Collections

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The Museum displays archaeological and ethnographic objects from all parts of the world. The General Pitt Rivers's founding gift contained more than 26,000 objects, but there are now over half a million. The extensive photographic and sound archives contain early records of great importance. Today the Museum is an active teaching department of the University of Oxford. It continues to expand its collections through donations, bequests and special purchases, as well as through students in the course of their fieldwork. The collections lie at the heart of our research and partnerships.

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Ethnography and archaeology

The Museum holds archaeological and ethnographic objects from all parts of the world. It 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. Others were inspired by his gift, and the collections grew exponentially over the last century.

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Photograph and manuscript collections

The Museum has collected photographs ever since its foundation. We hold important collections of 19th- and early 20th-century photography, and important fieldwork archives, such as the photographs of the traveller Wilfred Thesiger, whose collection alone numbers some 38,000 images. The Museum also holds important sound and film collections.

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Conservation

Conservators at the Pitt Rivers use a variety of techniques to stabilise and preserve ethnographic objects, and slow down further deterioration. Their techniques include analysis of materials and historical research. These scientific approaches are coupled with an awareness of the sensitivities of originating communities.

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The Balfour Library

The Balfour Library is one of the UK’s leading museum research and teaching libraries for the study of anthropology, archaeology and world music. It holds around 20,000 books, 12,000 pamphlets and 300 journal titles.

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Online collections

The online collections provide access to all the information held by the Museum about the objects and historic photographs in its collections.

Our services

The Museum has a number of facilities to support research visits. Our staff are on hand to support requests, including the documenting and digitising of fieldwork collections. We support more than 600 research visits every year. We will do everything we can to provide access, and apologize if we cannot accomodate your request due to limitations on staff time or the fragility of items requested.

Past exhibitions

See documentation about a selection of the Museum's past exhibitions

Detail of the neck of shirt (1893.67.5) before conservation

The work of conservators underpins every aspect of Museum activity, and their understanding of the diverse materials from which ethnographic artefacts are made is vital. As well as conserving artefacts, they advise on the control of the Museum's environment, prevent insect attacks without deploying dangerous pesticides, and oversee the safe packing of artefacts for international loan or safe storage.

The case studies on this page document the work of the conservators responsible for safeguarding the 300,000 artefacts in the Museum's collections.