Jurassic Museum of Asturias
Visitors | Over 1 million[1] |
---|---|
Website | Official website |
The Jurassic Museum of Asturias (Spanish: Museo del Jurásico de Asturias; MUJA) is located in the area of Rasa de San Telmo near the parish (administrative division) of Llastres in the municipality of Colunga, Asturias, Spain. Though the municipality of Ribadesella was initially proposed, Colunga was chosen for the building site in the late 1990s.[2] Several landmarks are visible from the museum including the Bay of Biscay, the Sierra del Sueve, and the Picos de Europa. Strategically located over a mount on the Rasa de San Temo, the museum is in the midst the Jurassic Asturias.[3]
The museum displays and collections cover 3,500 million years, and although they emphasize the three stages of the Mesozoic (
Founded March 31, 2004 and representing an investment of 12 million euros,[4] MUJA belongs to the Asturian network of public museums.[5] The museum's goal is to illustrate the factors involved in the composition of life on Earth.[6] The palaeontologist José Carlos García-Ramos from the University of Oviedo[4] leads the museum's scientific team.[1]
Geography
The museum is located close to the coastline of the Cantabrian Sea and Llastres, a fishing port. It is bounded by the Sierra del Sueve on the south and the Picos de Europa towards the east. MUJA is on the branch road AS-257 towards Llastres, about 1.5 km away.[7]
During a visit to the cliffs of the coastline between
Architecture
The museum, which opened in 2004, was designed by the architect, Rufino Uribelarrea. The building has many special features, particularly the roof, which is in the form of a "fingerprint counter mould kittiwake, feature of the dinosaurs". The building itself is shaped in the form of a giant tridactyl dinosaur footprint.[3][9] Three ellipsoidal vaults intersect to form the deck space which is a large, open area of 2,500 square metres (27,000 sq ft). The roof structure is made entirely of laminated wood, a plywood. The entire roof is covered with a copper skin plate, which has been described by the European Association for the Development of Architectural Copper as that "it gradually oxidises to dark brown colour, and then, after several years, the typical green patina of aged copper protects the building and its contents for decades, even in the aggressive marine environment."[9]
The first floor, ground floor and basement of the building are 5,000 square metres (54,000 sq ft). Three wide vaults or rooms extend to the ceiling and are divided by the Mesozoic divisions of Cretaceous, Jurassic, and Triassic. The basement houses over 400 tons of fossils that have yet to be classified. The first floor has a temporary exhibition room, a reception room, administration room, and workshops, as well as a library and a laboratory. The ground floor contains a display hall, an audio-visual room and the permanent exposition room, along with an auditorium. The service areas include a store, gardens, cafeteria, and playgrounds.[10]
Collection
MUJA's main collection centres around 8,000 fossils from Asturias' Jurassic period. Divided into four sections, one contains 150 traces from the coast; another has 200 fossils of dinosaurs, crocodiles, fish, and tortoises; the third has 103 vegetable fossils and eleven tree trunk fragments; and the last has approximately 6,000 invertebrate fossils. A module explains the geological history of Asturias, focusing on the Jurassic Coast and the marine levels that formed the city of
The largest of the finds from the Coast of Dinosaurs are: the footprint of a
The collection of vertebrates of the Jurassic period is unique. Some of the specimens on display in the museum are an incomplete skeleton of a
- Triassic hall
In the
- Jurassic hall
The Jurassic period, representing the intermediate period of the
- Theropods and others
The
- Pre-Mesozoic
In the Pre-Mesozoic hall, the exhibits relate to the time from the creation of the Earth 4500 million years ago to the
- Cretaceous period
In the hall representing the Cretaceous period, which is the last period of the Mesozoic era from 145 to 66 million years ago, the displays relate to the biological and social habits of dinosaurs, reasons for their extinction by the end of the Cretaceous period, that are attributed to meteorite, volcanic eruptions and intense geographic and climatic changes. Evolution of birds inferred as theropods evolving from the non-avian dinosaurs are represented by the Archaeopteryx (a prehistoric bird) and dinosaurs such as the Deinonychus or the Dromaeosaurus.[15]
- Post-Mesozoic period
Post-Mesozoic, representing the last 66 million years, starting with the extinction of a major part of the dinosaurs, is the Tertiary period when reptile, mammals and modern faunas evolved in that order. The
- Temporary exhibitions
In the basement of the museum, there is a 300 square metres (3,200 sq ft) hall where temporary exhibitions are held on different themes. Past shows were on the themes of
Publications
Publications include a handheld guide, promotional brochure, guide activities and educational programs, educational and recreational, guide to the Dinosaur Coast and guide to "Discovering the MUJA children for children".[18]
Educational workshops
Educational workshops on the interpretation of palaeontology are a special feature of the museum which are designed for education of children and young people. It caters to individuals in the age group of 4 to 11.[19] The museum's scientific team organized the 7th Geological Heritage Meeting of the Geological Society of Spain, the 24th Spanish Palaeontological Society Meeting, and the 5th Spanish Jurassic Congress. The 11th International Ichnofabric Workshop will be held in 2011 in MUJA.[20]
References
- ^ a b "El Museo del Jurásico de Asturias alcanza el millón de visitantes". elcomerciodigital.com (in Spanish). July 24, 2010. Retrieved 19 March 2011.
- ^ "El Museo de Tito Bustillo, el final de la lucha" (in Asturian). La Nueva España. March 15, 2011. Retrieved 19 March 2011.
- ^ a b c "Jurassic Museum of Asturias (MUJA)". Government of the Principality of the Asturias. Retrieved 19 March 2011.
- ^ a b c Cuartas, Javier (April 14, 2004). "El museo del jurásico de Asturias presenta su colección de dinosaurios" (in Spanish). El Pais. Retrieved 19 March 2011.
- ^ "EL MUJA, un edificio EMBLEMÁTICO". asturiasnatural.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 March 2011.
- ^ a b "The Jurassic Museum- MUJA Dinosaurs in Asturias". desdeasturias.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 March 2011.
- ^ "Location". Official website of MUJA. Retrieved 19 March 2011.
- ^ a b c "The scientific project". Official website of MUJA. Retrieved 19 March 2011.
- ^ a b "MUJA: Jurassic Museum of Asturias". frameandform.com. Retrieved 19 March 2010.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "MUJA". museojurasicoasturias.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 March 2011.
- ISSN 1612-4138.
- ^ "Triassic". Official website of MUJA. Retrieved 19 March 2011.
- ^ a b "Jurassic". Official website of MUJA. Retrieved 19 March 2011.
- ^ "Pre-Mesozoic". Official website of MUJA. Retrieved 19 March 2011.
- ^ "Cretaceous". Official website of MUJA. Retrieved 19 March 2011.
- ^ "Post-Mesozoic". Official website of MUJA. Retrieved 19 March 2011.
- ^ "Temporary expositions". Official Website of MUJA. Retrieved 19 March 2011.
- ^ "Publicaciones". Official website of MUJA. Retrieved 19 March 2011.
- ^ "Didactic Workshops". Official website of MUJA. Retrieved 19 March 2011.
- ^ "First Circular XI International Ichnofabric Workshop". dinoastur.com. Retrieved 19 March 2011.