The first nucleus of the Anthropology Collection dates back to 1908, when the chair of Anthropology of the Royal University of Bologna was established, entrusted to Fabio Frassetto. Initially set up in two rooms of Palazzo Poggi in via Zamboni 33, where the Institute of Anthropology was also located, it was moved in 1933, together with the Institute, to via F. Selmi 1 in larger spaces where finds and collections found better accommodation. acquired over the years.

Between 1933 and 1936 the Institutes and Collections of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy will also find accommodation in the current headquarters in Via F. Selmi 3. From 1947, when Fabio Frassetto's direction ceased, Elsa Graffi Benassi took over and from 1971 to 2005 Fiorenzo Facchini. New exhibition areas and a new layout were created in 1991, on the occasion of the opening to the public.

The Anthropology Collection exhibits skulls and skeletons of ancient Italian populations, from the Neolithic to the century. XVIII, casts of skeletal finds of primates and hominids thanks to which the fundamental stages of the evolutionary process of Man have been studied.

You can also admire finds both in Italy and in other European countries, which illustrate the development of prehistoric cultures from the lower Paleolithic to the Neolithic. Recently acquired is a "yurt" complete with furnishings, the home of the nomadic populations of Kazakhstan.