Archaeological and Ethnographical Collections from the Americas in the National Museum of Denmark: From the Royal Kunstkammer in the 17th century to the Present Day – An Overview

Inge Schjellerup

doi:10.26881/etno.2025.11.12

Authors

Inge Schjellerup National Museum of Denmark

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.26881/etno.2025.11.12

Keywords:

The National Museum of Denmark, Museum Worminanum, Kunstkammer, Collectors and collections from the Americas

Abstract

This article provides an overview of the history of the American collections from the Copenhagen Kunstkammer (1650–1820). Owing to the foresight of court officials, the collection’s valuable materials were preserved rather than dispersed after the Kunstkammer’s dissolution. Once regarded merely as curiosities, these objects were later systematically classified by type and place of origin, forming the foundation of what would become the Ethnographical Department of the National Museum of Denmark.

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Author Biography

Inge Schjellerup, National Museum of Denmark

PhD, anthropologist and archaeologist, senior researcher at the National Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen. Her research interests include archaeology and ethnohistory of pre-Columbian cultures, especially the Inca in South America. She has conducted fieldwork in Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador. Author of several monographs and numerous articles on pre-Hispanic environmental change, settlement patterns, and agricultural practices along the eastern slopes of the Andes.

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