Pitt Rivers museum

[daved]

Visiting Oxford? If you get a chance, pop in to the Pitt Rivers museum at the back of the university natural history museum. Along with all the shrunken heads and bric-a-brac from around the world, there is a display case full of different items used to make fire. They had various fire drills, thongs, saws, ploughs and pretty much every variant on ways to light a fire with friction. Interesting to see how the "professionals" went about it. They also had a smaller display of spark based fire starters.
The natural history museum is a great place too - well worth a visit.

Dave

 

[ScottC]

Hi dave,

The museum sounds good thanks for the tip. I will be heading up to oxford next month to visit a relative so I may just go have a look.

Does it have a website we can look at

 

[innocent bystander]

One website coming up :
http://www.prm.ox.ac.uk/

And the fire collection :
http://www.prm.ox.ac.uk/fire.html

 

[baggins]

Its greta, went there 15 years ago for a gcse art trip. i could have spent years in there, so much cool stuff and so much of it made by peoples out of touch with western technology (as it was 100 years ago). Well worth a visit!

 

[redflex]

Nice link, good few things worth reading about cheers

 

[daved]

I really like the natural history museum too. Fantastic range of fossils and minerals if you like that sort of thing. Unlike most museums they also have a selection of "Please touch" exhibits - stuffed cheetah, owls, shetland pony etc. Would be great for kids (of whatever age ).
If you do go, be sure to take a look at the stone pillars as you go around - they are all made of different rock types and look really nice.
It is on a much more manageable scale than the NHM in London and admission is free.

 

[Buckshot]

It's a great place to look round. All collected by one man - Mr Rivers...
Seriously varied collection. It's a little dark because they don't want to bleech everything with the lights so some kids might not like it too much. You have a tendancy to walk around a corner and be faced with a shrunken head :yikes:
There's also got some dinosor footprints outside the entrance set into the lawn. They were found very close to where I live. Kinda weird to think a dino was in my back garden !!!

Cheers

Mark

 

[Toddy]

There's a famous diagram that shows the various tools developing from a simple, primeval, stick. Pitt Rivers put the illustration together and I'd like a really nice copy of it. If anyone is in the Museum and comes across a print or a poster of this stick/tool diagram, and it's not going to break the bank, would you buy it for me and I'll happily re-imburse costs and p&p. Ideally I'm looking for A3 size but A4 would do....even a postcard

Cheers,
Toddy

 

[Nemisis]

Is what you want among the publications list on bystanders link Toddy?
Dave.

 

[Toddy]

I don't see it on the lists It's considered a bit out of step with the political correctedness of archaeology/anthropology but it just seems to be a nice straightfoward explanation. I particularly wanted a good copy as a gift for a craftsman friend.
I'll maybe try phoning the museum next week, someone there might be able to help.

Cheers,
Toddy