About Arizona State Museum

Arizona State Museum…

• is the oldest and largest anthropology museum in the Southwest, established in 1893 by the Arizona Territorial Legislature.
• is the state's official permitting agency for archaeological and paleontological projects across the state.
• is the state’s official archaeological repository and is the largest/busiest non-federal intake facility in the country.
• administers the Arizona Antiquities Act; assists state and federal agencies in enforcing related legislation and repatriation.
• is the University of Arizona’s anthropology museum and is one of the oldest research units on the campus.
• hosts researchers from around the world who use the collections to expand the frontiers of knowledge in archaeology, ethnology, and ethnohistory.
• is an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution.

Arizona State Museum…

• holds a comprehensive collection of American Indian basketry, totalling 25,000+ woven pieces of rare and outstanding baskets, sandals, cradle boards, mats, cordage, and preserved fibers representing every indigenous basket-making culture in North America.
• holds the world’s largest whole-vessel collection of Southwest Indian pottery (20,000+ specimens).
• cares for millions of objects, including more than 300,000 catalogued archaeological artifacts, 40,000 ethnographic artifacts, 500,000 photographic negatives and original prints, and 70,000 volumes of rare and hard-to-find titles.
• curates the artifacts used by pioneering archaeologists to define the Mogollon and Hohokam cultures, as well as the Salado phenomenon.
• holds one of the nation’s top Navajo textile collections that includes some of the earliest and most rare examples of this type of weaving, including one of the largest Navajo rugs ever woven.
• holds one of the largest collections of Casas Grandes pottery in any museum outside of Mexico.
• holds one of the largest collections of Seri material in the U.S.
• has more than 500 outstanding examples of Mexican folk masks from the renowned Cordry Collection.
• holds the archives, papers and original field notes and drawings of SW anthropology giants such as Emil Haury, Grenville Goodwin, Edward Spicer, Clara Lee Tanner, and others.
• has more than 4,000 comparative vertebrate skeletons in the Stanley J. Olsen Laboratory of Zooarchaeology.

More About Collections at ASM

Arizona State Museum…

• conducts research on late prehispanic migrations, the emergence of the Salado phenomenon, and connections between the ancient peoples of Arizona and present-day tribal communities.
• conducts ongoing excavations to understand Hohokam life.
• continues more than 25 years of research on ancestral Hopi villages near Winslow, Arizona.
• collaborates in research, study, and teaching with the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia in Mexico.
• conducts research on the intriguing “trincheras” or terraced hilltop sites found in Arizona and Mexico.
• conducts research on the living legacies of Spanish and Mexican water rights in the Southwest.
• prepares and publishes broad interpretive histories that situate the United States and Mexico in continental and global contexts.
• has compiled thousands of computerized records and documentary materials on the colonial history of the greater Southwest and northern Mexico.
• has researched and edited a documentary history of the Hopi during the Spanish and Mexican periods (1540–1848).
• is researching and editing a documentary history of the O’odham people.
• studies the history of environmental change in the borderland regions of Arizona and New Mexico.
• conducts research on prehistoric human biological and cultural adaptations to desert ecosystems.
• conducts research on the prehistoric and historic use of animals by southwestern peoples and is creating an interactive mapping database of Arizona archaeological faunal remains to benefit wildlife management practices.

More About Research at ASM

Arizona State Museum…

• hosts more than 200 Native artists from around the region for the annual Southwest Indian Art Fair.
• offers a full calendar of engaging events and programs for learners of all ages.
• shares its expertise through lectures, workshops, summer camps, and travel tours.
• interprets museum research through dynamic exhibits and hands-on activities.
• has a unique education-based store—Native Goods—that supports the region’s Native artists by selling only authentic, handmade arts and crafts.
• offers a membership program with a host of benefits including free general admission, and discounts on paid programs such as travel tours and summer camps.
• has a volunteer program that matches individual interests and skills with available positions within the museum; ASM volunteers work in every museum division and contribute more than 7,000 hours of annual service.
• trains community volunteers and university students to educate visitors through guided tours.
• facilitates an internship program that places university students in positions throughout the museum and at the National Park Service’s Western Archaeological Conservation Center.
• opens dialogues through its blog.
• presents audio and video podcasts on a variety of subjects.
• can be followed on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.

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