MU is home to an anthropology museum that is one of the Midwest’s few and Missouri’s only.
The Museum of Anthropology is located on Francis Quadrangle in Swallow Hall. Associate curator Candace Sall said it offers students and the public a place to learn about the heritage of the Missouri area and broaden their cultural horizons.
Sall said with many of the artifacts it is possible to make connections with the modern world and find things that have remained somewhat constant through cultures and time.
“What’s old is new, what’s new is old,” Sall said.
The museum has permanent exhibits featuring Missouri archaeology, including an 8,000-year-old and second oldest known shoe and artifacts from Missouri pioneer families. Other collections include Southwestern and Alaskan artifacts. Additionally, assistant curator Jessica Boldt organized a temporary exhibit, titled “Walk the World: Shoes from Six Continents,” on display until July.
“Walk the World” is a collection of shoes worn by cultures around the world. Visitors can see toe-knob sandals with bronze inlay from India and Japanese Geta as well as the Chinese lotus shoes worn by women whose feet were bound.
“I feel that shoes are interesting because they serve a purpose, they have a function, but there are many different styles that the function can be served,” Boldt said.
The exhibit has received a good reaction from the public, which Boldt said has been gratifying. Visitors have commented in the guest book and Boldt said visitors can identify with the shoes.
All the pieces in Boldt’s display were taken from the museum’s own collection, which Sall said has around 30,000 artifacts.
“We’re lucky to have collections that span the globe,” Sall said.
Since the museum has such an extensive collection, a large number of items are stored at the Museum Support Center on Rock Quarry Road. The Museum Support Center maintains the thousands of artifacts that cannot be displayed at the museum and offers additional exhibits including the world’s largest archery collection, collected and donated to the museum by former archer and author Charles E. Grayson.
Like Grayson’s donation, the museum now obtains most of its pieces by donations, though it used to purchase many of the artifacts. Sall said MU alumni and other Missourians will often donate, as well as the occasional out-of-state donor who hears of the museum and its work.
Columbia resident Chris Young has been visiting the Museum of Anthropology and the Museum of Art and Archaeology for years.
“I think it’s really exciting that we have something like this in Columbia,” Young said. “I think it’s a nice resource for learning about other cultures and how the land was used before we came. Not to use it would be a waste.”
