This guide provides a general overview of the Library's Anthropology collections, and offers some initial strategies and tips for exploring these further, for both onsite and offsite researchers.

Anthropology is the study of the origin, the behavior, and the physical, social, and cultural development of humans. The Library's unique, multi-format collections provide access to materials encompassing the sub-fields of social or cultural anthropology, physical anthropology, visual anthropology (focused on the study and production of art, architecture, dance, cinema, image, music, religion), archaeology, and linguistic anthropology, through documents, texts, sound recordings, films, maps, artifacts in a multitude of print, digital and material formats.

Diverse and Inclusive Collecting Statement

As the nation’s de facto national library, the Library of Congress strives to build an expansive, yet selective, collection that records the creativity of the United States and is reflective of the nation’s diversity and complexity. The Library’s mandate is to have collections that are inclusive and representative of a diversity of creators and ideas. A priority includes acquiring material of underrepresented perspectives and voices in the Library’s collections to ensure diverse authorship, This orientation supports the development of rich and inclusive Anthropology collections for researchers to explore.

For more information, see the Library's Collection Development Policy for Anthropology and Archaeology (2023 Update) (PDF 295KB)