Ten Kate's anthropological knowledge gathered over several decades of travel was considered as "embryonically modern" attesting to his scientific stature.

[3] Born in Amsterdam, he grew up in The Hague, the son of Herman Frederik Carel ten Kate senior (1822-1891), an artist, and Madelon Sophie Elisabeth Thooft (1823-1874).

But upon returning from a trip to Corsica with a family friend, Charles William Meredith van de Velde, ten Kate decided to change his academic pursuits to science.

Following this great expedition, which lasted 14 months, he published his findings in a book titled Reizen en Onderzoekingen in Noord-Amerika (Leiden, 1885).

[2] Notably included were studies of the physical anthropology and rock art of the Cape Region of Baja California Sur, made together with the American ornithologist Lyman Belding.

[7][8][9][10] Ten Kate took part in the trip undertaken by Prince Roland Bonaparte and the Marquis de Villeneuve to Scandinavia and Lapland, during the summer of 1884.

Under Frank Hamilton Cushing's leadership, ten Kate participated in the studies of the Zuni tribe of the American Southwest as part of the Hemenway Southwestern Archaeological Expedition.

In 1890, he was commissioned by the Royal Geographical Society under the auspices of Dutch government, to explore the anthropology of the aborigines of the islands of Java, Timor, Flores, Sumba (Sandalwood), Roti, and many others.

Later, in the anthropological section of the La Plata Museum he dedicated himself to office tasks, such as the organization and study of a collection made up of 300 skulls from indigenous groups that had lived in the province of Buenos Aires and  northern Patagonia.

Towards July of that year, he left Argentina, returning to Europe, where he analyzed samples deposited there, which allowed him to write some comparative works.

During this time, he work intensely to increase and organize the photographic collection of individuals representative of South American groups, such as Araucanos, Tehuelches, Guayaquíes, Calchaquíes and Chiriguanos.