Pitt Rivers Museum's Most Mysterious Objects Explored

The Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford, founded in 1884 from Augustus Pitt Rivers' donation of 20,000 artifacts, now holds over 500,000 objects. Its Victorian displays remain largely intact, organized by use rather than geography, reflecting founder's evolutionary theories. The museum has decolonized by removing human remains and collaborating with source communities. Notable objects include: shoes from Roman Egypt (c. AD 30-300) discovered by Flinders Petrie in 1899, dyed with red kermes; an 11.36-meter Haida totem pole from Masset village, Canada (1882), purchased for £36 in 1901; samurai armor from Japan (c. 1750) with interchangeable fittings; 52 Noh masks from Kyoto (16th-19th centuries); a Blackfoot 'Many Shots Robe' (1894) made of cowhide showing a woman killing a grizzly bear; a witch in a bottle from Sussex acquired by Margaret Murray in 1915; a Borneo turtle-shell comb mounted in silver; and an Italian Cimaruta charm against the Evil Eye.