Museum Galleries and Exhibits
A museum is only as good as the quality and quantity of its exhibits.
The Natural Earth
Before civilizations can be understood, the environment in which they exist must first be understood. The Earth itself has a multitude of effects on the rise and fall of civilizations. From the geological landforms which help determine where crops can best be grown and cities built, the weather patterns which determine local climates, the flora and fauna of a region all combine to affect how and when civilization can develop and flourish as well as contributing to numerous details of culture. It is obvious that arctic cultures will have more ways to describe snow than desert cultures, but why are cows sacred in one culture and food in another?
The Rise of Man
Beginning with our divergence from the last common ancestor shared with the chimpanzee between 8 and 4 million years ago, the slow process of evolution began with facial changes seen in Ardipithecus ramidus around 5.5-4.5 million years ago. Next came the various species of Australopithecus between 4 and 2 million years ago exhibiting bipedalism, which frees the hands to carry objects, and the earliest examples of stone tool use. Evolution continued into the genus Homo with a rapid increase in brain size, the first use of complex tools and controlled fires, and large-scale migration out of Africa. By 50,000 years ago, the only surviving Hominid, Homo sapiens, had developed behavioral modernity with the development of symbolic culture, language, and specialized tool technology.
Prehistoric Technologies
Early tools, harnessing fire, learning to cooperate and developing art and agriculture.
The Rise of Cities
People concentrating together led to social stratification, division of labor, public works, and the rise of advanced governmental systems and complex religion.
World Writing Systems
The Atlantic Museum houses one of the largest collections of written documents on the planet. From Cuneiform to Hieroglyphs, Greco-Roman Inscriptions to the earliest printed books, we have it all.
Hall of Enigmas
Where much is known about the history of the world, many mysteries still abound. From time to time archaeologists come across an artifact that seems out of place or simply can’t be explained. Unidentified objects and items of ancient technology without modern parallels alike wait for someone to determine their nature. These are collected together in the Hall of Enigmas.
Special Exhibits
Not every exhibit fits perfectly within a specific category. In a physical museum, these are often displayed as temporary or traveling exhibits, but at the Atlantic Museum of Civilization they are our Special Exhibits.
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Many of the galleries on this page are still under construction. If you would like to see a specific gallery or exhibit reach completion sooner than currently planned, please consider sponsoring it on Patreon.
