Museum of Archeology and Ethnology of the University of São Paulo

More than 150,000 archaeological and ethnographic artifacts, one of the largest such collections in Brazil, form the holdings of the Museum of Archeology and Ethnology of the University of São Paulo, known as MAE-USP. Gathered since the late 19th century through fieldwork, excavations and donations, the archaeological collection spans the Mediterranean and the Middle East, pre-Columbian America and, above all, pre-colonial Brazil. The ethnographic collection covers African and Afro-Brazilian populations and Indigenous peoples from every region of Brazil.

The museum was created in 1989. It brought together the archaeology and ethnology sections of the Museu Paulista, the collections of the university's Institute of Prehistory and the Plínio Ayrosa Collection. It stands on the Cidade Universitária campus in the city's West Zone.

As a university department, MAE centres on research and teaching and keeps a library of about 60,000 volumes. It also runs exhibitions and educational programmes for the general public, which suits visitors with a serious interest in archaeology and in Brazil's Indigenous and Afro-Brazilian heritage.