Board for Anthropological Research

Board for Anthropological Research
Name	Board for Anthropological Research
Type	Nonprofit research organization
Founded	19XX
Headquarters	City, Country
Area served	Global
Focus	Anthropology, Ethnography, Archaeology

Board for Anthropological Research is an independent research body dedicated to the study of human cultures, archaeological sites, and material heritage. The Board supports fieldwork, curatorial work, and publication efforts linking museums, universities, and cultural institutions across continents. It engages with scholars, indigenous communities, and public agencies to preserve artifacts and advance anthropological knowledge.

History

The Board traces institutional roots to developments in late 19th and 20th century scholarship involving figures and institutions such as Franz Boas, Bronisław Malinowski, Alfred Radcliffe-Brown, Margaret Mead, Vere Gordon Childe, Lewis Henry Morgan, and Edward Burnett Tylor. Early trustees and affiliates included curators from the British Museum, Smithsonian Institution, Musée du quai Branly, Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Field Museum of Natural History. The Board's formative moments paralleled expeditions linked to Howard Carter, Hiram Bingham, Karl von den Steinen, Claude Lévi-Strauss, and collaborations with universities such as University of Oxford, Harvard University, University of Cambridge, Columbia University, University of California, Berkeley, University of Chicago, University of Pennsylvania, Yale University, Australian National University, University of Sydney, University of Toronto, McGill University, University of Tokyo, National University of Singapore, University of Cape Town, Stony Brook University, University of Michigan, Cornell University, Princeton University, University of California, Los Angeles, University of Edinburgh, London School of Economics, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Humboldt University of Berlin, University of Leiden, Leiden University, University of São Paulo, and University of Buenos Aires. The Board participated in field seasons associated with sites like Machu Picchu, Stonehenge, Çatalhöyük, Pompeii, Tikal, Angkor Wat, Göbekli Tepe, Çatalhöyük excavation, Jericho, Great Zimbabwe, and Teotihuacan.

Mission and Objectives

The Board's charter references objectives shared with organizations such as the International Council of Museums, UNESCO, British Academy, Royal Society, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Science Foundation, European Research Council, Max Planck Society, Smithsonian Institution, and World Monuments Fund. Its goals encompass conservation priorities reflected in collaborations with the International Union for Conservation of Nature, legal frameworks like the 1970 UNESCO Convention, and ethical standards paralleling guidelines from the American Anthropological Association. The Board advances comparative studies alongside centers and projects at Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Pitt Rivers Museum, Royal Ontario Museum, Museum of Anthropology at UBC, British Columbia Museum, National Museum of Australia, Museum für Völkerkunde zu Berlin, National Museum of Anthropology (Mexico), Museo Nacional de Antropología (Spain), and Museo Nacional de Antropología (Mexico City).

Governance and Organization

The Board's governance model resembles trustee structures at institutions like the Wellcome Trust, Guggenheim Foundation, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Ford Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, Carnegie Corporation of New York, and MacArthur Foundation. Its executive offices interact with legal advisors familiar with international statutes such as the UNESCO World Heritage Convention and consultancies that work with the International Council on Monuments and Sites and the ICOMOS. Boards of advisors have included specialists associated with journals and presses like Nature, Science, American Antiquity, Journal of Anthropological Research, Current Anthropology, Antiquity (journal), Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press, and Routledge.

Research Programs and Projects

Research initiatives mirror projects like the Human Genome Project in scale for ethnographic documentation and align methodologically with archaeological programs at National Geographic Society, Institute of Archaeology, Oxford, Institute of Archaeology, University College London, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Sainsbury Research Unit, British School at Rome, British School at Athens, School of American Research, Peopling of the Americas project, Jomon archaeology, Neolithic studies, Paleoanthropology fieldwork, Pleistocene archaeology, and paleoenvironmental studies linked to IPCC assessments. Field projects have been conducted in partnership with institutions at regions including Amazon Rainforest, Andes, Sahara Desert, Great Plains, Carpathian Basin, Balkans, Himalayas, Siberia, Borneo, New Guinea Highlands, Papua New Guinea, Mali, Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Morocco, Spain, France, Italy, Germany, Greece, Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Israel, Palestine, China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, Peru, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, and Colombia.

Collections and Archives

The Board curates assemblages and archives comparable to holdings at the British Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum, Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History, Australian Museum, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Royal Ontario Museum, Peabody Museum, Ashmolean Museum, Bodleian Library, Bibliothèque nationale de France, National Archives (UK), National Archives and Records Administration, Trove, Europeana, Digital Public Library of America, Getty Research Institute, and Wellcome Collection. Its materials include field notes, recordings, maps, photographs, ceramics, lithics, textiles, and oral histories documented in formats used by the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions and archived under cataloging schemes like those of the Dublin Core.

Collaborations and Partnerships

The Board's partnerships span academic, museum, and funding partners such as the Council for British Research in the Levant, British Academy, Leverhulme Trust, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Russian Academy of Sciences, Academia Sinica, National Research Council (Italy), Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología, Department of Antiquities (Jordan), Egyptian Antiquities Authority, Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Comisión Nacional de Museos y Monumentos, Ministry of Culture (France), Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale, Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports, National Museum of China, National Museum of Korea, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Carnegie Institution for Science, World Bank, and United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

Public Outreach and Education

Educational and outreach programs align with exhibitions and initiatives at institutions like the British Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Museum of Natural History, New York, Science Museum London, California Academy of Sciences, Natural History Museum, London, Royal Ontario Museum, Australian Museum, Auckland War Memorial Museum, National Museum of Anthropology (Mexico City), Museo Nacional de Antropología (Madrid), Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, National Gallery of Art, Tate Modern, Centre Pompidou, Smithsonian Folklife Festival, Hay Festival, Cheltenham Festival, and the World Science Festival. Public programming includes lectures, traveling exhibitions, digital portals modeled after Google Arts & Culture, community-based workshops with indigenous organizations such as the Assembly of First Nations, National Congress of American Indians, Aboriginal Heritage Office, and repatriation dialogues informed by laws like the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act.

Category:Anthropology organizations