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An iron tool from tenth-century Kenya. A shell amulet from the ancient American Southwest. A pottery shard from prehistoric Brazil. These objects from the anthropology collections at The Field Museum were once in the hands of individual people attempting to solve everyday problems in their environments. Today, at the Museum and in the field, anthropologists and their colleagues restore these objects to life: The tool reveals a hidden link between coastal urban elites and craftspeople in the East African interior. The amulet unlocks the secret of Pueblo status and aesthetics, as well as the exchange of resources over wide areas. The shard discloses complex cultures adapted to fishing and farming without tearing the ecological fabric of the Amazon basin. Through helping us to understand such linkages, The Field Museum’s collections offer us a basis for solving two crucial contemporary problems: how to respect and preserve cultural diversity, and how to protect the natural diversity on which all life depends.
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