Laboratory of Anthropology

Laboratory of Anthropology
Name	Laboratory of Anthropology
Established	1920s
Location	Santa Fe, New Mexico
Type	Research laboratory and museum
Collections	Human remains, artifacts, archives
Director	[name varies by era]

Laboratory of Anthropology.

The Laboratory of Anthropology was an institution in Santa Fe, New Mexico, dedicated to the collection, study, and display of human skeletal remains, cultural materials, and ethnographic objects. Founded in the early 20th century, it became a focal point for interactions among scholars, collectors, Native American communities, and federal agencies, intersecting with broader currents in Museology, Anthropology institutions, and United States cultural policy. Over its existence the laboratory intersected with figures and institutions such as Edward Sapir, Franz Boas, Frederick Hulse, Alfred Kroeber, Smithsonian Institution, and Bureau of Indian Affairs.

History

The laboratory emerged during a period when institutions like the American Museum of Natural History, Field Museum of Natural History, Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, and the Smithsonian Institution were expanding collections across North America and the Southwest. Its founders and early collaborators included collectors and anthropologists who had ties to universities such as University of New Mexico, Harvard University, University of California, Berkeley, and Columbia University. The laboratory participated in excavations and acquisitions contemporaneous with projects associated with Alfred V. Kidder at Pecos, the survey work of Cyrus Thomas, and the archaeology conducted under the auspices of the Works Progress Administration. During the mid-20th century the laboratory's work intersected with legal and cultural shifts exemplified by cases and statutes involving the Indian Reorganization Act and later legislative responses that prompted debates among entities such as the National Park Service and tribal governments including the Pueblo of Zuni and Navajo Nation.

Mission and Collections

The laboratory's stated mission centered on the documentation, analysis, and curation of human remains, funerary objects, and associated cultural materials from the Southwestern United States and adjacent regions. Holdings included osteological assemblages, funerary artifacts, pottery associated with the Ancestral Puebloans, textile fragments comparable to items in the collections of the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture, lithic toolkits akin to those in the Arizona State Museum, photographic archives reminiscent of holdings at the New Mexico History Museum, and correspondence with scholars linked to the School for Advanced Research. Collections provenance often involved excavations, donations from private collectors such as E. H. Davis and George Gustav Heye, transfers from mission-era churches, and exchanges with institutions including the Peabody Museum and regional museums like the Museum of New Mexico.

Research and Methodologies

Research emphasized osteology, craniometry, and comparative anatomy methods that were common in early and mid-20th-century practice, placing the laboratory in dialogue with analytical traditions represented by figures like Earnest Hooton and institutions such as the Carnegie Institution. Fieldwork protocols paralleled surveys undertaken by teams associated with the Smithsonian Institution and state archaeological programs. Analytical techniques evolved to include radiocarbon dating protocols developed by laboratories collaborating with researchers from University of Arizona chronometry groups, stable isotope analysis methodologies similar to work at Cornell University laboratories, and later bioarchaeological frameworks advanced by scholars connected to University of Pennsylvania and the American Anthropological Association. The laboratory's documentation practices included catalogs and accession ledgers comparable to systems used by the Metropolitan Museum of Art and archival procedures found at the Library of Congress.

Exhibitions and Public Outreach

Exhibitions and loans from the laboratory were exhibited regionally and nationally, with partnerships that mirrored those between the National Museum of the American Indian and regional museums. Traveling displays related to Southwestern prehistory and ethnography appeared in venues such as the Palace of the Governors and touring exhibitions once organized by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Educational outreach involved collaborations with regional educational institutions including New Mexico State University and community programs run in concert with tribal cultural offices from groups like the Pueblo of Taos and Mescalero Apache Tribe. Interpretive strategies sometimes reflected museum practices championed by curators at the Smithsonian Institution and modernizing efforts similar to those at the Houston Museum of Natural Science.

Controversies and Ethical Issues

The laboratory became the center of significant controversies related to the treatment, retention, and display of human remains and sacred objects. Debates involved tribal nations such as the Pueblo of Zuni, the Hopi Tribe, and the Navajo Nation and provoked engagement with federal agencies like the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the National Park Service. Ethical disputes paralleled national controversies that led to legislative responses culminating in statutes similar in effect to the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act and prompted litigation and policy inquiries akin to high-profile cases involving the Smithsonian Institution and university museums. Critics and advocates invoked precedents set by litigation and advocacy from organizations such as the American Indian Movement and legal frameworks debated in venues like the United States Court of Federal Claims.

Organizational Structure and Funding

Organizationally, the laboratory operated with a director and curatorial staff analogous to structures found at the Peabody Museum and the Field Museum, supported by research assistants, technicians, and volunteers. Funding sources included private foundations in the mode of the Carnegie Corporation, grants from agencies comparable to the National Endowment for the Humanities and National Science Foundation, and occasionally state allocations resembling those administered by the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs. Donations and bequests from private collectors and collaborations with university departments provided additional resources, while governance oversight at times involved trustees drawn from academic and civic institutions similar to the School of American Research.

Category:Archaeological museums in New Mexico