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

Database Collections Database The collections database contains over 250,000 ethnographic and archaeological objects. Database Collections Highlights This section presents objects from the Textile Collection. Research Curatorial Research AMNH Anthropology Curators conduct research around the world in the areas of Ethnology, Archaeology, and Biological Anthropology. Article Collections Management Learn how the Collections Management personnel work to preserve anthropological objects. Article Objects Conservation The Objects Conservation Lab ensures the preservation of the collections for the future. Database Exhibition History Artifacts from current and recent past exhibitions at AMNH which draw substantially from its collections. Database Expedition Photographs Photographs from Jesup North Pacific Expedition (1897-1902) and Lang-Chapin Congo Expedition (1909-1915). Database Archives Search archive finding aids, browse transcripts, drawings, catalogs by Frederick Starr, Berthold Laufer, and Otto Finsch. Database Publications Search a bibliography of anthropological studies published by the Division of Anthropology.

Featured Content

  Cultural Resources Office The Cultural Resources Office (CRO) facilitates repatriation activities for the American Museum of Natural History. Cultural Programs Descendant Communities AMNH collaborative projects with indigenous peoples throughout the world.
Programs and Events News & Events The latest news and events in anthropology: featured projects, important visits, significant publications. Research Conservation of Siberian Collections A two-year project to examine, document, stabilize and rehouse portions of the Museum’s Siberian ethnographic collection.

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.