About the Anthropology and Archaeology Department | Natural History Museum of Los Angeles
Jennifer Saracino, a former Curatorial Assistant, carefully ties the archival cloth tape around a Moche effigy vessel from Peru (100 B.C-A.D. 600) that is currently on display in the Visible Vault: Archaeological Treasures from Ancient Latin America.
Currently on exhibit from our collections...
Find highlights from our Latin American collection in the Visible Vault and come marvel at the wide variety of shapes, colors, and sizes in our Zuni Fetishes exhibit case!
Want to see more? Look for special events like the Curator's Cupboard, where we bring interesting items out of our storerooms to share wiith visitors.
Featured Object from Our Collections
This bottle of Dr. J.H. McLean’s Strengthening Cordial and Blood Purifier was recently excavated from the museum’s north side as a result of the digging to build the subterranean level of our parking structure. It dates to about 1880-1890 and originally cost $1.00 per bottle. According to an 1870s-1880s advertisement, this was the greatest Blood Remedy in the world and most delicious Cordial…it does cure all diseases by natural laws. Try it and you will never be without it. McLean’s 1879 Almanac states that the Blood Purifier contained sarsaparilla, wild cherry, blood root, dandelion, pipsissewa, orange peel and hypophosphites. Hypophosphites are calcium and iron salts that were thought to help treat damaged nervous tissue. The alcohol content was not mentioned but some sources say it was about 80-100% proof!>
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About the Anthropology and Archaeology Departments
Anthropology is the study of humankind — past and present. The Anthropology Department of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County curates archaeological and ethnographic collections collected by and donated to the Museum. Objects from the Anthropology Collections are on display in several exhibit halls and display cases throughout the Museum. Collections are also available for scholarly research. The Archaeology Collection includes approximately 100,000 ancient artifacts.
The majority of the collection is from the Americas, with an emphasis on the western United States and Latin America. Tools, decorative and utilitarian objects are included in the vast assemblage of materials in addition to samples of shell, animal bone, soil, and plant remains that can be used to study past human adaptations. There are 33,000 cultural objects from North, Middle, and South America, Pacific, Australia, Asia, and Africa that comprise the Ethnology Collection. The tools, costumes, and art objects in the ethnology collections document the changes in material culture of indigenous societies caused by the dynamic global interactions of recent centuries and the inherent vitality and continuing diversity of traditional cultures around the world.
The Anthropology Section Archives consists of 10,000 photographs and 350 linear feet of collection documentation, related documents, and items pertinent to our exhibit, research, and collection history.
What are we working on now?
We’ve been working on digitizing our African collection. Much of this collection was donated in the 1960s and 1970s and though the items were well documented then, their information has never been systematically entered into our digital database. Projects like these can shed new light onto objects not seen or considered in a long time and allow us to “rediscover” the treasures we have in our collection. At the left is a beautiful Deangle mask from the Dan peoples who primarily live in the forested areas of Liberia and the Ivory Coast.
Anthropology and Archaeology Staff
Margaret A. Hardin, Ph.D., Acting Deputy Director of Research and Collections, Division Chief for History and Anthropology, Anthropology Curator
Dr. Hardin curated the Zuni Fetishes permanent exhibit case.
Featured Object from Southern California
This textile fragment is made of woven sea grass. It is part of our large sea grass textile collection from San Nicolas Island; one of the Channel Islands off the coast of Southern California. As early as 2000 B.C., Native Americans inhabited these islands, where they engaged in specialized craft production such as making shell beads, drying fish, and weaving clothing from sea grass.