Human history collections

The Human History collections encompass Archaeology, Social History and Ethnography objects. The collections are the result of over 100 years of collecting and public donations.

Archaeology

The main focus of the archaeological collections is locally excavated objects from the City of Plymouth, West Devon and the South Hams. Items include prehistoric artefacts from Dartmoor, important Bronze Age and Iron Age material from Mount Batten and medieval and post-medieval finds from Plymouth. The museum also houses material from ancient Egypt and other Mediterranean cultures.

Social history

The Social History collections cover different aspects of social, domestic and maritime life. Highlights include the bone ship models and model guillotines, an excellent collection of early kitchen equipment as well as extensive collections of photographs, coins and medals.

Ethnography

The ethnographic collections contain objects from all over the world and include the collections made by the pioneering explorer Gertrude Benham. Gertrude was an intrepid traveller who travelled the world for over thirty years and who was the first woman known to have climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, in Tanzania.

Many items from our human history collections will be displayed in the new galleries we're creating as part of our ground floor redevelopment. Visit our ground floor redevelopment pages for more information.