Arizona State Museum - Tucson, AZ - Anthropology museum

The Arizona State Museum, located in Tucson, Arizona, is home to numerous anthropological collections and prides itself on introducing people to what life was once like in Arizona and northern Mexico.

The museum was established in 1893 and holds a number of notable records, including being the largest and oldest anthropology museum in the Southwest as well as housing the largest collection of Southwest Indian pottery in the world.

Housed on the campus of the University of Arizona, the museum covers some 13,000 years of human history and contains numerous artifacts and relics to really make history come to life. There are a number of both temporary and permanent exhibitions and collections, showcasing history in all its mediums.

Artifacts and collections on display include everything from pottery and jewelry to paintings and photographs, many dating back hundreds if not thousands of years. Over 150,000 artifacts have been catalogued, including the 20,000 specimens of Southwest Indian pottery. It's home to some of the oldest and rarest Navajo textiles, Mexican folk masks and skeletons in the Laboratory of Zooarchaeology, and even houses the original notes and archives of some of the most well-known anthropologists of the country.

The museum is actively involved in research, excavations and teaching, and is Arizona's premier research facility. It's heavily involved in education and runs various programs throughout the year, catering to schoolchildren, university students and even those simply wanting to learn a bit more about anthropological history. It houses a specialist research library open to the public as well as students on the campus, and is also home to a gift and souvenir shop selling educational materials, arts and crafts as well as mementos of the museum itself.

The museum is open throughout the year from 10am to 5pm Monday to Saturday, and is closed on Sundays and public holidays. The museum store is closed for lunch between 12:30pm and 1pm, and the library is open to the public from 10am until 3pm Monday to Thursday, although appointments can be made out of hours if necessary.

Entry is completely free, however donations are encouraged to enable the museum to continue with its work. It's advisable to leave at least 2 hours for a complete tour of the museum, but to look at the exhibits in more detail then longer will be required. Visitors are requested to remember that no bags, food or drinks are allowed in any galleries.

The Arizona State Museum is a great place to go to learn all about the history and culture of the Southwest, and with so many exhibitions and collections and with new ones appearing all the time visitors are sure to leave with new-found knowledge. A great place for tourists as well as students, it was rated as Tucson's Most Impressive Museum in 2008, and for that pedigree alone it's worth a visit.