Lecture – Facing the Past – Cases in Forensic Sculpture by Amanda Danning Forensic sculptor Amanda Danning performs facial reconstructions on skulls whose true appearance is unknown. She has worked on the most exciting anthropology finds in North America as well as contemporary criminal cases. Danning’s captivating presentation will combine history and technology, forensics and […]
Whenever the topic of human evolution comes up in a classroom you are bound to hear the name “Lucy” thrown around. But who exactly is Lucy and why is she so important? Well, tracing the roots of the human family tree is a tough task. Most ancient human skeletons discovered are only fragmentary, but when Lucy’s […]
The primary purpose of a wall is to hold the ceiling up, but they also get used for a lot of other things that vary depending on culture. Here in Houston we often use the walls in our homes and offices as blank canvases. Walls are also used for storage. Here and now, we store […]
Lecture – Rewriting Modern Human Origins: Insights from New Discovery in Morocco by Shara Bailey Newly discovered Homo sapiens fossils in Jebel Irhoud, Morocco, push back the origins of our species by 100,000 years. The fossils show that by about 300,000 years ago, important changes in our biology and behavior had taken place across most […]
It’s a common joke I’ve been hearing lately, and in a way it makes sense. Why celebrate the beginning of the season before the weather even begins to change? However, there are more changes in store for us than merely the temperature, and in the past these changes have been a vital reminder to our […]
Pictured above is a Campa Shaman’s hood, the fourth object to be discussed in our 5 Of The Most Magical Objects In Our Collection series ( click HERE to see the other blogs in the series). You may have noticed that the hood has the body parts of a number of birds and small animals sewn […]
Special Exhibition: Sweet – A Tasty Journey Opens May 12th at HMNS At Sugar Land! GET TICKETS Opens May 12, 2017 Unwrap a world of flavorful fun in an interactive and magical setting! Explore the world of all that’s sweet as you learn about candy ingredients from a ‘farm to fork’ perspective. Get the stories […]
Hear Dr. Erin Vogel at the HMNS (Rebloged from the Leakey Foundation) Who doesn’t love orangutans? These highly intelligent, critically endangered great apes that live in the tropical forests of Sumatra and Borneo have faces with such character, such personality, they always make for great, powerful pictures. We are always excited when The Leakey […]
In preparation for the opening of “Mummies of the World” at the end of this month (Member preview: Friday, 9/23, public opening at Noon on Saturday, 9/24) we will be posting a series of blogs exploring the science of mummification. Today, the subject will be Chinchorro mummies. Photo courtesy of wikimedia commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chinchorro_mummy,_south_coast_of_Peru_or_north_coast_of_Chile,_5000-2000_BC_-_San_Diego_Museum_of_Man_-_DSC06921.JPG Most people […]
At the Houston Museum of Natural Science, we know that people are as much a part of natural science as rocks and dinosaurs. That’s why we love social studies and maintain exhibits like the John P. McGovern Hall of the Americas and the Hall of Ancient Egypt. We find the development of societies fascinating! The […]
