Founded in 1887, the Penn Museum has always been one of the world’s great archaeology and anthropology research museums, and the largest university museum in the United States. With roughly one million objects in our care, the Penn Museum encapsulates and illustrates the human story: who we are and where we came from. As a dynamic research institution with many ongoing research projects, the Museum is a vibrant and engaging place of continual discovery, with the mandate of research, teaching, collections stewardship, and public engagement—the four “pillars” of what we do.
Our Mission
The Penn Museum transforms understanding of the human experience.
The Pillars of Our Mandate
- Research: We expand knowledge of the human story through archaeological and anthropological research and fieldwork.
- Teaching: We share knowledge and our collections in classrooms, galleries, and laboratories.
- Collections Stewardship: We preserve and steward one of the world’s great archaeological and ethnographic collections.
- Public Engagement: We engage the University, and our local, national, and global communities through exceptional galleries, exhibitions, programs, and digital content.
What is Archaeology?
Archaeology is the study of our human past through the material remains and environmental data people have left behind. From the first traces of our earliest human ancestors to 21st century buildings, archaeology analyzes the physical remains created or modified by people in pursuit of a broad understanding of our human experience.
What is Anthropology?
Anthropology is the study of humans, past and present. To understand the full sweep and complexity of cultures across all of human history, anthropology draws and builds upon knowledge from the social and biological sciences as well as the humanities and physical sciences. [Definition courtesy of the American Anthropological Association]