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Category: Fossils

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National Museum of Australia

FJ Holden and Propert Trailaway touring caravan

National Museum of Australia

Dedicated to preserving Australia’s social history, the National Museum of Australia contains many unique and significant artefacts. Located in Canberra on the shore of Lake Burley Griffin, its distinctive because of its architecture.

Getting There

We drove and used the large carpark on site, although as with most Canberra parking, there is a fee. Entry to the museum is free, but entrance to any special exhibits incur a fee. During our visit, Ancient Greeks, a large display of ancient Greek artefacts was there, so we paid to visit this too.

National Museum of Australia
Entrance
National Museum of Australia
National Museum of Australia

The Gandel Atrium

This is also the entrance foyer, containing the giftshop and several displays. In the centre is a cast of Australia’s most famous dinosaur, Muttaburrasaurus. Nearby is Australia’s first car, the FJ Holden and a caravan, showing the affluence of the 1950s and the rise of industrialisation.

Situated just off the atrium is the café, where food and drinks can be purchased. We bought morning coffee and snacks here before moving on to other displays.

FJ Holden and Propert Trailaway touring caravan
FJ Holden and Propert Trailaway touring caravan
Cast of Muttaburrasaurus langdoni National Museum of Australia
Cast of Muttaburrasaurus langdoni

Landmarks Gallery

The Landmarks Gallery traces the social development of Australia from it’s early colonial farming to the current day. Important features such as the windmill used to pump water, harvesters and stagecoaches give way to mining and the stock market. We thought the most interesting item here was the very first Holden Prototype preserved in excellent condition.

Kenya station windmill from the 1920s National Museum of Australia
Kenya station windmill from the 1920s
Sunshine Harvester
Sunshine Harvester
Thoroughbrace Coach used by the Nowland family, 1860–80
Thoroughbrace Coach used by the Nowland family, 1860–80
Backhoe rock shovel bucket from a Terex O&K mining excavator RH-120E
Backhoe rock shovel bucket from a Terex O&K mining excavator RH-120E
Holden Prototype No. 1 National Museum of Australia
Holden Prototype No. 1

First Australians

The First Australians gallery showcases aboriginal society from pre-colonial times to the present day. Artefacts including a full sized outrigger canoe represent Torres Strait Islander culture.

The post-colonial treatment of aboriginal people shows their disenfranchisement, loss of land and persecution. Although attempts have been made to remedy the wrongs of the past, a lot is still required for true equality. The displays here demonstrate the wrongs, often with personal stories from those who suffered.

Hatchet and an adze National Museum of Australia
Hatchet and an adze
Bark hut from the Framlingham Kaori settlement
Bark hut from the Framlingham Kaori settlement
Mask from the Western Torres Strait National Museum of Australia
Mask from the Western Torres Strait
Double outrigger canoe named Kulbasaibai, 2000, from Saibai Island in the Torres Strait,
Double outrigger canoe named Kulbasaibai, 2000, from Saibai Island in the Torres Strait,

Special Exhibition Ancient Greeks: Athletes, Warriors and Heroes

Open until 1 May 2022, Ancient Greeks: Athletes, Warriors and Heroes contains many treasures from the British Museum. From statues to tiny coins and jewellery the displays were amazing. If you are in Canberra while this is showing, it is really worth going to. We have been to Greece but still enjoyed this display.

Woman of Wealth National Museum of Australia
Woman of Wealth
Frieze from Halikarnossos Greeks vs Amazons
Frieze from Halikarnossos Greeks vs Amazons
Heroic athlete or athletic hero National Museum of Australia
Heroic athlete or athletic hero
Amphora depicting the Keles
Amphora depicting the Keles
Olympic Discus Thrower
Olympic Discus Thrower

What Did We Think?

We loved the Greek display and would have visited just for that. The rest of the museum has a nationally important collection, which we found interesting. If you want to see the social history of Australia, it’s a great place to visit.

For other places to visit in the Australian Capital Territory click here

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Age of Fishes Museum

Groenlandaspis Skull

Age of Fishes Museum Canowindra

Driving north from Canberra, our trip took us through the small New South Wales town of Canowindra. Interestingly, the town has a museum dedicated to the Age of Fishes.

Fossils were first found in 1955 when roadworks uncovered a slab of rock with interesting impressions. This was later brought to the attention of the Australian Museum in Sydney. In 1993, a dig uncovered 70 tonnes of fossils containing over 3,000 fish. Dated to the Devonian period, the fossils are over 360 million years old.

