of the Safawi region, which has suffered from neglect and government dispossession. It proposes strategies for documenting and repurposing the Al-Safawi cinema, advocating for its transformation into a historical museum. Repurposing culturally significant structures as museums offers opportunities to address challenges, preserve heritage, promote sustainable urban development, improve local quality of life, and attract tourists.Design/methodology/approachEmploying an inductive approach, this research uses qualitative methods, including detailed descriptive analysis, along with contemporary digital documentation tools such as RTC360 Laser Scanning, Digi Cad 3D, Autodesk Revit, AutoCAD, and Photoshop.FindingsThe study demonstrates that converting heritage buildings into museums requires minimal alterations to maintain authenticity and historical integrity. These findings provide valuable insights into architectural considerations that inform decision-making processes for museum projects, contributing to discussions on museum standards, practices, and adaptive reuse within the Jordanian context.Originality/valueThis study stands out for its use of advanced digital tools within the Jordanian context, representing a significant advancement in digital documentation practices. Few studies have explored the Safawi area and its heritage, making this research particularly innovative. By advocating for minimal alterations to preserve authenticity, it sets a valuable precedent for museum projects in the country, enhancing efforts in heritage conservation and cultural enrichment. This initiative highlights the evolving landscape of digital engagement in Jordan and its potential implications for cultural heritage management.

A Newly Dated Late Pleistocene and Holocene Archaeological Assemblage from Bukhtarma Cave in the Southern Altai Piedmont, East Kazakhstan

The Altai mountains contain a number of cave and rockshelter sites that have given crucial information about human evolution in Asia. Most of these caves are located in the Gornyi Altai of Siberia, while the southern flank of the range remains much less known. Bukhtarma Cave was a karstic cave located near the former village of Peshchera, on the banks of the Bukhtarma River running through the foothills of the southern (Kazakh) Altai mountains. The Soviet East Kazakhstan Archaeological Expedition carried several excavation campaigns in the cave in the early to mid 1950s, discovering Paleolithic stone tools as well as animal bones. The collections were split between the East Kazakhstan Regional Museum of Local History in Öskemen (the lithic and part of the faunal collection) and the Zoological Institute in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) (most of the fauna). Subsequently, the site was flooded by the construction of the Bukhtarma Reservoir in 1958, such that further fieldwork is impossible. However, in 2020, we reanalyzed the zooarchaeological collections and obtained several 14C dates. Based on the excavation documentation and the newly obtained dates exclusively taken from cut marked and carnivore-modified bone, we reconstruct at least three Paleolithic archaeological horizons, spanning the time between ca. 47–30 ka cal BP and exhibiting Middle and Upper Paleolithic characteristics, as well as the remains of several Holocene occupations, the latest of which dates to the Bronze Age. We present here a summary of the lithic and faunal assemblage and draw general conclusions about the site’s placement within the regional Paleolithic.

Amphorae discovered in the port area of Callatis (Mangalia, Romania) in the 1960s-1970s

The present paper deals with a whole series of ceramics from a private collection belonging first to Vasile Cosma and then sold in 1976 and in 2009 to the National Museum of History and Archaeology of Bucharest (MNIR). These objects, essentially amphora, come from late sixties-early seventies underwater discoveries, in the Mangalia harbor, 2 May village and Constanța harbor areas.

The Tropical Andes Biodiversity Hotspot: A Comprehensive Dataset for the Mira-Mataje Binational Basins

We present a flora and fauna dataset for the Mira-Mataje binational basins. This is an area shared between southwestern Colombia and northwestern Ecuador, where both the Chocó and Tropical Andes biodiversity hotspots converge. We systematized data from 120 sources in the Darwin Core Archive (DwC-A) standard and geospatial vector data format for geographic information systems (GIS) (shapefiles). Sources included natural history museums, published literature, and citizen science repositories across 13 countries. The resulting database has 33,460 records from 6,821 species, of which 540 have been recorded as endemic, and 612 as threatened. The diversity represented in the dataset is equivalent to 10% of the total plant species and 26% of the total terrestrial vertebrate species in both hotspots. The dataset can be used to estimate and compare biodiversity patterns with environmental parameters and provide value to ecosystems, ecoregions, and protected areas. The dataset is a baseline for future assessments of biodiversity in the face of environmental degradation, climate change, and accelerated extinction processes.

