National Archaeological Museum of Altamura
The National Archaeological Museum of Altamura was born from the desire to reunify the numerous finds of archaeological character of the whole territory of Alta Murgia, from Prehistory to the Middle Ages and constitutes one synthesis of the Peucezi civilization up to the most internal territories, towards Basilicata and the ionian arch.
Background
Successor of the nineteenth-century municipal museum, the building was built immediately behind the center historical, in the Cross area (a section of archaeological interest), where part of ancient town, production facilities and furnace for pottery cooking were brought to life.
The museum structure was inaugurated in 1993, coinciding with some important discoveries in 1990s constituting further elements of appeal to the public, such as the Neanderthal skeleton of the Man from Altamura, found in a karst cave in the locality of Lamalunga, and the paleontological site with dinosaur footprints from Cava Pontrelli.
Photo Gallery
NEANDERTHAL SKELETON
The skeleton of the so-called ``Man of Altamura``, an example of Homo Neanderthalensis found in the Lamalunga cave, among the coarseness of the Alta Murgia, in October 1993.
PYX LID
Apulian red-figure pyx lid by the Painter of Darius, with the depiction of the myth of Phaedra, from the grave goods in via Vecchia Buoncammino, in the town of Altamura, dated to 340 BC.
RELIQUARY CROSS
Gold cross-reliquary with vitreous paste and garnets bezels found in the late ancient site of Belmonte; the artefact testifies to the strong cultural penetration of oriental models in the VI-VII century.
The Collection
The exhibition is spread over two floors and the museum visit itinerary is divided into seven sections: Paleolithic, Neolithic, Metal Age, Archaic, Classical, Hellenistic – Roman and Medieval ages.
On the first floor, the exhibition is dedicated to successive civilizations in the Alta Murgia, from prehistoric times to Late Antiquity, with materials from inhabited areas and the neighboring necropolis. Ample space is dedicated to the Prehistory of food – The origins of bread exhibition, born from the will to recreate the strong link with the agricultural vocation of the territory.
The second floor is instead entirely dedicated to the European Paleolithic with in-depth studies specific on central – southern Italy. It presents an exhibition that uses different tools to tell the evolution of man: given the inaccessibility to the discovery sites, there is one section dedicated to the skeleton of Homo Neandertalensis, identified by CARS in 1993 inside the Lamalunga Grotto, about 3 km from Altamura. Through demonstration panels, multimedia videos and some animal remains found in the cave, it is learn more about the subject. In 2017, a perfect reconstruction of the Man of Altamura was presented to the public and exhibited in museum, which was started by digitally reproducing the skull with morphological data collected using the laser scanner e photogrammetry; then, at a scale model of impressive impact, the work of Kennis brothers, already known for giving life to Öetzi, the man from Similaun, preserved in the Museum Archaeological Museum of Bolzano.
Info and Contacts
Via Santeramo 88, 70022 Altamura (Bari)
Telephone: 080 3146409
Director: Carla Bagnulo
Email: drm-pug-museoaltamura@cultura.gov.it
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