American Museum of Natural History Research Library
author: American Museum of Natural History

American Museum of Natural History. Hall of Prehistoric Cultures.; Archaeology of Central and Eastern North America; Hall of North American Ethnology; Hall of North American Archaeology; North American Archaeological Hall; Archaeological Hall; Prehistoric Man of North America; North American Archaeology; Prehistoric Man of North America and Europe; Evolution of Prehistoric Cultures; Hall of Prehistory of Man; Early Man; Hall for Prehistoric Archaeology; Prehistoric Archaeology; Hall of Prehistoric Archaeology; Hall of Prehistoric Cultures; Stone Age Culture; Stone Age Cultures
birth: 1911
death: 1967
Permanent exhibition. Opened approximately 1911 and closed approximately 1967. Located on Floor 2, Section 6. The Hall of Prehistoric Cultures at the American Museum of Natural History featured archeological objects from early human cultures. The curator for the hall was Nels C. Nelson (1, 1922, p. 10)
The hall featured primarily archeological specimens from North America, including pottery, arrowheads and stone and bone implements found largely from burial grounds and were arranged and exhibited by present-day geographical region. European stone implements were displayed in the tower room along with carvings from cultures of Southern Europe as well as copies of paintings from the cave walls of Altamira and Font-de-Gaume (2, 1913, p. 50).
The hall also included various skulls from modern humans and a comparative historical series showing the development of the human race and a miniature group depicting Neolithic Denmark (2, 1918, p. 45; AR 1934 p. 10). A more extensive related exhibit of fossil humans, the Early Races of Man, was shown in Age of Man Hall on the fourth floor (2, 1928, p. 52). The tower room later featured a synoptic display collection from the Near East (2, 1962, p. 24-25).