The Collections of historical and pedagogical ethno-anthropological busts of the University Museum of Chieti

Abstract

At the University Museum of Chieti, two distinct series of ethnographic busts are preserved for educational purposes, dating back to the early 20th century. These collections originate from materials provided respectively by the F. Masci State Scientific High School and the S. Pio X Pontifical Regional Seminary of Chieti to the Museum, in 2018 and 2013. The aim is to investigate the provenience of the series and their original pedagogical function within the context of early 20th-century school collections. The models in both series are made of plaster. The museum also houses an ancient print on human populations, used for educational purposes. These collections played an innovative educational role in early 20th-century Italian high schools, offering a novel approach to teaching human biological diversity through busts and accompanying posters. The teaching of Ethno-Anthropological Sciences even to students who were not yet at university was the result of a cultural movement born with the continental travels of explorers and scholars in the second half of the 19th century.