Press Releases

BBC's Prehistoric Autopsy exhibition on tour at National Museum Cardiff

Following the recent popular BBC series Prehistoric Autopsy, presented by Prof Alice Roberts and Dr George McGavin, National Museum Cardiff will be hosting the BBC Learning interactive exhibition which accompanies the series on 8-11 November in the museum’s main hall.

 

The new hands-on exhibition, which is aimed at families with children aged 7-12 years old, sees visitors come face-to-face with three of our earliest ancestors: three fully fleshed life size models of a Neanderthal, a Homo erectus and an Australopithecus afarensis together with their associated articulated skeletons. The centrepiece of the exhibition will be the actual models used in the television series which have been rebuilt in extraordinary detail based on fragmented remains of ancient bones and the latest scientific research.

 

There will also be interactive activities and games and a chance to recreate some of the shell decorations that our ancestors may have once worn.

 

Amgueddfa Cymru’s Curator of Palaeolithic & Mesolithic Archaeology, Elizabeth Walker will be giving a talk about Neanderthals in Wales at 1pm on Thursday 8, Friday 9, Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 November. As well as showing the handling collection, she will be talking about the archaeological excavations at Pontnewydd Cave, Denbighshire which have recovered the remains of at least five Neanderthals along with stone tools and bones from some of the animals they hunted for food. This talk will tell the story about the discoveries from the cave, the evidence that has been found for the understanding the lives of these Neanderthals and the landscape in which they lived.

 

Amgueddfa Cymru’s Curator of Palaeolithic & Mesolithic Archaeology, Elizabeth Walker, said, “The BBC series has been fascinating and we’re absolutely delighted that the interactive exhibition is coming to National Museum Cardiff. It’s a great opportunity for visitors to see the full sized models up and close and learn more about the story of bones and how we can tell the story of an individual, a species and what it means to be human.”