About us

The State Collection for Anthropology (SAM) is one of six institutional departments belonging to the Bavarian Natural History Collections. SAM researchers are biological anthropologists primarily focused on the prehistory and early history of man. The geographic focus is mainly on the Bavarian region, but also includes other areas depending on research interests and collaborations with other institutions. The temporal horizon ranges from the Palaeolithic to the early modern period. Archaeological human skeletal remains housed in the SAM serve as a source of information that provide information on migration movements, health status, family structure and behavioral adaptations of past populations. Methodologically, osteological and isotope chemical investigations are in the foreground.