Paper Archives
Papers in the Peabody Museum Archives consist of primary source materials that document the Museum’s archaeological and ethnographic research and fieldwork since its founding in 1866. More than 2,800 feet of archival collections contain documents, papers, manuscripts, correspondence, data, field notes, maps, plans, and other historical records that represent diverse peoples from around the world, and were created or collected by the Museum, its individual affiliates, or related entities. The collections also document the history or provenience, as well as the creation of many of the Museum’s archaeological and ethnographic collections.
Another useful resource documenting the history of the Museum and its collections is the Peabody Museum Annual Reports which contain detailed information about museum donors, collections, expeditions and operations. Many of the Annual Reports are part of Harvard University's President Reports, which can be found on online through Harvard University Library.
Letter to FW Putnam from EH Thompson April 1900, 2008.1.62Interested in learning more about the collections?
Check out some highlights below, or search for specific collections in the database
Highlights from the Archival Collections
Papers relating to the work of expeditions and archaeologists in Central America, from early work in the 1880s to contemporary research, including: Adela Breton, Charles Pickering Bowditch, Zelia Nuttall, Oliver Garrison Ricketson, Jr., Tatiana Proskouriakoff, Ian Graham, the Carnegie Institution of Washington, and Evelyn Rattray
Photograph of Tatiana Proskouriakoff working on collections from Chichen Itza, 1974. Gift of Elizabeth Marshall Thomas, 2004.24.31681.1
Papers of Caroline Bond Day – one of the first African American anthropologists – who conducted research within her social circle and own mixed-race Black, white, and Native American family to assemble nearly 350 family histories, surveys, genealogies, photographs and hair samples, providing an invaluable glimpse into middle-class, mixed-race American life in the early 1900s
Genealogical Chart created by Caroline Bond Day (Chart F-13). 993-21-10/100160.1.144
Data, correspondence, and letters relating to physical anthropology, including from Earnest Hooton, William White Howells, and the Peabody Museum’s (circa 1930-1950s) biostatistics lab
Illustration of nasal angles, from the papers of E.A. Hooton. 995‐1‐10/100526.1.2.5.19.1
14,000 pages of diaries, memoirs, letters, bound notebooks, genealogical index cards and ephemera from the Laurence K. and Lorna J. Marshall family expeditions to the Kalahari from 1950-1961 documenting fieldwork methods and interactions with Indigenous communities such as the Ju/’hoansi and Gwi
A page from the Journal of Elizabeth Marshall Thomas documenting her time in the Nyae Nyae area of the Kalahari Desert, Namibia, 1955. Gift of Elizabeth Marshall Thomas, 2003.37.1.30
The Tepe Yahya expedition papers largely consist of field records and publication materials from C. C. Lamberg-Karlovsky’s excavations in Tepe Yahya in Southeastern Iran between 1968 and 1975
Table comparing the composition and texture of paints on sherds from Tepe Yahya, Khurab, and Southern Mesopotomia, 1980s. 2004.24.31585A
Large collection of field notes, photographs, measurements, and dental casts as part of the 1960s interdisciplinary Harvard Solomon Islands Project with Albert Damon linking physical anthropology and epidemiology with studies of social change
Anthropometric form from the 1968 Harvard Solomon Islands Expedition, from the papers of Dr. Albert Damon. 995‐17‐00/1.6.1.2
Archival papers and photographs from Harvard anthropologists in the 1920s, including Eugene Worman’s work in India and Frederick Wulsin’s expeditions to China and Mongolia
Photograph by Frederick R. Wulsin of the East Gate of Wang Yeh Fu, possibly at the state of Alashan in Inner Mongolia, China, taken 1923-24. Gift of Frederick R. Wulsin, 56-55-60/15435.1
Samuel K. Lothrop's papers cover his research and work in Peru, Panama, Guatemala, Mexico, Chile, Tierra del Fuego, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico and Colombia. Also included are correspondence and reports concerning the Institute of Andean Research as well as Lothrop's surveillance work for the U. S. Military Intelligence Department during World War I
A page from the field notebook of Dr. Samuel K. Lothrop from Costa Rica, 1949. Gift of S. K. Lothrop, 996-27-20/75056.1.3.5.1
Early Peabody Museum records, such as those of Frederick Ward Putnam, curator/director from 1875 to 1915, that document the history of collecting, research, and teaching as the Peabody as well as the development of anthropology as an academic discipline
Prof. F.W. Putnam with Marshall Howard Saville in office at Peabody Museum. 2004.24.1100
The papers of Hallam Leonard Movius, Jr. including his archaeological work carried out as a student in Ireland, in the Burma/Java region shortly after graduation, and subsequent digs in the Ain Valley and Dordogne regions of France, as well as his contributions to the area of carbon-14 dating
Color diagram of frontal and side views of human skull. Gift of Nancy Movius, 998-27-40/14628.1.63
Harvard archaeologist Louis Dupree’s papers include field notebooks, correspondence, manuscripts, and photographic material relating to his work in Afghanistan
Photograph of a mountain landscape with buildings, taken by Louis Dupree. Gift of Louis Dupree, 2002.20.2.3
Papers and photographs documenting the Chan Chan-Moche Valley Project, a survey and excavation of the ancient Chimu State capitol Chan Chan, located in the Moche Valley of Peru. The project, directed by Dr. Michael E. Moseley, took place between 1969 and 1975
Photograph of archaeological work in progress at the Gran Chimú citadel in Chan Chan, Moche Valley of Peru, 1971. Gift of Michael E. Moseley, 2010.2.2.5.178.32
The Duchess of Mecklenburg collection records detailing the archaeological findings and correspondence of Duchess Marie Windisch-Graetz (1856-1929). Through her excavations, and with imperial connections as well as family wealth, she assembled over 20,000 objects from 21 Iron Age (800 BCE - 1 CE) burial sites in Slovenia
Photograph of Duchess of Mecklenburg at the excavation of the burial mounds at Stična, Slovenia 1905-14. 2004.24.33236
The Awatovi Expedition records document the Peabody Museum Expedition to the Hopi site of Awatovi, in northeastern Arizona, between 1935-39, and include field notes, diaries, photographs, technical drawings, correspondence, field and artifact cards, historical material, and financial records.
Map of all excavations completed at Awatovi in all five seasons. 995-11-10/99994.1.32