Monday 25 November 2013

Pitt Rivers Museum

Over the weekend we had a Smith family outing to one of my very favourite places- The Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford. 

Pitt Rivers is absolutely crammed full of different collections from around the world, ranging from witchcraft artefacts to shrunken heads. I am a natural hoarder, particularly of shiny things, so everything about the museum appeals to me. This was my third visit, but I think it's one of those places where you could visit for the rest of your life and always discover something new.

Here are some pictures from the day. 

Just to warn you, there are pictures of skulls and shrunken heads below, so if you don't want to see them, please don't scroll down!


Three floors of treasure to explore


My favourite discovery: healing sea-horses!


I love all of the hand-written labels 



Wooden masks

I really liked this fabric design

Treatment of Dead Enemies section


A rather grizzly shrunken head.
For some reason this one reminds me of the uncle
 in 'The Magician's Nephew'

Another shrunken head. These are eerily small.


Mum and Harv are happy- they've found the skulls!



These keys really appeal to my inner magpie

Many of the drawers beneath the cabinets are unlocked so that you can
find even more curiosities



Tarot and playing cards

Bottles and jars




A testosterone-fueled walk through the weapons section

Unfortunately the Natural History Museum in the same building was closed for
restoration work.
 A perfect excuse to re-visit when it's finished in February!