The return of the living dead: presenting paleontology in museums of São Paulo

ABSTRACT This comparative analysis investigated the narratives presented in twelve different exhibitions addressing paleontological themes in museums in the state of São Paulo. Data were collected by means of photographic records of the exhibits. The parameters used for the analysis included: general themes of the exhibits; use of paleontological iconography; use of other expography; and the exhibition route. Results show that the most frequently used theme was Fossil Assemblages, indicating a possible correlation with the great number of municipal museums organized around local finds. Among the forms of paleontological iconography, ‘paleontography,’ a category comprising all forms of visual representation of paleontological hypotheses regarding the anatomy, biology and ecology of organisms, was the most widely used, being presented predominantly as a secondary narrative as support for a priority presentation, As for the textual resources, the most used were descriptive labels, offering direct information about the objects. Moreover, most exhibits did not determine a route for visitors to follow, adopting an unstructured approach. The findings suggest that there is room for improvement in communicating with visitors and that the structural analysis presented here can be useful in curatorial decision-making. This research represents the most comprehensive characterization of paleontological narratives and serves as a basis both for comparative analyses of other exhibitions and for further studies on visitor perception.