Institute brief history and profile
The foundation of the Anthropos Institute was laid in the 1920s by Prof. Karel Absolon when he united the extensive amateur collections of M. Kříž, K. J. Maška and J. Knies within the zoological department. He himself then began extensive research on the mammoth hunters' station near Dolní Věstonice (1924-1938) and the settlement of Magdalen reindeer hunters in Pekárna Cave (1925-1930). At the end of World War II, most of the Palaeolithic collections, including extensive collections from abroad, were destroyed in a fire at Mikulov Castle, where the German MZM administration wanted to save them from bombing. Almost all the palaeoanthropological material was lost, but the unique art objects, walled up in the museum's cellar, survived the war. After the liberation, Bohuslav Klíma, who later moved to the newly founded Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences, took over the research. He was succeeded by Karel Valoch, whose name is associated with our most extensive karst excavations to date at the Neanderthal settlement in the Kůlna cave near Sloup. Prof. Jan Jelínek, the long-time post-war head, conceived the activities of the Institute (which adopted the name Anthropos in 1965) in an interdisciplinary manner and included the Holocene anthropological collections. The name of the institute is a continuation of the exhibition pavilion of the same name at the Brno Exhibition Centre, which disappeared at the end of World War II and was later revived in the Pisárky Park.
The Institute consists of three sections that manage the individual sub-collections. The archaeological department focuses on artefacts from the Paleolithic and Mesolithic and, as part of the theme, pays attention to the research of sites from the younger prehistoric period (Neolithic - Iron Age). The Department of Anthropology manages a collection of human skeletal material from the Middle Paleolithic to the Modern Age. It represents one of two specialized museum-type departments in the Czech Republic. A specific role is played by the paleontology department, which deals with Quaternary fauna associated with human activities, but also with fauna without a direct link to humans, with the help of which the natural environment can be reconstructed in the periods when Europe was inhabited by prehistoric people.
An important part of the institute is the library, which collects and records specialized literature focused on Paleolithic and Mesolithic archeology, ethnology, cultural and physical anthropology, osteology, Pleistocene geology and related fields, both scientific monographs and journals, periodicals and separates. It also manages an extensive library from the estate of Karel Absolon and Karel Valoch. Access to the library - after prior telephone or correspondence arrangement (contact).
The Institute's staff provides advice on the identification and long-term storage of archaeological (stone, bone), anthropological and osteological material. In agreement with the heads of the individual departments, it is possible for experts to study the stored collections.
Curated collections (denomination in Czech)
12 – Antropologická
The anthropological collection consists of two parts. The first part is represented by human skeletal remains from all periods (from the Middle Palaeolithic to Modern Age) from the Czech Republic and partly from Slovakia (Part A). Smaller collection (Part K) curated copies of palaeoanthropological findings. It is the second largest anthropological collection in the Czech Republic after the collection of the National Museum in Prague, and many of the findings, especially from the Paleolithic and Neolithic periods, are of worldwide significance.
24 – Další – Anthropos-archeologie
The collection is focused on archaeological material from the Pleistocene (Palaeolithic) and the early Holocene (Mesolithic) periods. In selected cases, it also records findings from the younger prehistoric period, if they are connected to the issue of stone industry production. The majority of finds come from the territory of Moravia, but foreign acquisitions obtained mainly by K. Absolon and J. Jelínek can also be considered significant. To a marginal extent, finds from the territory of Bohemia are also under the evidence. A significant part of the collection is art objects from the Palaeolithic period, most of which are listed as national cultural monuments.
Due to the focus on the earliest history of human society, the majority of the collection is represented by the chipped stone industry. A numerically significant part of the collection is represented by objects made of hard animal tissues, both objects of everyday use and the above-mentioned art and decorative objects.