A Sense of Stalinism

This article compares visitor experiences at the Gulag History Museum in Moscow and the NKVD Prison Museum in Tomsk, Siberia. The museums differ in the production of authenticity in the museum experience. The Moscow museum has no direct relationship to a site of memory and therefore utilizes constructed forms of authenticity. In contrast, the Tomsk museum makes use of objective authenticity given its location in an original prison building. The museums share a stated mission to produce a cosmopolitan mode of remembering based on universal values and empathy for victims with a preventive mission for the sake of the future. The article examines original data from visitor focus groups to understand the emotional impact of these museums. The Moscow museum manufactures the atmosphere of the Gulag through interactive sensory stimulation. We found that this can meet resistance from visitors who sense that their emotions are being manipulated. We found that the Tomsk museum directly elicits strong emotional responses but responses could also include dark tourist titillation. In conclusion, we consider how these findings speak to debates around the tension between cosmopolitan, antagonistic, and agonistic modes of remembering.

Description of Branchiobdella turkestanensis n. sp. (Annelida: Clitellata) following a reexamination of specimens in the Natural History Museum Vienna, Austria

A new species of branchiobdellidan annelid, Branchiobdella turkestanensis, is described having been removed from a specimen of Pontastacus kessleri (Schimkewitsch, 1886), reportedly from Turkestan but collected from the headwaters of the Syr Darya which is in the Fergana Valley, Uzbekistan, and deposited in the Natural History Museum Vienna, Austria. Specimens of its sister species, Branchiobdella kozarovi Subchev, 1978, from its type area were examined and key morphological features were reported to justify naming the new species. The size, length and shape of the spermatheca and male reproductive organs in Branchiobdella turkestanensis are approximately half the size of those in B. kozarovi. Specific differences are the spermathecal bulb is ovoid, with a terete glandular atrium in B. turkestanensis, while B. kozarovi has a terete spermathecal bulb and ental process, and a curved, wide tubular glandular atrium.

The Preservation and Spectral Detection of Historic Museum Specimen Microbial Mat Biosignatures Within Martian Dust: Lessons Learned for Mars Exploration and Sample Return.

The key building blocks for life on Mars could be preserved within potentially habitable paleo-depositional settings with their detection possible by utilizing mid-infrared spectroscopy; however, a definite identification and confirmation of organic or even biological origin will require the samples to be returned to Earth. In the present study, Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopic techniques were used to characterize both mineralogical and organic materials within Mars dust simulant JSC Mars-1 and ancient Antarctic cyanobacterial microbial mats from 1901 to 1904 Discovery Expedition. When FTIR spectroscopy is applied to cyanobacterial microbial mat communities, the resulting spectra will reflect the average biochemical composition of the mats rather than taxa-specific spectral patterns of the individual organisms and can thus be considered as a total chemical analysis of the mat colony. This study also highlights the potential difficulties in the detection of these communities on Mars and which spectral biosignatures will be most detectable within geological substrates. Through the creation and analysis of a suite of dried microbial mat material and Martian dust simulant mixtures, the spectral signatures and wavenumber positions of CHx aliphatic hydrocarbons and the C-O and O-H bands of polysaccharides remained detectable and may be detectable within sample mixtures obtained through Mars Sample Return activities.

