The Anthropology and Archaeology department specialises in cultural anthropology and archaeology. Our research, collections and public programs focus on understandings of what it is to be human, to understand cultural diversity, and to explore complex relationships between society, culture, language, sociality and economy.

The department cares for over 10,000 ethnographic objects collected mainly from Western Australian Aboriginal cultures, stone tools from locations throughout WA and other parts of the world, and 5000 objects from other parts of the world such as Papua New Guinea, Melanesia and Africa.

The department manages and builds its collections on behalf of the people of Western Australia in partnership with various communities. Working together, we focus on repatriation, exhibitions, research projects and cultural maintenance.