Museo di Paleontologia [Museum of Palaeontology]
Housed in the Palazzo del Pretorio since 1997, the Museum of Palaeontology is managed by the "F.C. Marmocchi" Laboratory, which was founded in 1988 by a group of volunteers, under the sponsorship of the Communal Administration. The Museum is divided into the sections "Palaeontology", "Human evolution " and "Archaeology".
The palaeontology collection includes interesting fossils coming from various localities in the territory of Valdarno, among them mini- and micro-fossils that can be examined through magnifying glasses. The bones of some animals, including the vertebrae and ribs of a whale, are also displayed. The "Human evolution" section illustrates, instead, through informative panels and plaster casts of pre-hominids and hominids, the evolution of human beings up to modern times. In the archaeological section are the remains of the Cucule tomb, from the Calcolithic period, on loan from the Tuscan Archaeological Department.
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Texts by Elena Fani
English translation by Catherine Frost
Last update 22/feb/2008