Our collections

The Musée des Confluences' collections feature nearly 3.5 artefacts and specimens in the fields of natural science, human science, and science and technology.

They have built up over a long period, across nearly five centuries. Today, the collections continue to expand thanks to donations, purchases, bequests, and in-the-field collections. But the majority of new additions are from gifts. To promote these contributions by donors over the centuries, a new permanent space, the Galerie Émile-Guimet, opened on the museum’s mezzanine in 2021.

To expand and better document its collections but also protect intangible heritage, the museum organises field missions. For instance, as part of a partnership with a number of Moroccan scientific institutions, entomological collection campaigns are organised every year. Since 2018, the museum has also organised a series of collection campaigns in the Amazon rainforest to update and add to its collection of Amazonian artefacts and further our knowledge of traditional know-how.

Every year, the museum welcomes a number of French and foreign researchers. It also works with other organisations on joint research projects. These projects help to further knowledge and raise awareness of the museum’s collections. A number of artefact loans and touring exhibitions organised by the museum teams also contribute to a wider recognition of the collection.

Natural sciences

Exposition Espèces, la maille du vivant
Insects

The entomological collections feature approx. 2 million specimens.

matérialité mort
Egyptology

The museum’s Egyptology collection consists of approx. 4,900 artefacts and was mostly put together through the museum’s prospecting.

Exposition Origines, les récits du monde
Palaeontology

The palaeontology collection features nearly 240,000 selections, i.e. several hundred thousand specimens, mainly from French deposits.

Exposition Espèces, la maille du vivant
Shells

The Musée des Confluences has approximately 80,000 selections containing 560,000 shells.

Exposition Espèces, la maille du vivant
Vertebrates

The Musée des Confluences has a large collection of vertebrates, including stuffed animals, skeletons and even fluid-preserved specimens created by cabinets of curiosities back in the 17th century.

Exposition Carnets de collections
Other invertebrates

In addition to insects and molluscs, the Musée des Confluences has a vast range of collections representative of other invertebrate groups, the best known of which include sponges, corals, bryozoans, crustaceans, arachnids, myriapods, and echinoderms.

Exposition Sociétés, le théâtre des Hommes
Minerals, rocks and gems

the museum has more than 22,000 artefacts and specimens; the mineralogical collection, which accounts for more than half of this number and contains numerous remarkable items.

Human sciences

Exposition Sociétés, le théâtre des Hommes
The Oceanic collection

1,600 artefacts from various selections, including rare and ancient items

Exposition Espèces, la maille du vivant
The American collection

The collection focuses on two main sets of artefacts: the ethnographic collections, put together at the end of the 19th century, and the archaeological and pre-Columbian collections, which make up the majority and were acquired mainly between the late 19th century and the early 20th century.

Exposition Espèces, la maille du vivant
The Arctic collections

The Arctic collections include artefacts from Northern Canada, Quebec, Alaska, Greenland, and Siberia, as well as Northern Europe.

Exposition Espèces, la maille du vivant
The Asian collection

It features 10,000 artefacts dating from the Bronze Age to the modern day, covering the whole continent

Exposition Éternités, visions de l'au-delà
The African collection

The African collection is currently formed of around 8,000 artefacts, plus ancient and contemporary photographs.

Exposition Éternités, visions de l'au-delà
The European prehistoric collection

The European human sciences collections are mainly prehistoric or archaeological.