Maxwell Museum of Anthropology

Maxwell Museum of Anthropology

Credit: Open Exhibits  Heist! at the Maxwell Museum of Anthropology

Credit: Open Exhibits Heist! at the Maxwell Museum of Anthropology

Located on the University of New Mexico campus, the Maxwell Museum of Anthropology is the #1 spot in Albuquerque to learn all about global cultures past and present. Founded in 1932, this global heritage museum places a heavy emphasis on the Southwest, though it also briefly covers Africa, Arctic, Australia, Central and South America, New Guinea, India, Pakistan, and Southeast Asia. Maxwell is considered to be the oldest public museum in all of Albuquerque and it has always worked to “actively support and enhance the University of New Mexico’s functions of education and research”. By working together, both the University and this museum provide guests with some of the absolute most comprehensive knowledge of global heritage in the U.S.

Within the museum, you will find over 1 million objects. The objects make up “relevant and compelling exhibits describing and interpreting anthropologic subjects’, the entire experience truly engaging and educational. All the exhibits together represent over 2.5 million years of human cultural history, the more specific subjects covered including archeology, ethnology, and biological anthropology. Discover the ethnological items, human skeletal remains, orthodontic records, and over 100,000 images on your own with your group or perhaps get a more comprehensive viewing by taking a docent-led tour. Some examples of the more popular exhibits include Ancestors, an area discussing the biological changes and cultural turning points in our past, as well as the People of the Southwest, which gives archeological evidence of people within prehistoric American Southwest.

Before you leave this fascinating museum head to the Museum Store, a shop featuring Native American Artists work from New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah, as well as several local and fair trade items.