The Museum of Origins is part of the Museum Network of the University La SAPIENZA. It displays Italian prehistoric materials ranging from the Lower Paleolithic to the early Iron Age.
The exhibited artifacts come from the Rellini collection, the museum’s founder, and loans granted by various Italian Superintendencies: most of them result from surface collections and archaeological excavations carried out mainly in central-southern and island Italy.
There are also some casts of particularly important objects, whose originals are displayed in foreign museums (skulls illustrating the various stages of human evolution from australopithecines to Homo, Paleolithic “Venus” figurines, bone tools).
Three models illustrate: a hut from an Eneolithic settlement (Maccarese – Rome), a stilt house village from the Early and Middle Bronze Age, and a nuraghe from the Late Bronze Age – Early Iron Age. Among the most important complexes, we recall those from the Coppa Nevigata site with its impressive stratigraphy spanning from the Early Neolithic to the Bronze Age. Attached to the exhibition rooms is a Laboratory where other materials are deposited and available upon request. This Laboratory conducts cataloging and study of artifacts from excavations carried out annually by the Institute.
The Museum also hosts an archaeometry Laboratory where specialized investigations on archaeological materials are carried out: technological and functional study of lithic, bone, and ceramic tools. The archaeometry Laboratory is equipped with various microscopes (metallographic, polarized light, stereoscopic), a photographic system for image documentation, and a video system to conduct lessons and seminars on thematic topics. Finally, there is a specialized laboratory for restoration and preparation of archaeological artifacts.