The site is significant not only for the number of fish, but that they all died at the same time. It appears that a dry spell caused all of the fish to die, preserving the different species and their relative abundance. This is important because usually with the discovery of single specimens, it’s relation and abundance to other species is difficult to determine.

The Age of Fishes Museum

The skull of a giant armoured fish greets you on entering the museum. The modern museum building displays the best of the recovered fossils. Information boards explain the process of recovering and evaluating them along with their significance.

The condition of many of the fossils are not perfect, reflecting the environment they were preserved in. But this isn’t a museum with perfect exhibits picked from the best available worldwide. It shows what happened locally and the scientific value far outweighs their appearance.

Stored in a huge shed next to the museum, the vast majority of the fossils await future study. One large door was open, so we could see fossils stored inside. The information at the museum indicates that many more remain buried at the dig site possibly for recovery at some time in the future.

We enjoyed our visit here and were pleased that we stopped.

Groenlandaspis Skull Age of Fishes Museum
Groenlandaspis Skull
Museum Display of lobe-finned fish
Museum Display of lobe-finned fish
Fish Fossils Age of Fishes Museum
Some of the Fish Fossils on Disply
Fossil and reconstruction
Fossil and reconstruction
Fish Fossils Age of Fishes Museum
Fish Fossils
Comparison of the size of the fossils
Comparison of the size of the fossils
Storage shed full of fish fossils Age of Fishes Museum
Storage shed full of fish fossils

To see what else there is to do in New South Wales, please see some of our other stories.

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National Dinosaur Museum

Life Size Triceratops outside the Museum

National Dinosaur Museum

One of the Australian Capital Territories’ main tourist attractions, the National Dinosaur Museum explains evolution through the use of fossils and interactive displays. Animatronics and recreated landscapes bring the displays to life, adding a lot of fun to the museum.

Outside the museum, a dinosaur-themed playground keeps the kids entertained, a life size Triceratops greets you at the entrance.

Life Size Triceratops outside the Museum
Life Size Triceratops outside the National Dinosaur Museum

Laid out chronologically, the displays take you though the evolution of life. Starting with invertebrates, displays of trilobites and giant scorpions explain some of the earlier life forms. Many of the displays are casts (these are clearly marked), but some are original. Even so, there is a great range of them.

Invertebrates

Trilobite
Trilobite
Giant Scorpion
Giant Scorpion

Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Reptiles

The main focus of the museum is dinosaurs, with this section being the largest. Life-size recreations of pterodactyls fly overhead as you go up the stairs. Displays of life size models and skeletons follow, including T-Rex and carnotaurus. Many of these are surrounded by dioramas, giving more context to the display, rather than simply sitting on a display stand.

The stegosaurus display includes a side-by-side comparison of the skeleton and recreated model. This is great because many museums show only one or the other and not both.

Pteranodon
Pteranodon
Carnotaurus
Carnotaurus
Tyrannosaurus National Dinosaur Museum
Tyrannosaurus Rex
Stegosaurus skeleton National Dinosaur Museum
Stegosaurus skeleton
Stegosaurus reconstruction National Dinosaur Museum
Stegosaurus reconstruction

The Rise of Mammals

Following the dinosaurs, displays of mammals include a giant sloth, sabre tooth tiger and a mammoth skeleton. It was surprising to see how large the sloth was, having never seen one of these before.

Giant Sloth
Giant Sloth
Mammoth and Geodes
Mammoth and Geodes

Evolution of Mankind

The final fossil section traced the evolution of our own species from “Lucy” and homo habilis to the Neanderthals.

Australopithecus Afarensis "Lucy" National Dinosaur Museum
Australopithecus Afarensis “Lucy”
Human Evolution
Human Evolution
Human Evolution National Dinosaur Museum
Human Evolution

Geodes

The final area of the museum contains amethyst geodes. These are huge, making a great display around the mammoth.

A gift shop sells all sorts of dinosaur related merchandise, including models, fridge magnets and books. Especially interesting, were the fossils and gemstones for sale.

So, if you have an interest in dinosaurs, or have kids, this is a great visit. As Australia does not have many dinosaur fossils of its own (most are in Queensland), many are casts, but they are still a great display.

Amethyst Geode
Amethyst Geode

To see what else there is to do in New South Wales, please see some of our other stories.