A modernização da educação médica no Brasil: o financiamento da Fundação Rockefeller e a Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto em um contexto de desenvolvimento (1951-1964)

Objective/Context: This article discusses the modernization of medical education in Brazil between 1951 and 1964, following the creation of the Ribeirão Preto Medical School (FMRP, for its initials in Portuguese) at the University of São Paulo (USP). The analysis emphasizes the tensions in the rapprochement between Zeferino Faz, the founding director of fmrp, considered a communist, and the Rockefeller Foundation (RF), an international philanthropic agency, for the development of basic sciences such as biochemistry, physiology, and pharmacology. Methodology: The documents used in the study were collected at the Rockefeller Archive Center in New York and the Historical Museum at the Ribeirão Preto Medical School and analyzed using the evidential paradigm proposed by Carlo Ginzburg. The evidential paradigm pays close attention to small details in the document, considered “signs” of processes that are not very explicit. Originality: The original contribution of this text consists of a better understanding of the strategies used by the rf to finance the fmrp, which differed in many moments from its institutional norms and the anti-communist orientation of the North American government. This finding contrasts with an entire contemporary bibliography that reiterates the persecution of these individuals. Conclusions: The study reveals the contradictions in the trajectory of Zeferino Vaz and the actions of the rf in search of the desired modernization of medical education in Latin America.

Whales as a Nordic speciality

Whales are not specifically Nordic animals, but Nordic whales have been central in European natural history collections since the second half of the nineteenth century; this article analyses how this came to be. Several factors came into play: the interest in whales among many researchers and curators working in natural history museums, the development of modern whaling from the 1860s, and the development of networks of exchange and sale of scientific specimens. We study these three factors through the traces they have left in the museums’ catalogues, in archives, and in the collections themselves and argue that, individually, these factors would not have had such a big impact. It is their combination in this period that has given Nordic whales such a central place in natural history collections.

Virtual reality in geoeducation: the case of the Lesvos Geopark

ABSTRACT The aim of this study is to investigate the contribution of cartographic results obtained from data acquired with Unmanned Aerial Vehicles to the management procedures of geoheritage monuments, specifically in geoeducation. 2D orthophotomaps and 3D textured meshes of a fossil site in the Lesvos Geopark, Greece, which has been monitored since 2018, were generated. The data recordings were collected using a UAV at different flight altitudes for three different cartographic scales. After acquiring UAV and Global Navigation Satellite Systems data, the resulting cartographic products were used to create educational material on geosites. This material was used to deliver lectures to students in various settings: (a) in situ at the Natural History Museum of the Lesvos Petrified Forest, (b) live in a traditional classroom, (c) remotely via e-class software, and (d) in a collaborative Virtual Reality environment. Feedback was provided by students through customized questionnaires, and their knowledge acquisition was assessed post-lecture with specially designed assignments. The final section of this work compares learning experiences and knowledge acquisition across these different environments. The results contribute to the debate on 2D and 3D cartography in geoeducation, quantifying the value of new materials in understanding spatial and geographic features and improving geoheritage management.

Distribution of nonindigenous Basket clams (Corbicula spp.) in Mexico

Corbicula spp. are one of the most prolific aquatic invasive species in the world and can have negative effects on aquatic ecosystems. We performed qualitative field surveys, examined literature accounts and natural history museum holdings, and accessed citizen science data sources to document the distribution of Corbicula in Mexico and shared drainages. Through 26 publications (N = 127 records), 312 museum holdings, and 446 iNaturalist records, we documented 885 records pertaining to Corbicula in Mexico and shared drainages with the USA. The first record of the species in Mexico was in 1969, and it has since been reported from 26 of the 32 Mexican states and most of the major river basins throughout the country. However, we suggest Corbicula are more prevalent in Mexico than we report in this work as it is often under sampled or under reported.

