Smithsonian Institution

The Smithsonian Institution is the United States' national museum, education and research complex, established in 1846 by an Act of Congress under the terms of the bequest of the British scientist James Smithson, who left his estate to found, in Washington, an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge. It comprises 21 museums, galleries and research centres together with the National Zoo, governed by a Board of Regents and funded through a mix of federal appropriation and private trust funds. Admission is free at nearly all of its Washington museums. Its relevance to this atlas is as custodian of record for a wide range of religious, ritual and disputed objects across its anthropology, natural history and cultural collections, several of which, including one of the studied crystal skulls, are cited elsewhere in these entries by their present location rather than by an entry of their own.