The Evolution of Man exhibit in the Natural History Gallery in Horniman Museum. This post presents a photo gallery.
The Evolution of Man exhibit has evolved significantly over many years. The current presentation is much reduced from previous versions. It also has evolved in response to improved awareness of anti-racism and anti-colonialism. An example is illustrated here. This involved the removal of the “Variety of Modern Man” photo montage, replacing it with a poster of a human skeleton. This change is mentioned in Scott’s (2007) Rethinking evolution in the museum: envisioning African origins.
The museum published visitor handbooks to accompany earlier version of the exhibit, when the emphasis was strongly on tool use. These have fragments of material currently on display, but they also reflect dated attitudes of the original authors:
- Harrison, Herbert Spencer (1906) From stone to steel: a handbook to the cases illustrating the ages of stone, bronze, and iron (London, London County Council), Horniman Museum and Library Publications 7.
- Harrison, Herbert Spencer (1920) The ascent of man. A handbook to the cases illustrating the structure of man and the great apes(London, London County Council), Horniman Museum and Library Publications 13.
- Harrison, Herbert Spencer (1923) From stone to steel: a handbook to the cases illustrating the ages of stone, bronze, and iron. Second edition (London, London County Council).
- Harrison, Herbert Spencer (1936) From stone to steel: a handbook to the cases illustrating the ages of stone, bronze, and iron. Third edition (London, London County Council).
Cases associated with the Evolution of Man exhibit cluster on the east side of the Natural History Gallery ground floor. It is closely associated with Evidences of Evolution and Survey of the Animal Kingdom.
Exhibit cases in Evolution of Man
All images are CC-BY-NC.
Floor Plan of Evolution of Man
A case list is available on Natural History Gallery.