Body Modifications in the Collections of the Musée de l’Homme (Paris)

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Body Modification: Examples and Explanations" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The Musée de l’Homme hosts several collections corresponding to body modification practices. The collections correspond to body piercing (prehistoric artifacts, casts of living individuals from the nineteenth century, and early photographic images) and to other types of body modification: intentional cranial modifications of various types and origins (circumferential and antero-posterior modifications from Europe, Oceania, and precontact Americas), tooth filings from Africa and Oceania, foot binding from China, etc. We will describe how these collections have converged to the museum over the years, discuss their geographic coverage, mention how we are updating the description of the pieces by following modern systematic body modification classifications, and envisaging a 3D-scan catalogue. A part of these collections has been successfully exhibited to the public at the museum (2019); therefore, practical aspects related to the making of the show will also be reviewed, including feedback. Body modifications can be a transversal theme common to many anthropological and art museums, leading to interesting joint-ventures exploring human anthropological diversity and continuity in an appealing way.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Body Modification: Examples and Explanations   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 37279.0