24 – Další – Anthropos-osteologie
The collection is an extensive collection of fossil hard animal tissues mainly from the Pleistocene, with smaller assemblages from the Holocene and partly from the Tertiary period. The collection contains complete assembled animal skeletons, animal skulls and teeth and individual bones and teeth, including their fragments, which are the most numerous in the collection. Palaeontological materials come mostly from Moravian sites, with a significantly smaller volume from Bohemian and Slovak sites. Mammal bones prevail over a disproportionately smaller part that consists of bird bones. An important part of the collection is an extensive collection of bones and unassembled skeletons of contemporary mammals, birds, to a lesser extent reptiles, amphibians and fish (the so-called comparative collection), which serves for comparison with fossil osteological material and thus facilitates its determination. The collection of fossil animal bone material and the comparative collection of skeletons and bones of contemporary animals are unique in their scope within the Czech Republic.
24 – Další – Anthropos-etnologie
The basis of the ethnological collection consists of objects from Nordic and overseas ethnography, which were left here after most of the objects were handed over to the Náprstek Museum in the sixties of the 20th century. This was joined by the only more comprehensive collection (mainly paintings on bark), originating from the expedition of the Moravian Museum to Australia. The other items, rather a random selection, were handed over from the Ethnographic Institute of the Moravian Museum (František Pospíšil's collection and others).
24 – Další – Anthropos-výtvarná díla
The collection consists of a limited but very attractive assemblage of Zdeněk Burian’s paintings and drawings and several items obtained from other artists.
External links related to the Institute
- Anthropos Institute on Research Gate
- Central evidence of projects (CEP)
- Index of information on results (RIV)
- Digital catalog of photographs from the estate of Karel Absolon
- Database of human skeletal remains from the territory of Moravia and Silesia (link)
Anthropos Institute structure
Archaeological section
- doc. Mgr. Petr Neruda, Ph.D. – head of the institute, the Palaeolithic of the Czech Republic with a special focus on the Middle Palaeolithic;
tel.: +420 533 435 230, e-mail: pneruda@mzm.cz - doc. PhDr. Martin Oliva, Ph.D., DSc. – the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic of Czech Republic, exploitation of raw materials in the Prehistory of Czech Republic, social and symbolic life in the Prehistory (art, burials); editor-in-chief of the scientific journal of Acta Musei Moraviae, Scientiae sociales
tel.: +420 533 435 224, e-mail: moliva@mzm.cz
Anthropological section
- RNDr. Zdeněk Tvrdý – curator; physical anthropology, anthropological analysis of human skeletal remains, assistant editor of the Anthropologie journal, tel.: +420 533 435 237, e-mail: ztvrdy@mzm.cz
- RNDr. Martina Fojtová, Ph.D. – curator; physical anthropology, anthropological analysis of human skeletal remains, tel.: +420 533 435 215, e-mail: mfojtova@mzm.cz
- Yvona Kovaříková – restorer; human skeletal material tel.: +420 533 435 226, e-mail: ykovarikova@mzm.cz
Palaeontological section
- Mgr. Martina Roblíčková, Ph.D. – curator, osteoarchaeological and paleozoological analysis of Pleistocene and Holocene fauna, tel.: +420 533 435 232, e-mail: mroblickova@mzm.cz
- Mgr. Aleš Plichta – curator, paleontological analysis of Pleistocene fauna, tel.: +420 515 910 449, e-mail: aplichta@mzm.cz
- Silvie Černocká – restorer-conservator, animal skeletal material, tel.: +420 533 435 229, e-mail: scernocka@mzm.cz
Library
- Irena Rozsypalová – librarian, tel.: +420 533 435 225, e-mail: irozsypalova@mzm.cz; libraryanthropos@mzm.cz
Other employees
- Miriam Obršlíková – graphic designer, tel.: +420 533 435 231
- Tamara Janků – graphic designer (emeritus)
- RNDr. Marta Dočkalová, Ph.D. (emeritus) – physical anthropology, bronze age burial rite, tel.: +420 533 435 227, email: mdockalova@mzm.cz
