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of the Histories of Anthropology

Musée des antiquités nationales (1865- )

Created in 1865, the Musée des antiquités nationales de Saint-Germain-en-Laye displayed the archaeological collections present in French territory. From a comparative archaeological perspective, the museum embraced the history of humanity from its prehistoric origins. Its collections were associated with objects from other continents in order to place them in their technical (use, know-how, forms, function) and cultural context, promoting the development of ethnographic archaeology. Gabriel de Mortillet, Alexandre Bertrand, Salomon Reinach played an important role in the development of the museum. From 1898 to 1926, Henri Hubert reorganized the presentation of the museum’s collections and designed an ambitious project to redevelop the comparative archaeology room. In 2009, the museum was renamed Musée d’archéologie nationale.

Keywords: Archaeology | Prehistory | French Ethnology | Second half of the 19th century | 20th century | France | Salomon Reinach | Henri Hubert | Durkheimian School