Park of Science and Human Evolution in Krasiejów

Krasiejów, a village in the Ozimek municipality 25 kilometres east of Opole, became famous for the palaeontological excavations carried out here. Next to JuraPark — a palaeontological museum combined with an amusement park on the site of a former clay pit — the Park of Science and Human Evolution opened in 2014, described as the most modern Museum of the Earth in Europe. The concept of the multimedia exhibitions was prepared by dr Andrzej Boczarowski, who designed several thousand drawings and graphics for each facility.

A journey back in time

The visit begins with a simulated space shuttle flight to the times of 66 million years ago, when the dinosaurs were dying out. At the Windows of Prehistory exhibition — with headphones, 3D glasses and an audio guide — successive rooms follow the phylogenetic tree of humans: from the extinction of the dinosaurs through the beginnings of bipedalism and the story of the first family to mammoth hunters and the birth of art. A separate exhibition, The History of the Knife, traces the development of tools from stone to the flint and obsidian blades of the Maya and modern electronics.

The man from the glacier

One of the strongest points is the presentation of Ötzi, the oldest known human mummy. Born around 3300 BC near Bolzano, the man died at the age of 45 on the Schnalstal glacier in the Alps; he was 1.65 m tall, weighed 50 kg and was killed. The exhibition is complemented by fossils from around the world and archaeological artefacts. After visiting, you can walk 300 metres to JuraPark and see the excavation site with replicas of prehistoric animals.