The Ancient Americas

The America’s Importance to The Field Museum

The Field Museum decided to undertake a major renovation of its exhibitions on the archaeology of the Americas for many reasons. The old exhibitions dated from the 1950s, and some of the information was outdated and, in some cases, incorrect. Also, the framework of anthropology itself had changed. Scientific understanding of human culture had grown, and The Ancient Americas exhibition needed to reflect this newfound knowledge.

New Cultural Information
Stereotypes and inaccurate portrayals of the diverse and complex lives of Indigenous peoples past and present exist throughout the Americas and the world today—including in the media, schools, and even museums. Over the last fifty years, Field Museum archaeologists and many other scientists, both Indigenous and non, have participated in ground-breaking research that has shattered long-held preconceptions of life in the early Americas. Archeological and anthropological fieldwork and collections-based studies have revealed much more about Indigenous cultures, creating a clearer picture of their multi-faceted lifestyles in the past and present. New tools and technologies have also helped archaeologists uncover previously undiscovered cultural material that shed new light on many early societies of the Americas. In addition, educational institutions like the Field Museum are working with Indigenous experts and community members in the development of exhibitions and programming related to their peoples.

New Cultural Understanding
Since the original exhibit was installed 50 years ago, anthropologists have learned much about how and why human societies change over time. The notion of “cultural progression”—meaning that the most “successful” cultures are those that are the most “socially complex”—has proven to be untrue. Today, scientists understand that people change cultural practices to respond to changing conditions. Change is complicated and not necessarily in a straight line towards “progress.”

Research has shown that there is no best or model culture; all cultures have advantages and disadvantages and these can only be assessed in the appropriate social and environmental context. All cultures are equally valid to the individuals living in them. And all people question their culture’s rules or norms at times. This new understanding dramatically affects our interpretation of cultural development across the ancient Americas.

New Cultural Communication
To communicate this newfound knowledge to the public, the galleries of The Ancient Americas are organized in a uniquely revealing way: not in chronological or geographical order, but around the diverse approaches people have developed to meet the challenges they face. The exhibition breaks from the historically static modes of presenting Indigenous peoples by acknowledging that Indigenous groups are dynamic, living peoples with diverse histories. And rather than featuring every society in the ancient Americas, the exhibition instead focuses on those cultures that best represent a particular lifestyle or method of problem-solving.

To ensure that The Ancient Americas incorporated the perspectives of descendants from these cultures, The Field Museum partnered with Indigenous and Latino community advisory groups. These dedicated individuals provided mentorship and guidance throughout the course of this project and helped to sculpt the content of both the exhibition and related educational materials. In this way, the Museum ensured an accurate story that incorporated the perspectives of Indigenous peoples.

Beyond The Ancient Americas

The Ancient Americas exhibition features over 10,000 years of Indigenous histories in the Americas, leading up to European contact.

A future Field Museum exhibition will examine the tumultuous colonial history of the Americas, covering the Americas from 1492 through today.

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