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Historical notes

 

The Paleontological and the lithomineralogical collections were created with the establishment of the Royal Geological Office in Florence in 1869 and transferred to Rome with Ministerial Decree dated 30.5.1873. The scientific material was previously collected and deposited in the places of origin: Turin (Regia Scuola di Applicazione), Pisa (Museo di Storia Naturale), Florence (Museo di Storia Naturale), Caltanissetta (Distretto minerario), Rome (Regia Università).
In 1875 all the material was brought to Rome as soon as the Royal Geological Office was endowed with a permanent seat on via di Largo Santa Susanna, which was destined to become the Agricultural Geological Museum. The Museum was in the same building that was constructed by the Ministry of Agriculture, Industry and Trade, where part of the courtyard of the “S. Maria della Vittoria” Convent was located. The Agricultural Geological Museum was inaugurated on the 3rd of May, 1885 by King Umberto I.

Origin and activities of the Paleontological Cabinet of the Agricultural Geological Museum

 

  • 1870-1885 foundation of the first laboratory of Paleontology of the Geological Committee attached to the Museo di Storia Naturale of the University of Pisa, detached Geological Section of the Office of Rome, by hand of Giuseppe Meneghini
  • 1890 creation of the first laboratory at the Agricultural Geological Museum dedicated to the analysis of fossil specimens, thanks to Mario Canavari
  • 1896 establishment of the Paleontological Cabinet in the Agricultural Geological Museum directed by Giovanni Di Stefano
  • 1898 series of conferences on paleontological and stratigraphic studies and research in the Paleontological Cabinet organized by Giovanni Di Stefano in collaboration with Camillo Crema

 

The increase of paleontological collections is mainly due to the surveying activities conducted over the whole national territory for the preparation of the Official Geological Map at scale 1:100,000, which was completed in February 1976. In a minor way, it is the result of exchanges (acquisitions and donations). However, also foreign collections were acquired.
The first catalogue and subsequent inventory of the whole museum heritage since its establishment was drawn up between 1996-1998. This was later computerized, which enabled the realization of an articulated data base and management of the collections.

The founders of the paleontological collections