Oxford 2020/21
8
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South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3PP
01865 270927
PITT RIVERS
MUSEUM
Pitt Rivers Museum displays
archaeological and ethnographic
objects from all parts of the
world and all time periods and
is a truly global museum. It’s
also a teaching and research
institution, its curators doubling
as university lecturers in either
cultural anthropology or prehistoric
archaeology. The museum was
founded in 1884 when General Pitt
Rivers, an influential figure in the
development of archaeology and
evolutionary anthropology, gave
his collection to the University of
Oxford. There were more than
26,000 objects in 1884, but today
there are over half a million in
the museum. Many were donated
by early anthropologists and
explorers. The collection includes
extensive photographic, film,
manuscript and sound collections.
Today the museum is a dynamic,
forward-looking institution with
many connections to source
communities
throughout
the
world including the Haida people
of Canada. Unusually, the Pitt’s
collection is arranged thematically,
according to how the objects
were used, rather than according
to their age or origin. Exhibits
include a Haida totem pole, at
over 11 metres high the largest
object on display in the museum.
Sourced from a Haida community,
it originally stood outside Star
House in the village of Old Massett
in British Columbia.