Revisitando a trajetória histórica do Museu Botânico “Dr. João Barbosa Rodrigues” do Jardim Botânico de São Paulo

This study delves into the historical journey of the “Dr. João Barbosa Rodrigues” Botanical Museum, a space of memory located within the São Paulo Botanical Garden. It discusses its historical origins and material, institutional, and contextual transformations up to the present day. This space has seen advancements, setbacks, challenges, and potentialities as a small museum of natural history. It has undergone three reconfigurations of its physical and internal structures, gradually modernizing its museum concept while retaining its identity as a museum with a unified focus on botany. It reopened in early 2020 and is currently operating within a subtle boundary established between the public and private sectors due to the concession of the São Paulo Botanical Garden’ operation to private initiatives, although it remains under public control. In this renewed museum, one can observe its contribution as a space of social responsibility, imbued with meanings and functions that evoke imagery by its memory spacesrelated to the concerns of its founder, the botanist Frederico Carlos Hoehne. Over its 80 years of existence, this museum has evolved from a neutral space to one engaged in the conservation of nature and contemporary environmental issues. Its exhibition now contextualizes these themes, becoming a narrative museum that responds to everchanging local challenges. Its pedagogical role is vital in an inclusive and equitable society, promoting education and learning. The museum constitutes a contemporary space, transcending its traditional functions of preservation, conservation, and research, serving society by educational initiatives on botany, nature conservation, and environmental sustainability.

An earliest Triassic riparian ecosystem from the Bulgo Sandstone (Sydney Basin), Australia: palynofloral evidence of a high-latitude terrestrial vertebrate habitat after the end-Permian mass extinction

A landmark change in terrestrial ecosystems took place after the end-Permian mass extinction (EPME). This was marked by disappearance of the iconic latest Permian Glossopteris forests in Australian continental successions dated to 252.10 ± 0.06 Ma (mega-annum). Pioneering earliest Triassic spore-producing plants then spread following catastrophic wildfires, soil erosion and algal blooms. These ruderal plant communities were later replaced by vast Dicroidium ‘seed fern’ forests, which established under warm, seasonally dry conditions. By contrast, evidence of coeval vertebrate assemblages is scarce in Australia. The Bulgo Sandstone (Narrabeen Group) fossil biota in the Sydney Basin is, therefore, important as a rare example of associated plant and animal communities from the Early Triassic. The fossils include imprints and organic remains of lycopsid roots and attributed leaves (microphylls), Dicroidium and Lepidopteris foliage, and both erythrosuchid and smaller-bodied archosauromorphs, capitosaurians and other temnospondyls, actinopterygian fishes and sharks. Here, we undertake a palynofloral analysis of the vertebrate fossil-bearing bed within the Bulgo Sandstone to determine the assemblage age and palaeoenvironment. We identified a low-diversity miospore suite that is overwhelmingly dominated by lycopsids (42%), and especially quillworts (Isoëtales/Pleuromeiales) represented by Densoisporites and Aratrisporites. Bryophyte (moss), sphenopsid (horsetail) and ground fern spores are also present. Pollen (14%) comprises forms mainly associated with voltzialean conifers. The non-taeniate bisaccate Falcisporites (Alisporites) produced by Dicroidium is comparatively rare (3%). Based on this taxic composition, we correlate the vertebrate-bearing layer of the Bulgo Sandstone with the lower part of the Protohaploxypinus samoilovichii Oppel Zone and suggest a late Induan to early Olenekian age. Calculated sedimentation rates indicate that the 400 m of sediments between the top of the Vales Point Coal and the base of the Bulgo Sandstone were laid down within a time span of 40–400 ka (kilo-annum). Furthermore, the high portion of spores (37%) implies a parautochthonous organic accumulation that would have derived from local vegetation. This was likely riparian, with Dicroidium (and associated gymnosperm) cuticles (ca 20%) being over-represented because of a deciduous seasonal cycle. Notably, the Bulgo Sandstone accumulated on a high-palaeolatitude floodplain (ca 66–69°S) with dense vegetation flanking waterways that might have provided both shelter and forage for terrestrial vertebrates living less than 1 Ma after the EPME ecosystem collapse. Vivi Vajda* [vivi.vajda@nrm.se], Swedish Museum of Natural History, Svante Arrhenius väg 9, Stockholm 11414, Sweden; Benjamin P. Kear [benjamin.kear@em.uu.se], The Museum of Evolution, Uppsala University, Norbyvägen 16, Uppsala 75236, Sweden.