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Pitt Rivers Museum

 
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The Pitt Rivers Museum is a museum
Museum

A museum is a "permanent institution in the service of society and of its development, open to the public, which acquires, conserves, researches, communicates and exhibits the tangible and intangible heritage of humanity and its environment, for the purposes of education, study, and entertainment", as defined by the International Coun...
 displaying the archaeological
Archaeology

Archaeology, archeology, or arch?ology is the science that studies Homo cultures through the recovery, documentation, analysis, and interpretation of material remains and environmental data, including architecture, Artifact , features, Biofact s, and cultural landscape....
 and anthropological
Anthropology

Anthropology is the study of humans and humanity in its totality. Anthropology has origins in the natural sciences, and the humanities. In Great Britain it was originally divided into physical anthropology and cultural anthropology, which itself was divided into archaeology, technology, ethnology and sociology ....
 collections of the University of Oxford
University of Oxford

The University of Oxford , located in the city of Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation in the English-speaking world....
. The museum is located to the east of the Oxford University Museum of Natural History
Oxford University Museum of Natural History

The Oxford University Museum of Natural History, sometimes known simply as the Oxford University Museum, is a museum displaying many of the University of Oxford natural history specimens, located on Parks Road in Oxford, England....
, and can only be accessed through that building.

The museum was founded in 1884 by General Augustus Pitt Rivers, who donated his collection to the University of Oxford
University of Oxford

The University of Oxford , located in the city of Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation in the English-speaking world....
 with the condition that a permanent lecturer
Lecturer

Lecturer is a term of academic rank. In the United Kingdom lecturer is the name given to university teachers in their first permanent university position....
 in anthropology
Anthropology

Anthropology is the study of humans and humanity in its totality. Anthropology has origins in the natural sciences, and the humanities. In Great Britain it was originally divided into physical anthropology and cultural anthropology, which itself was divided into archaeology, technology, ethnology and sociology ....
 must be appointed. Museum staff are involved in teaching Archaeology and Anthropology at the University even today.

The original donation consisted of approximately 20,000 items, which have now grown to 500,000 items, many of which have been donated by travellers, scholars and missionaries
Missionary

A 'missionary' is a member of a religion who works to convert those who do not share the missionary's faith; someone who Proselytism. The word "mission" is derived from the Latin missioninimus...
.

The museum's collection is arranged thematically, according to how the objects were used, rather than according to their age or origin.






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The Pitt Rivers Museum is a museum
Museum

A museum is a "permanent institution in the service of society and of its development, open to the public, which acquires, conserves, researches, communicates and exhibits the tangible and intangible heritage of humanity and its environment, for the purposes of education, study, and entertainment", as defined by the International Coun...
 displaying the archaeological
Archaeology

Archaeology, archeology, or arch?ology is the science that studies Homo cultures through the recovery, documentation, analysis, and interpretation of material remains and environmental data, including architecture, Artifact , features, Biofact s, and cultural landscape....
 and anthropological
Anthropology

Anthropology is the study of humans and humanity in its totality. Anthropology has origins in the natural sciences, and the humanities. In Great Britain it was originally divided into physical anthropology and cultural anthropology, which itself was divided into archaeology, technology, ethnology and sociology ....
 collections of the University of Oxford
University of Oxford

The University of Oxford , located in the city of Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation in the English-speaking world....
. The museum is located to the east of the Oxford University Museum of Natural History
Oxford University Museum of Natural History

The Oxford University Museum of Natural History, sometimes known simply as the Oxford University Museum, is a museum displaying many of the University of Oxford natural history specimens, located on Parks Road in Oxford, England....
, and can only be accessed through that building.

