On July 28, the Research Museums Center hosted a Museums Extravaganza Dinner and Tours for the annual meeting for the Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles. More than 300 conference attendees participated in the tours. UMMAA highlighted how its collections are often related to the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology museums (the U-M Museum of Zoology and the Herbarium), filtered through human imagination and ingenuity. This allow UMMAA to work with neighboring colleagues at the Research Museums Center to provide additional context and understanding of the archaeological and ethnographic collections. One of the artifacts on display was a turtle shell salakot, a traditional Filipino hat made from a turtle shell.
Read more about the salakot here: https://sites.lsa.umich.edu/ummaa-philippines/2022/06/22/turtle-shell-salakot/
Top photo: In the foreground, Andrea Blaser, UMMAA collections manager, discusses a selection of objects that demonstrate the breadth of UMMAA's collection and highlight some of the Museum's collaborations. In the background, Michael Galaty, UMMAA director, shows off the Dean Falk Hominin Endocast collection.
Photo below: A salakot made from a flatback turtle shell. The inside is lined with fabric, and there is a neck strap made of metal rings that is tied to the hat with string.
