Brazil’s National Museum: What Could Be Lost in the Fire?
As the damage is assessed, we look at the collection’s most precious objects spanning millions of years
By Martin Belam
The full extent of the damage caused to artefacts by the devastating fire at the Museu Nacional in Rio de Janeiro will take some time to emerge. A spokesman for the fire brigade told Globo News: “We were able to remove a lot of things from inside with the help of workers of the museum,” leading to hopes that at least some of the collection may have survived. Pictures surfaced on social media showing people carrying small items out of the burning building.
Below are some of the scientific and historical highlights of a collection of over 20m items, whose loss was described as “incalculable” by Brazil’s president, Michel Temer.
Luzia Woman
Luzia Woman is an upper paleolithic period skeleton that was found in a cave in Brazil in 1975 by the French archaeologist Annette Laming-Emperaire. At about 11,500 years old, she was believed to be the oldest human skeleton found in the Americas.