The museum was founded in 1884 by General Augustus Pitt Rivers, who donated his collection to the University of Oxford
University of Oxford

The University of Oxford , located in the city of Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation in the English-speaking world....
 with the condition that a permanent lecturer
Lecturer

Lecturer is a term of academic rank. In the United Kingdom lecturer is the name given to university teachers in their first permanent university position....
 in anthropology
Anthropology

Anthropology is the study of humans and humanity in its totality. Anthropology has origins in the natural sciences, and the humanities. In Great Britain it was originally divided into physical anthropology and cultural anthropology, which itself was divided into archaeology, technology, ethnology and sociology ....
 must be appointed. Museum staff are involved in teaching Archaeology and Anthropology at the University even today.

The original donation consisted of approximately 20,000 items, which have now grown to 500,000 items, many of which have been donated by travellers, scholars and missionaries
Missionary

A 'missionary' is a member of a religion who works to convert those who do not share the missionary's faith; someone who Proselytism. The word "mission" is derived from the Latin missioninimus...
.

The museum's collection is arranged thematically, according to how the objects were used, rather than according to their age or origin. This layout owes a lot to the theories of General Pitt Rivers himself, who intended for his collection to show progression in design
Design

Design is used both as a noun and a verb. The term is often tied to the various applied arts and engineering . As a verb, "to design" refers to the process of originating and planning for a product, structure, system, or component with intention....
 and evolution
Evolution

In biology, evolution is change in the heritability trait of a population of organisms from one generation to the next. These changes are caused by a combination of three main processes: variation, reproduction, and selection....
 in human culture
Culture

Culture is difficult to define. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions....
 from simple to complex. While this evolutionary approach to material culture is no longer accepted in archaeology and anthropology, the museum has retained the original organisation of the displays. The display of many examples of a particular type of tool or artifact, showing historical and regional variations, is an unusual and distinct feature of this museum.

The museum has an incredibly high density of objects on display, and the displays are regularly changed.

In 2004, the museum received £3,700,000 from the Higher Education Funding Council for England
Higher Education Funding Council for England

The Higher Education Funding Council for England is a non-departmental public body of the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills in the United Kingdom, which has been responsible for the distribution of funding to Universities and Higher Education in England since 1992....
 (HEFCE) to build a research annexe adjoining the museum. Building work was completed in 2007, bringing the academic staff of the museum back to the site, and providing a laboratory
Laboratory

A laboratory is a facility that provides controlled conditions in which science research, experiments, and measurement may be performed. The title of laboratory is also used for certain other facilities where the processes or equipment used are similar to those in scientific laboratories....
 for conservation
Archaeological site

An archaeological site is a place in which evidence of past activity is preserved , and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology and represents a part of the archaeological record...
 of the specimens. The annex will not affect the Victorian
Victorian era

The Victorian Era of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the period of Victoria of the United Kingdom reign from June 1837 to January 1901....
 displays of the museum.

The second phase of development began on July 7, 2008 necessitating the closure of the museum and galleries until early Spring 2009. In this work, the 1960s exhibition gallery will be dismantled, restoring the original view through to the Museum’s totem pole
Totem pole

Totem poles are monumental sculptures carved from large trees, usually cedar, but mostly Western Redcedar, by cultures of the Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America....
. Original display cases will be returned to their original place at the front of the Museum. The space upstairs vacated by these cases will provide additional space for a Clore Duffield Education Centre. A new entrance platform will be constructed, allowing visitors to enter on the same level as the Oxford University Museum of Natural History and improved access for wheelchair users and parents with pushchairs. The entrance platform will also provide re-located shop and reception areas. An environmental control system will also be installed.

The Pitt Rivers Museum, along with the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, won The Guardian
The Guardian

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 Family Friendly Museum of 2005.

External links



Gallery


Image:Natural History Museum and Pitt River Museum.jpg|The Natural History Museum and Pitt River Museum Image:Pitt Rivers Museum across floor.jpg| A view across the floor Image:Pitt Rivers Museum Totem pole.jpg| Totem pole Image:Pitt Rivers Museum Totem.jpg| Totem Image:Pitt Rivers Museum Shrunken head.jpg| "Treatment of Dead Enemies" case Image:Pitt Rivers Museum Mask.jpg| Mask