This blog concludes my series on skulls in the Anatomical Museum collection which were looted from the sites of colonial warfare during the Scramble for Africa. The skull with reference number ‘XXVI.D.29’ is recorded as belonging to an individual who was “executed for the murder of Lt. Keating” and was donated to the museum by…
Collections Uncovered: Omdurman Battlefield Skulls
In the first of a series of three blogs, Daisy Chamberlain reports on the results of her investigation into the skull collection at the museum. Hi, I’m Daisy. I was an undergraduate student in History at the University of Edinburgh and am now studying for my Masters at SOAS University of London. I’m currently conducting…
‘The Horn of Elizabeth Low’ by Gavin Francis
Gavin Francis is an author, University of Edinburgh alumni, GP and all round friend of the museum. Here he looks at one of the more unusual items to be found in the occasionally bizarre collections of the Anatomical Museum: ‘There be many Unicorns, and consequently many Horns’ wrote Thomas Browne – physician, naturalist, polymath, wordsmith –…
Internship Conclusion
It’s my final day at the Anatomical Museum and I’m feeling quite sentimental. The nature of my internship –working with an unaccessioned collection for 10 consecutive weeks- means I feel protective over my perhaps unconventional plaster cast ‘children’. I thought I would use this blog post to reflect on the progress of the Phrenology project, rather than focus on research specific to the collection….
‘Male’ of Madagascar, ‘Gambian’ Woman and Chief Bokani
Following on from my previous post discussing Eustache Belin and the ‘New Zealander’, I am keen to showcase more of the items due to be exhibited from August. In this post I will focus on the lives of three further individuals; Bokani, a Pygmy chief brought to the UK as a living exhibit, ‘Gambian Woman’ a cast mislabeled during…
New Zealander and Eustache Belin
A post focusing on two casts from the collection
Phrenology Update 2
Research into makers and their links to the collection
Phrenology Project Update 1
An update on the Anatomical Museum’s Phrenology Project
Phrenology Project Introduction
Introduction to the Anatomical Museum’s Phrenological Collection
Career Ready Programme. An Anatomical Museum Placement by Sanya Kuslii
This summer we had Sanya Kuslii, a high school student who is entering S6, on placement with us as part of the Career Ready programme, a national initiative connecting young people with the world of work through mentorship and hands-on placements. ‘’Hello, I am Sanya and I have had a two week internship placement at the Anatomical…
Collections Uncovered: The Third Ashanti Expedition (1900) by Daisy Chamberlain.
This is my second blog looking at skulls in the African collection which were stolen from the sites of colonial wars. This blog focuses on the skull labelled in the collection as XXVI D 21, which is recorded as belonging to ‘an Ashanti found at the Bantama Stockade Nov 1900 after a night assault at…
Putting Professor John Goodsir in the picture by Michael T. Tracy
Anyone who has researched their family history will also appreciate the thrill of finding a previously unknown photograph of a family member. Our guest blogger Michael Tracy, the relative of The University of Edinburgh’s Professor of Anatomy John Goodsir (1814 – 1867), takes up the story… Although the esteemed Professor John Goodsir lived in the…
‘In Search of Professor John Goodsir – a pioneer of cell biology’ by Michael T. Tracy
In this first of a two-part blog post, Michael tells us about the research he has undertaken to uncover the story of his ancestor John Goodsir (1814 – 1867), Professor of Anatomy at the University of Edinburgh John Goodsir by William Drummond Young, University of Edinburgh collections, EU0479. In recognition of the kind assistance…
Meet our Poet in Residence!
Hi, I’m Georgi, the Anatomical Museum’s inaugural Poet in Residence. In these uncertain times, my role has morphed into inaugural Poet in Virtual Residence, but formerly in person and now remotely, I have the fascinating task of exploring the museum collection and responding in poems. So, what brought me here? I’ve been drawn to both…
‘Phrenology – My Final Blog’ by Gaia Duberti
Hello everyone! Before jumping into this blog post, let me send my best wishes to whoever is reading. These are challenging and unprecedented times, but I am positive we will come out of this stronger and more appreciative of what we have. A woman in evening dress, attended by a man; the woman representing the…
Phrenologists’ crush for female musicians
Wilhelmine Schröder-Devrient [Photo: Creative Commons] Last year I spent a large part of my summer researching the phrenology collection of the Anatomical Museum. One of my areas of research was to find out what “types” of women interested the phrenologists of the 19th century. Overall, the surviving female representation in the collection seems to…
The Mystery of George Combe’s Skull
Throughout this summer, I came to know George Combe very well: he was a pivotal figure in Phrenology and founder and spokesman of the first Phrenological Society in Edinburgh in 1820. Whilst undertaking my research into women’s role in Phrenology, I analysed his writings closely – from his System of Phrenology to The Constitution of Man, and…
Anatomical Museum, University of Edinburgh 