Take a little look

The Ancient Egypt Gallery is one of the most-loved galleries in the Museum. It was originally established in 1939 and has changed very little since, evoking an overwhelming sense of nostalgia in our visitors. The Ancient Egypt Gallery gives an insight into the religion, burial practices and everyday life of Ancient Egypt. It features elements of the collection which is comprised of more than 650 artefacts, most of which are genuine pieces from Ancient Egypt, with only a few replicas and model casts. 

The Australian Aboriginal Cultures Gallery celebrates the cultural achievements of Australia’s Aboriginal people, one of the world’s oldest continuous living cultures. This object-rich experience features over 3,000 items across two floors. The artefacts are from communities across the country, drawing from the Museum’s extensive collections. Over thousands of years Australia’s Aboriginal people have successfully adapted to a changing Australian environment and survived the impact of European colonisation. This gallery shows how they have innovated and developed creative ways of life in one of the world’s harshest continents. 

The First Life: Ediacara Biota Gallery showcases some of the finest examples of the oldest known examples of complex, multicellular animal life on Earth. The new gallery illustrates the story of the evolution of life, based on new field research where our palaeontologists are excavating areas of fossil seafloors and discovering new fossil sites in the Flinders Ranges. 

Megafauna refer to a number of large animals including mammals, birds and reptiles that lived during the past 100,000 years. Examples of some of these fossils can be seen in the Museum’s Megafauna display on Level 3. Here in Australia the megafauna included animals such as Diprotodon, a very large marsupial plant eater; Procoptodon, a giant leaf-eating kangaroo; Genyornis, a very tall flightless bird like an emu; Wonambi, a six-metre-long snake; and Thylacoleo, a carnivorous marsupial.

The stunning Minerals and Meteorites Gallery quite literally sparkles and shines with some of the most beautiful mineral specimens of South Australia. Stunning colours, shapes and sizes are all on show, handpicked from more than 35,000 specimens in our Minerals Collection, making it one the largest in the country. Many of the specimens on display were originally part of private collections that have been donated or purchased by the Museum. South Australia has a long history of meteorite discovery, dating back to 1875 with the discovery of the Yardea meteorite in the Gawler Ranges. 

Imagine giant marine reptiles 10m long living and thriving in icy inland seas where there is now only desert. The Opal Fossils Gallery brings these imaginings to life with spectacular opalised fossils from Coober Pedy and Andamooka in the State's north. The centrepiece of the gallery is literally a jewel: the opalised skeleton of a 6m long Addyman Plesiosaur. This priceless specimen was found in an opal mine in Andamooka in 1968. It is the finest known opalised skeleton on Earth. 

The Pacific Cultures Gallery is the largest display of Pacific material in Australia, with around 3000 bows, arrows, spears, shields, utensils, ornaments, masks and ritual objects on display. It showcases artefacts from the Pacific Cultures region – Papua New Guinea, the Solomon and Santa Cruz Islands, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, Fiji and New Zealand. 

The Mawson Gallery focuses on the achievements of Sir Douglas Mawson, a remarkable man who was also Chair of the South Australian Museum Board from 1951–1958. Sir Douglas was a man of great vision and determination, responsible for a legacy of scientific knowledge of the Antarctic region. The gallery uses artefacts and specimens — many of which were Mawson’s personal belongings, including his sled, scientific tools, boots, camel-hair sleeping bag, mittens and balaclavas — to give some insight into his achievements. There are also letters, papers, photographs and a model of the hut where he and his team lived.

Take a walk through a transect of South Australia, from the hot and dry north to the deep oceans of the south. This gallery tells the unique story of our state’s diverse wildlife and environmental regions: arid, temperate, coastal and marine. More than 12,000 individual models were hand-made to create this gallery, along with historical taxidermy specimens from the Museum’s mammals and birds collections. 

Whales and dolphins are a favourite with many Australians as they symbolise our love of the ocean and its amazing marine life. The whales and dolphins display is alongside the Museum Café. The articulated skeletons include an 18m sperm whale — one of the largest ever collected — and is not to be missed.

The World Mammals Gallery is an old family favourite and one of the first most people see, as it is located on the ground floor. Many of the specimens in this gallery are over 70 years old; Miss Siam, an Indian elephant, is over 100 years old. Her articulated skeleton is in the Science Centre. She lived at the Adelaide Zoo and died in 1904.