Anthropology

The Division of Anthropology is concerned with all aspects of human behavior—past, present, and with an eye to the future. Our work is biological, archaeological, socio-cultural, and linguistic.

Established in 1873, only four years after the Museum's founding, the Division has acquired over 500,000 objects representing the peoples of the Americas, Africa, Asia, Europe and the Pacific Islands. As one of the oldest departments of anthropology in the United States, our collections and archives are important resources for the history and continuing work of our discipline.

Over 250,000 objects have been digitally imaged and are accessible online through the Collections Database.

Anthropology Collections Object of the Day

Generous support for the creation of digital images of artifacts, archival documents, and photographs has been provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities, New York State Council on the Arts, and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.