The University Museum of Chieti
The first nucleus of the exhibitions of the University Museum of Chieti was inaugurated in 1994 at the ‘G. d'Annunzio’ University, based in the De Pasquale Palace. Then, on 21 January, 1998, with the opening of the 1997-1998 Academic Year, the museum was opened to the public at the University Campus in Madonna delle Piane.
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From 21 March, 2005, the Museum has been based at the Arnaldo Mussolini Palace (the former Enal Palace) in the historic centre of the city of Chieti. Then in 2010, it was transformed from the Museum of the History of Biomedical Sciences into the University Museum, with its own autonomy and a new set of statutes. Through its speciality, the University Museum contributes to the character of the ‘G. d'Annunzio’ University by providing a "place for memories” and exhibition space dedicated to the knowledge and dissemination of the Natural Sciences and the History of Science. This comes with special focus on the biological and medical aspects that emerge from archaeological, medical, anthropological and palaeontological research, and also with specific sections that are dedicated to Natural History and the History of Science.
A specialised library is open to the public, and large storage rooms are accessible to specialists. Here, what is on offer for the visitor embodies the dissemination and education mission of this University Museum. In this Museum, every effort has been made to make scientific messages easily approachable, by bridging the gap between specialist themes and the general public and students. In 2011, there were more than 13,000 visitors to the Museum. The Museum is also home to specific training courses, with university courses that provide certified qualifications in museological matters.
At present, the Museum collections include more than 19,000 records from the fields of palaeontology, prehistory, anthropology, botany and zoology, and only recently these have been further enriched by the addition of scientific instruments and pieces of modern art.
History of Human Settlements in Abruzzo
The anthropological collection constitutes the most important part of the collections of the University Museum. It includes about 6,000 human skeletons and some 20 mummies. Some of the skeletal remains are very ancient and belong to fossilised humans of the Cro-Magnon race, the first inhabitants of the region, which came from the coastal caves of the previous Fucino Lake. The important groups in this collection are the skeletal remains from the Samnite necropolises of Opi Val Fondillo, Sulmona and Teramo. A selection of skeletal remains is exhibited in the ‘History of Human Settlements in Abruzzo’ in which significant original finds are shown alongside some ‘scenes’ rebuilt to illustrate the milestones in the evolution of the human occupancy of this territory: the Mesolithic, when livelihoods were especially from fishing in inland areas; the Samnites period, with combative tribes that were often in conflict; the era of the Roman conquest, with subjugation of the local populations; and the Middle Ages, which were characterised by an explosion of major epidemics. A selection of mummified human bodies are included in the exhibition, including the remains of the victims of a massacre that occurred around 1500 A.D. in the Bourbon Fortress in L’ Aquila, and some extraordinary examples of mummies of newborns and infants from the Renaissance period that were discovered following the collapse caused by the April 2009 earthquake in Casentino (L'Aquila).
