A Guide to the Earth Science Museum

• HILDEGARD TITUS

On the ground floor of the Ministry of Mines and Energy’s head office in Windhoek is the National Earth Science Museum, which has displays on Namibia’s fossil, mineral and mining history.

With the oldest desert in the world, it’s no surprise that Namibia has countless fossils hidden beneath the surface.

Archaeologists have dug up fossils of animals, plant life and human ancestors to try and piece together histories of a time before time.

The first exhibit displays more than 20 million years of human evolution, with the now extinct ape Otavipithecus namibiensis, which at the time of its discovery was the only non-hominin ape found in southern Africa. Due to its flat teeth, it mostly survived eating fruits and vegetation.

It was discovered in the Berg Aukas area near Grootfontein and would have been roaming the earth more than 12 million years ago.

There is an interesting relationship between the discovery of fossils and the mining industry.

As mining companies excavate looking for minerals to mine, they sometimes find more ancient hidden treasures, which form part of exhibits of fossils of prehistoric animals like ostriches, leopards and elephants, such as the Eozygodon mortoensis, which would have been alive 19 million years ago and was discovered at the Auchas Mine near the Orange River.

Then there is a section on trace fossils, which are not the direct remains of species but rather a trace of a footprint, trail or burrow of an animal.

The entire fossil exhibit has stunning illustrations done by the late Christine Marais that bring the fossils to life by showing what the animals would have looked like in their habitat millions of years ago.

The mining exhibit shows how the industry contributes 25% towards the country’s economy. It narrates the history of Namibia’s mining industry, particularly its diamond history, detailing the discovery of diamonds in Namibia near Lüderitz by Zacharias Lewala in April 1908, which brought on the boom of the diamond rush at Kolmanskop.

The exhibit follows the evolution of the diamond mining industry from land to marine diamond mining by Debmarine Namibia. It also displays the different minerals that are mined in Namibia and explains their daily uses from toothpaste, ceramic bathroom sinks and corrugated iron, with a small model of a corrugated shack (which is home to more than one million Namibians).

The museum is a great activity for those who want to learn more about the country’s fossil, mine and mineral history. The museum conducts tours by appointment for schools and other groups.

Entrance is free and opening hours are Monday to Friday from 08h00 to 13h00 and from 14h00 to 17h00.

The National Earth Science Museum is located at the Ministry of Mines and Energy, 6 Aviation Road, Windhoek (between Eros Airport and the Safari Court Hotel). For more information, contact 061 284 8111.

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