The San Diego Museum of Man has an outstanding collection of human osteological materials consisting of over 3,000 specimens collected during the first half of this century by Dr. Arthur W. Meyer of Stanford University. These collections, along with the Hrdlicka paleopathology collection, form an important anthropological resource that can be used to better understand human bone pathologies in societies without antibiotics. The size, scope, and documentation of the collection make it a unique and irreplaceable research and reference collection. The museum successfully conserved and upgraded the Hrdlicka collection several years ago, thereby establishing themselves with an excellent record in collections management in physical anthropology. During this project they will improve the documentation of the specimens in the Stanford.Meyer collection and upgrade storage. While these collections have been the basis for much scholarly research, this use itself has damaged the objects. The improvements in collections management will make them safely accessible to an even wider scholarly community.
