Anthropology

The Anthropology Division collections contain an outstanding research collection representative of the North American southern grasslands encompassing the human record and natural history.

The major guiding theme for the Division's collections since the founding of the Museum has been the relationship between people, the land, and water, enhanced today through the concepts of ecosystems, paleoecology, landscape approach, and adaptation. These materials form the comprehensive Anthropology Core Collections that document the cultural and natural heritage of the Southern Plains, the Greater Southwest, and surrounding regions.

The Core Collections consist of archaeological, ethnological, and biological materials, samples, and associated documentation. The collections have been generated through in-house field collecting as part of research expeditions, as well as donated collections that enhance the collections.

The Division houses over 2.7 million objects. The collections are nationally significant due to the regional focus, time span, varied cultural time periods represented, and relationships to other sites in North and South America.