Collection of Prehistory

The Collection of Prehistory contains significant finds from the beginning of human history. One focus is on objects from the Palaeolithic Age, which were found in caves in the Swabian Alb. Excavations carried out in 1931 under Gustav Riek (1900-1976) have yielded several ivory figurines from 40,000-year-old strata, which rank among the oldest figurative works of human art. They provide the earliest evidence of essential human cultural techniques worldwide – for art, music, and religion.

A second focus is on the finds made by Ludwig Kohl-Larsen in the 1930s in the Mumba Cave in what is now Tanzania. Part of these assemblages are also important hominin remains, such as the upper jaw of an Australopithecus afarensis (Garusi) and the world's oldest human remains of a Homo sapiens (Eyasi).

To the collection in the eMuseum (selection)