Collections

The museum's collection contains about 500,000 objects that represent nearly every indigenous culture area in North America.

Collections are especially strong in the Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, Southwest, and Arctic areas of North America. The museum also holds significant type collections from the Tehuacan Valley of Mexico and the European Paleolithic.

Ethnographic materials, dating from around 1800 to the present, complement the archaeological collections. These include clothing and other textiles, utensils, weaponry, basketry and pottery. The largest collection is North American Indian basketry. Significant Central American and South American collections, especially textiles, supplement the archaeological holdings from these areas.

A photographic archive of approximately 45,000 images, primarily derived from the museum's research, and a 5,000-volume library provide documentary support. Images include early glass plate negatives and lantern slides, as well as more recent transparencies, negatives and prints. The research library contains many rare volumes of archaeological and historical interest, in addition to recent books, monographs and journals.