Matskási István (szerk.): A Magyar Természettudományi Múzeum évkönyve 94. (Budapest 2002)

Matskási, I.: Bicentenary of the Hungarian Natural History Museum

In 1872, the ethnographical section seceding from the National Museum turned into an independent entity under the name of Ethnographic Museum. That is where, inter alia, the skull collection became located as well. In 1881, when enlisting the tasks of the Department, AURÉL PONORI TÖRÖK, the first Hungarian anthropologist who was designated to the Department of Anthropology, the fifth of its kind in the world, dwelled on the importance of setting up an Anthropological Museum as well, 'so that anthropological research take as solid root in our country as possible'. It was JÁNOS JANKÓ, ethnographer, the Director of the Ethnographic Museum of the period who established the collection of the Department of Anthropology in 1896 by urging the development of an independent collection within the confines of the museum. As he put it, 'collecting the fossils of peoples once living in the territory of our country, exploring the anthropological prehistory of our folk, and familiarising with the contemporary population of Hungary involve the task of the Laboratory'. These tasks apply even today. JÁNOS JANKÓ'

s expedition taken in the region of Ob in 1898 produced a valuable collection of 29 Ostyak skulls, and SÁMUEL FENICHEL brought home 46 skulls from Papua New Guinea. PÁL BORNEMISSZA enriched the collection by 19 African, JÁNOS XÁNTUS by a Mexican Maya skull, and FÜLÖP BAK by 36 Egyptian mummies. These skulls are still preserved by the Department. Thanks to the good relations of LAJOS BARTUCZ, the head of the anthropological collection, with archaeologists, the collection of human remains surfaced by excavations was started. The acting director of the museum, ANDRÁS TASNÁDI KUBACSKA, in his submission of May 15,1945 to the Royal Hungarian Ministry of Religious Affairs and Public Education, suggested that a Department of Anthropology be established as the fifth department of the Natural History Museum. 'Our objective with this is that the department dealing with Man should take its due place in the class of biological sciences'. He entrusted JÁNOS NEMES KÉRI, a schoolteacher, to run the Department. The submission was approved on June 8, 1945, which, in effect, meant that the Department of Anthropology became officially established. The collections of the Department of Anthropology maintain the fossils of mankind's predecessors originating from Hungary as well as the bone remains of sometime historical populations living in the territory of Hungary. Processing of this rich and, in terms of space and time, representative material in a scientific manner and exhibiting the results involve our basic task.