Arizona State Museum - Tucson, Arizona

Arizona State Museum - Tucson, Arizona

This museum is the oldest - - and largest - - anthropology museum in the Southwest and established in 1893 has given it a long history of collecting valuable pieces from the region.  It is affiliated with the Smithsonian Institution.  It is the largest non-federal archaeological repository in the country and is the state’s official archaeological repository.

The museum houses the only museum conservation laboratory in the state.

The museum holds the world’s largest whole-vessel collection of Southwest Indian pottery with 20,000 specimens.  It has over 150,000 catalogued archaeological and ethnographic artifacts, a quarter of a million photographic negatives and original prints, and 70,000 volumes including many rare and hard to find titles.

The top Navajo textile collection in the nation is at the museum.  Some of the earliest and most rare examples of this type of weaving, including one of the largest Navajo rugs ever woven is at the museum.

They are proud to have one of the largest collections of Casas Grandes pottery in any museum outside of Mexico and also one of the largest collections of Seri material in the US.

Are you a fan of Mexican folk masks from the renowned Cordry Collection?  If so you will be honored to see the more than 500 housed at the museum.

Would you like information on the history of the Hopi during the Spanish and Mexican periods (1540 - 1848)?  If so, the museum has coiled a documentary of this time period.

The museum continues to work on projects such as the excavation of ancestral Hopi villages at Homolovi Ruins State Park and on Hohokam life at a major settlement north of Tucson.

The finest Native American artists in the region are brought into the campus for the annual Southwest Indian Art Fair with over 200 artists participating.

Arizona State Museum presents a full calendar of exciting programs and events which they would like to offer to the people of the area to participate with and learn about this exciting slice of history.

Admission: $3 per person is the suggested donation

Library Hours: Monday to Friday 9:30 - 4:30.  Closed state and national holidays.

Street Address: 1013 E. University Blvd., Tucson, Arizona 85721

Directions to the museum: Arizona State Museum is located in two historic buildings on the U of A campus. Just east of the main gate at University Blvd. and Park Ave.

Phone: Main: 520-621-6302 Library: 520-621-4695