Incorporating ethnography and archaeology, the Department of Anthropology studies humans and their many cultures
The Department of Anthropology aspires to curate the best understood and most ethically held anthropology collections in North America. We seek to document and understand the human communities of the Rocky Mountain region and beyond through study of their material cultures while adhering to the guiding ethical principles of respect, reciprocity, and dialogue. Through ethnology (the study of recent and living peoples) and archaeology (the study of ancient human cultures), the department investigates human diversity in our rapidly transforming world and shares with the public the excitement of the discipline’s art and science.