UNR Museum of People, Place, and Time

10/15/2026

to the opening of the first ever Day at the Museum event! Back in 2015 the Museum was exhibiting "How the West was Fun!" This exhibit was all about the material culture of leisure and play in northwestern Nevada.

This Saturday is the 2026 Day at the Museum event! Visitors can explore more than 20 Museums and Collections from 10 am - 4 pm. There will be food trucks, prizes, and free fun - we hope to see you there!

10/13/2026

Last Friday (the UNR Anthropology Graduate Student Association) held a contest to see who are hunters and who are gatherers.... Armed with atlatls (spear throwers) and targets from , they were semi-successful hunting in Rancho San Rafael park! Only foam animals were injured during this event.

To learn more about the history of atlatls come visit the Museum! Big thank you to for donating the targets.

10/12/2026

Today, on Indigenous Peoples' Day, we honor and celebrate the Indigenous communities of Nevada and across the nation, and the contributions these communities have made throughout the University's history. The University of Nevada, Reno is situated on the traditional homelands of the Numu (Northern Paiute), Wašiw (Washoe), Newe (Western Shoshone), and Nuwu (Southern Paiute) peoples. These lands continue to be a gathering place for Indigenous Peoples and we recognize their deep connections to these places. We extend our appreciation for the opportunity to live and learn on their territory. To learn more about how the University's Office of Indigenous Relations is serving these communities and our Indigenous students, visit https://bit.ly/45hWOF2

Muralist: Autumn Harry (numu_wanderer on Instagram)

10/06/2026

Day at the Museum is coming up on Saturday, Oct. 17th. We hope to see you there!

The free event will feature 20 museums and units from across campus and community, running from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., on Oct. 17

10/05/2026

Today one of our student interns rehoused this small curling iron (Acc. 93-14-101), which was recovered from the Dunton Homestead (26EK7090). Artifacts like this can help personalize the early 20th century homesteading experience in Nevada.

This term students from the Museum Studies class (HIST/ANTH 309) are working to rehouse materials from the Ruby Valley Homestead Project, Elko County Nevada. James Dunton, Edward Hern, and their families homesteaded in the Ruby Valley from ca. 1914-1920. During this period the state and federal government worked together to promote homesteading in marginal desert areas, including Ruby Valley.

In the early 1990s faculty and graduate students worked with the Elko District Office - Bureau of Land Management to survey and excavate portions of the Dunton & Hern homesteads. More information can be found in Marion Salter's 1998 Master's thesis: "Tin Cans, Bottles, and Mason Jars: The Economic Diversity of Homesteads in Ruby Valley, Nevada."

09/25/2026

We are open today and tomorrow (12-5pm) for Nevada Family Weekend! Come visit to learn more about stone tools and the work the Museum of People, Place, and Time is doing on campus.

09/12/2026

Are you interested in hearing more about what is happening at the UNR Museum of People, Place, and Time? Sign up for our quarterly newsletter!

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Also, we are open today from 12-5pm! Come by and visit if you're on campus.

09/10/2026

Today we have a and crossover post!

We recently came across this fun photo of excavations at the DeLong Mammoth Locality, located on the Black Rock Desert, Nevada!

Scientists from and the Bureau of Land Management worked in July 1992 with volunteers to excavate part of the DeLong Mammoth Locality. The area also includes other Ice Age mammals such as horse, bison, and saber-tooth cats! There is no evidence that humans were hunting these animals at the site, instead researchers think they died near a watering hole on the edge of the Black Rock.

The fauna from the excavation are on display at the in Winnemucca, Nevada.

Photo - Front: Sue Stratton. Back (left to right): Velma Lenco, Regina Smith, Steve Wallman, Leisa Friendley, Lee Kruetger, Stephanie Livingston, Darcy Morey, and Dan Amick.

06/12/2026

Earlier this week the Little Wolf Pack Explorers Summer Camp (UNR College Of Education & HD Child & Family Research Center) visited the museum! They toured the exhibit and helped us search the museum for our Great Basin animal friends: Lawrence, Burley, Everett, and Peeps 🐪🦣🐏🐿️*

Big thanks to our spring interns: Jacob, who helped design the activity, and Caroline Syzdek, who created cute drawings of our friends!

*unfortunately there isn’t a pika emoji…