Robert S. Peabody Museum of Archaeology

The Robert S. Peabody Museum of Archaeology sits on the Phillips Academy campus and holds extensive research collections focused on the Americas. The holdings contain hundreds of thousands of artifacts, photographs, and documents gathered from archaeological excavations and field research spanning different time periods.

The museum was founded in 1901 to introduce students to archaeology and support scholarly research. Its founder, an academy alumnus, brought a passion for fieldwork and collecting that became the foundation for the major institution it is today.

The museum works closely with Native American communities to return artifacts to their origins. This partnership shows how the institution treats its collections with respect and builds relationships with the cultures whose history it holds.

The museum provides visitors with online access to an extensive digitized collection, including thousands of photographs and archaeological documents. Planning ahead helps visitors explore meaningfully, as the collections are deep and specialized in focus.

Monthly lectures by the Massachusetts Archaeological Society connect academy students with current research findings and new discoveries. These regular events make the institution a living place of ongoing scholarly conversation rather than simply a static archive.

Location: Andover

Inception: 1901

GPS coordinates: 42.64770,-71.13530

Latest update: December 14, 2025 15:00