A Brief History

Anthropology is the comparative, evolutionary and historical study of human and non-human primates. Our internationally respected faculty takes a theoretically-driven, empirically-informed approach to the discipline. Our core mission is to discover and communicate new knowledge
through basic and strategic research, the foundation from which we educate and train scientifically literate and intellectually engaged citizens and equip them with relevant skills for the modern world.

The University of Utah has a long history of anthropological and archaeological research. Henry Montgomery, professor of natural history, began academic archaeological research at the University in the 1890s. In 1914, Byron Cummings founded the Department of Archaeology. In
1917, a joint Department of Anthropology and Sociology was created, and in 1926 Anthropology became a separate department, though briefly reunited with Sociology from 1933 through 1948. The Department grew significantly during the 1960s and 70s and enrollments increased. At that
time, the faculty approached its present size (15 FTE) and a PhD program was added to the curriculum. A shift to an evolutionary and empirical focus emerged in the mid-1980s. This continues today: the department is recognized for its unified scientific and evolutionary approach to major
questions in the discipline and cognate fields, including biology, environmental science, geology, and human genetics.