The Opening of an Ivory tower

PRLog (Press Release) - Aug 03, 2009 -
The NESPOS – Pleistocene People and Places database (www.nespos.org), based at the Neanderthal Museum Mettmann, initiates a new development: For the first time, research results on human fossils, mobile art, bone and antler tools of pleistocene age are digitally available to the public.

The international NESPOS Society e.V. and the corresponding database, domiciled at the Neanderthal Museum, have been worldwide leading in the field of virtual archaeology and anthropology since several years. NESPOS contributes to the conservation of our world heritage by the means of digital storage of important human fossils and artifacts. The virtual versions of human bones, stone tools, works of art, and bone tools at NESPOS enable scientist worldwide to examine those fragile and unique objects without touching or even transporting them. NESPOS is funded by the European Union, the Neanderthal Museum Foundation and the Gerda Henkel Foundation.

Recently, the functionality and the usability of the database were essentially enhanced in the framework of a comprehensive update process. Large parts of the database are now open to the public. Only the access to high-resolution 3-D data sets remains limited to members of the NESPOS Society for reasons of copyright restrictions.

The new range of the NESPOS database is directed at scientists, students, journalists and interested private persons. Opening its “repository” – containing more than 16.000 data set entries – NESPOS makes an important contribution to the amelioration of research transfer and global scientific cooperation.

Photo:
http://www.prlog.org/10299509/1