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Palaeoanthropology collection
Left: Cranium of Broken Hill, or Rhodesian man (H. heidelbergensis) found at Broken Hill, Zambia in 1921. Right: Cranium of a Neanderthal woman found at Forbes quarry Gibraltar in 1848 (composite image).
The Museum's palaeoanthropology collection includes the UK's largest assemblage of fossil hominin remains and a diverse collection of hominin tools.
Fossil hominin collection
With over 3,000 specimens, the Museum's collection of fossil hominins is the largest in the UK. The collection includes 17 of the 24 generally recognised hominin species, in the form of original fossils and scientific-quality replicas.
The fossil hominin collection contains about 400 original fossils, including the following internationally recognised examples:
Australopithecus afarensis and Paranthropus robustus teeth from:
- Laetoli, Tanzania
- Swartkrans, Republic of South Africa
Homo heidelbergensis remains, including:
- tibia and incisors from Boxgrove, England
- cranium and postcrania from Broken Hill, Zambia
Homo neanderthalensis skulls:
- from Forbes Quarry and Devil's Tower, Gibraltar
- cranial bones from Swanscombe, England
- from Tabun Cave, Israel
Early Homo sapiens remains from:
- Kabua and Kanam in Kenya
- Singa in Sudan
- Kebara and Es Skhul Caves in Israel
- Gough's Cave and Tornewton Cave in England
- Paviland Cave in Wales
Anterior, lateral and three-quarter views of a partially reconstructed cranium of Homo erectus 'Java Man' from 700,000 years ago. Known as Sangiran 17, the specimen was discovered by Towrikomo in 1969.
Right mandibular ramus and canine of 'Eoanthropus' (Piltdown Man), presented in 1912 as being from an early human but now known to be a sophisticated hoax
Three cranial bones of 'Eoanthropus' (Piltdown Man), presented in 1912 as being from an early human but now known to be a sophisticated hoax
Curator
Accessing the palaeoanthropology collection
Access to the Palaeoanthropology collections for academic research is restricted to academic researchers affiliated to universities and associated institutions. Please contact the curator for further information if you would like to apply for access.
Opportunities for employment, work experience and volunteering in the anthropology collections are advertised on the Museum jobs page.
Collections management
Our duty is to provide a safe and secure environment for all of our collections.
Geological range
- Miocene to Holocene
The collection includes replicas of Sahelanthropus tchadensis from around seven million years ago. The most recent fossils are those of Homo sapiens from around 10,000 years ago.
Any H. sapiens remains dating from the last 10,000 years are stored in the human comparative collection.
Recent acquisitions
Recent additions to the collection include casts of:
- the small-bodied extinct hominin Homo floresiensis
- the newly discovered Australopithecus sediba
Artefact collection
The Museum's artefact collection is a unique resource containing over 6,000 tools made by hominins (Homo species and perhaps certain late species of Australopithecus and Paranthropus).
The specimens are geographically, chronologically and technologically diverse, representing 80 per cent of the time-span of human tool-making history.
The bulk of the collection derives from the Palaeolithic period, approximately 2.6 million years to 11,000 years ago. The majority of the tools originate from the British Isles and Africa, but all inhabited continents and over 50 countries are represented in the collection.
Nearly all items in the collection are made from stone, with a smaller number made from bone, antler, horn, shell, or ivory, and fewer made from metals.
The collection also includes small sub-collections:
- an ethnographic collection featuring examples of tools made by foragers in stone, wood and other materials during the last 200 years
- early evidence of fire
- the Hazzeldine Warren Collection of experimental flint knapping
One of many hand axes discovered at a site in Swanscombe, Kent that was inhabited by Homo neanderthalensis around 500,000 years ago
Upper Palaeolithic bone and antler artefacts dating from 2,000 years ago, discovered in Gough's Cave, Somerset
What can we learn from artefacts?
Analysis of how and where tools were designed, produced and used on site can tell us about:
- the cognitive capabilities of toolmakers
- how cultures spread across time and space
- the environment in which toolmakers lived
- the way toolmakers lived
Hominin specimens
3,000
Species
17
Tools
6,000