- Arizona Museum of Natural History
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Arizona Museum of Natural History 
Columbian Mammoth in lobby.Established 1977 Location Mesa, Arizona, United States Website http://www.azmnh.org The Arizona Museum of Natural History (originally the Mesa Southwest Museum) is the premier natural history museum in Arizona. It is dedicated to inspire wonder, respect and understanding for the natural and cultural history of the Southwestern United States. The museum is located in Mesa, Arizona.
Contents
History
The Arizona Museum of Natural History was founded as a small museum in Mesa City Hall in 1977 with a small collection of Arizona artifacts, in a building designed by Lescher & Mahoney and built in 1937 with WPA funds, that originally housed Mesa City Hall, municipal courts, city library, police and fire departments. There were expansions to the building in 1983 and 1987, and in 2000 a new wing was added. The main museum complex is currently about 74,000 square feet (6,900 m2), of which about 46,000 square feet (4,300 m2) are dedicated to exhibitions containing a collection of about 60,000 objects of natural history, anthropology, history & art, with approximately 10,000 historic photographs. A research facility was also added in 1995. Additionally, the Arizona Museum of Natural History has prominent research curators in the fields of paleontology and archeology/anthropology. Recent annual attendance is about 135,000.
Exhibitions
The Museum's exhibitions include a three-story indoor waterfall, a real territorial jail, and a recreation of the Lost Dutchman's Gold Mine. The Southwest Gallery[1] consists of a native peoples’ gallery, with exhibits about Paleoindian big game hunters and gatherers, the first inhabitants of North America, and the Desert Cultures that developed later. It also holds a recreation of a Hohokam village, with pithouses and above-ground structures, outfitted with real artifacts as they might have been from about A.D. 600-1450. Another exhibit is the Ancient Cultures of Mexico.[2] The Origins gallery [3] is designed as a voyage through the timeline of the cosmos and discusses major events in the history of planet Earth.
Among the exhibitions is a hands-on Exploration Station[4] and the Paleo Dig Pit.[5]
Three changing exhibition galleries offer a variety of subjects.
The newest of the changing exhibits is "The Primal Desert Next Door: Land of Black Volcanoes and White Sands," which opened February 26, 2011. Much of the Sonoran Desert lies south of the Arizona border in Mexico. This vast expanse and its diverse wildlife is the focus of this exhibition, which includes wall murals depicting the vast contrasting dark “moon-scape” volcanic fields and bright seas of sand dunes. Visitors can learn about the geology, flora, and fauna of this region though photographs and interactive components. The exhibition is based on the book Land of Black Volcanoes and White Sands, The Pinacate and Gran Desierto De Altar Biosphere Reserve, by Larry Marshall and Clark Blake. Interactive features include a dune machine, which replicates the phenomena of sand dunes, a hands-on basin and range topography display, and a mock lava tube, which children can climb through.
Another changing exhibit is the Return to the Sea of Cortez.[6] Seven decades ago, John Steinbeck and his friend Ed "Doc" Ricketts embarked on a scientific expedition that combined science, philosophy, and adventure along the coastline from Monterey Bay and around Baja California to the Sea of Cortez. In 2004, a team of scientists duplicated this journey, which they documented in pictures, logs, and journals. Inspirations, musing, photographs, and scientific data from this journey are on display.
Additionally, the museum maintains the Sirrine House, a Queen Anne style home built in Mesa in 1896. The museum claims that the home is the only fully restored Victorian-era home museum. The Sirrine House is currently open only for special events.
Paleontology
The Paleontology Section,[7] which is the study of past life, is the primary emphasis of the Natural History Section of the Arizona Museum of Natural History. The Natural History Section explores, excavates, records, prepares, conserves, and researches the fossil resources in the collection at AzMNH. In addition to working with state, university, and municipal agencies, AzMNH is an official repository for specimens collected from State, Bureau of Land Management (BLM), National Forest, and Fish and Wildlife lands throughout Arizona.
The Dinosaur Hall[8] features an unnamed coelurosaur nicknamed the "Zuni coelurosaur", a Tyrannosaurus bataar skeleton and a Tyrannosaurus rex skull.[9] Also they feature a Gastornis.[10] As sauropods they have a Camarasaurus skeleton and an Apatosaurus femur.[11] As ceratopsians they have a Psittacosaurus skeleton, a Zuniceratops, Protoceratops, Pentaceratops and Triceratops[12] and as iguanodonts they consist solely on a Probactrosaurus.[13]
Archeology/Anthropology
The Anthropology Section[14] of the Arizona Museum of Natural History conducts research and develops exhibitions on Native American cultures and the archaeology of southern Arizona. Archaeology has been a major focus of the museum since its inception in 1977. The museum sponsors ongoing excavation at the Mesa Grande Ruin, a large mound in Mesa dating from the Hohokam Classic Period.[15] This is one of the most important tasks of the anthropology department. The opening of Mesa Grande as a heritage site dedicated to public education concerning the Hohokam and O'odham people remains a central goal of the museum.
References
- ^ Southwest Gallery info at azmnh.org
- ^ Ancient Cultures of Mexico info at azmnh.org
- ^ Origins gallery info at azmnh.org
- ^ Exploration Station info at azmnh.org
- ^ Paleo Dig Pit info at azmnh.org
- ^ Return to the Sea of Cortez info at azmnh.org
- ^ Paleontology Section info at azmnh.org
- ^ Dinosaur Hall info at azmnh.org
- ^ Dinosaur Hall - Theropods at azmnh.org
- ^ Dinosaur Hall - Diatryma at azmnh.org
- ^ Dinosaur Hall - Sauropods at azmnh.org
- ^ Dinosaur Hall - Ceratopsians at azmnh.org
- ^ Dinosaur Hall - Iguanadon at azmnh.org
- ^ Anthropology Section at azmnh.org
- ^ "Flat Stanley at Mesa Grande". Archaeological Research Institute, Arizona State University. http://archaeology.asu.edu/vm/Education/stanley/pages/grande.htm. Retrieved 2007-10-12.
External links
- Arizona Museum of Natural History - museum website
Coordinates: 33°25′00″N 111°50′02″W / 33.4167°N 111.8338°W
Categories:- Archaeology museums in Arizona
- Dinosaur museums in the United States
- History museums in Arizona
- Museums established in 1977
- Museums in Mesa, Arizona
- Native American museums in Arizona
- Natural history museums in Arizona
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