THE “Banyole jaw” (Girona), which belonged to an individual of our species, Homo sapiens, which inhabited this area of the Iberian Peninsula between 45,000 and 65,000 years agois already in a window in the new Regional Archaeological Museum. This Wednesday a special device formed by curators and local police officers who helped move the fossil from the Alsius pharmacy, where They had preserved it since its discovery in 1887.at the museum.
It’s a 170 meter course which was done on foot to the new museum. There, conservation technicians were tasked with placing it in its new location in the museum, which will reopen to the public this weekend. Taking advantage of the renovation of equipment, The Alsius family donated the historic jaw to the Town Hall so that it is exhibited in place of the replica that existed until now.
Found 140 years ago
After 140 years since its discovery, the Banyoles jawbone will be exhibited to the public for the first time at the Regional Archaeological Museum, which will reopen its doors to the public this weekend. Until now, visitors could see a replica of the jawwhich is between 40,000 and 70,000 years old and is the state’s earliest fossil.
Since this piece was foundwas kept by the Alsius family in the century-old pharmacy located next to the Plaza Mayor of Banyoles. THE few security measures that there were until now in the museum prevented the exhibition of a piece like this jaw and that is why it was kept in the house of the Alsius family.
Transfer device
Today, the complete rehabilitation of the equipment has made it possible all necessary guarantees exist for the original fossil to be transferred to the museum. It is for this reason that the Alsius family already announced a few weeks ago the transfer of the room to the Town Hall of Banyoles. This Wednesday, this transfer was made effective thanks to a special device which transported the jaw from the pharmacy to the museum.
At ten o’clock in the morning, two museum restorers went to the Alsius pharmacy. There, the family had their jaws prepared for transfer. The technicians took it out of the methacrylate box where it was kept. THE wrapped with fiber cloth to protect it and they placed it in a wooden box covered with protective elements inside.
Once the box was closed, the transfer device started. Two conservation technicians guarded the jaw 170 meters away, escorted by local police. Once inside the museum, The technicians placed the piece in the display case where it will be displayed and removed the copy that was there.
The “star” of the renovated museum
The work is visible from the opening day of the renovated museum, closed since 2022 for renovation work. The space has been updated with security improvements and new museography. It will house nearly a thousand pieces among the more than 800,000 that make up the municipal collection..
As the Banyoles cultural advisor explained a few days ago, Michael Cuencathe jaw will be “the star piece” of the museum, a sort of “The Mona Lisa of the Louvre”, but with “significant scientific value”.
Held for four generations in a pharmacy
The Alsius family kept the jaw for four generationsafter a stonemason discovered it in a quarry in Banyoles and informed the great-great-grandfather of the current generation, Pere Alsius, who carried out the first studies.
Esteve Alsius recalled a few days ago that the will of his ancestors has always been “that the jawbone does not end up outside the city.” He explains that, since 1886, the piece has received proposals for transfer, “blank checks” to institutional letters which suggested sending it to national museums so that “it is not cornered at one end of Spain”, but the family remained firm.
Until now, the family claims to have always facilitated access to the fossil for researchers and schools. This waythe Alsiuses always opened the dining room of the house to scholars who wanted to work with the piece. However, the renovation of the municipal museum led the family to consider contacting Banyoles Town Hall to manage the donation which came into force this Wednesday.
Studies continue
The room remains under investigation to determine whether it belongs to a Neanderthal individual, as was initially claimed, or to a female sapiens, as recent studies suggest. An international paleogenetic study is underway at the Max Planck Institute of Anthropology (Germany), after a team of researchers extracted dentin from one of the fossil’s teeth two years ago. DNA analysis could reveal whether it is a Sapiens, a Neanderthal or even a hybrid.
Most anthropologists agree that the jaw belonged to a woman of around 40 or 50 years old, with marked dental wear caused by a diet rich in dried fish or because he continually chewed animal skins to marinate them.
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