The Australian Museum holds the world’s largest and most significant Pacific collection with more than 60,000 objects from Melanesia, Polynesia and Micronesia.    

These objects represent a timeline reflecting nearly 250 years of the culture and nature of the region.

In the last 20 years alone, the AM has produced more than 30 exhibitions and programs to showcase treasures from its world renowned Pacific collection.

The collection has immense spiritual and cultural significance to Pacific peoples and provides a valuable resource to engage communities.

The Pacific Collection Treasure Case presents a range of Pacific currencies and monies, while also discussing concepts of barter and value.

The display has examples of shell money, bride and pig price belts and associated items, and more subtle and esoteric expressions of exchange such as Samoan fine mats.

The Pacific Collection Case has been supported by Alasdair and Pure Macleod

The AM’s Palaeontology (fossil)  collection is the oldest and among the largest and most important in Australia. Its fossils illustrate the history, origin and evolution of life on Earth (plants, invertebrates, vertebrates) over the last 600 million years.

It holds about 142,000 specimens, over 14,000 thin sections (including microfossils) and about 1500 casts and moulds and over 30,000 primary types. The collection includes representatives of most major fossil groups from Australia and overseas.

The Palaeontology Collection Treasure Case features Triassic fossils of the Sydney basin.

The Sydney Basin is a large geological feature extending from Wollongong to Newcastle and Lithgow, with Sydney itself situated on Triassic rocks. These rocks mainly contain fossils deposited in fresh water, including plants, fish and other vertebrates and invertebrates.

This display provides a snapshot of Sydney as it was about 250–200 million years ago.

The Palaeontology Collection Case has been supported by Alasdair and Pure Macleod