ИСТИНА

The anthropological and ethnographical collection of the Moscow State University started as an educational exhibition for Moscovites in 1879, and the pathological collection was a part of the exhibition from the early beginning. The purpose of the collection was to organize a database to work with paleoanthropological pathological findings, as well as medical research of clinical cases. For example, much attention was paid to changes in the shape of the skull and brain during different variants of early fusion of the sutures of the skull and microcephaly. There was assembled a significant collection of Russian materials, and casts of busts, brains and skulls of microcephalics from France, Germany, Estonia, Italy, USA and South America for the exhibition.The collection of pathological cases was expanded and supplemented at the beginning of the 20th century by medical and paleoanthropological cases. Another significant Russian pathological collection was collected in the first half of the 20th century by the radiologist and one of the first paleopathologists D.G. Rokhlin in St. Petersburg. It was intended for medical students, and partly preserved till now. At present time, paleopathological collections in Russia are replenished only by archaeological cases. The old and new parts of collections serve as comparative material and for the training of students of anthropology. With the development of new diagnostic methods, it is important to return to the old parts of the collections to clarify the diagnosis. For ethical reasons, we cannot add new cases of rare diseases to the collection, so it is important to preserve and study the heritage of our predecessors. This research was partly supported by Grant RFBR 17-29-04125.