The theme of the exhibition “Close but From a Far-Away World. The History of Domestication of Mammals” is the little-known history of the domestication of mammals. The process started approximately 40,000 years ago when people made their first attempts to domesticate wolves, the ancestors of today’s dogs. We get familiar with the origin and history of animals, such as dog, cat, horse, sheep, goat, cow and pig. We learn about the times, places and ways of domestication of these wild species. We will also see the routes by which they arrived in Europe, already as breeding animals.

The story is supplemented by a presentation of other mammals domesticated in the world. People have managed to domesticate only nineteen out of 5,500 species. The presented group of exhibits includes elements of animal skeletons, items made of bones and leather, utensils and figures dating hundreds and thousands years back, having an economic and cult importance but also related to art or entertainment. The exhibition presents the work of archeozoologists, investigating the remains of animal bones from archeological excavations, and the techniques used by them. This is the first such exhibition in the history of museology and of the art of exhibition in Poland, which is accompanied by a popular-scientific publication.

Close but From a Far-Away World. 

The History of Domestication of Mammals

30.03 – 1.09.2019

Opening: 29.03 / 6 p.m.

Muzeum Śląskie, T. Dobrowolskiego St. / Baths