ANTIQUITIES STUDY ROOM

OPENING HOURS

Tuesday–Friday, 10am–1pm and 2pm–4.30pm

Admission is free

HOW TO BOOK

All visits to our study rooms need to be booked 4 to 6 weeks in advance.

Bookings and enquiries can be made by email at: antiquities@ashmus.ox.ac.uk

Researchers should provide accession numbers for the objects they wish to see during their visit. Please contact the relevant curator to discuss object availability.

Please read the regulations below before visiting:

TEMPORARY CLOSURE OF STUDY ROOMS & ACCESS TO THE COLLECTIONS

The Ashmolean Museum’s Department of Antiquities is embarking on a major Collections Management Project commencing in January 2026. This will mean there is some temporary closure of the study rooms and access to the behind-the-scenes collections will be limited.

This 2.5-year project will involve auditing the entire archaeological collections (approximately 275,000 objects) located in both on and off-site storage facilities, as well as improving digital records available on the museum’s Collections Online platform. Our aim is to deliver significantly improved engagement with the collections by increasing access for research, teaching, and other core activities.

This transformative project will improve access and engagement with the collections, supporting research, teaching, and public discovery through a more comprehensive Collections Online platform.

All Department of Antiquities galleries in the Museum will remain open to visitors for the duration of the project.

Curatorial and Collections staff may take longer than usual to respond to enquiries about the collections. Further updates will be posted on the Department of Antiquities webpages.

However, the Department will continue to support University of Oxford curriculum teaching and students’ assessed work wherever possible. Teaching staff and students should contact the Study Room Supervisor on the email below to discuss arrangements.

Please contact the Study Room Supervisor for further information or for future visit enquiries at: antiquities@ashmus.ox.ac.uk

Thank you in advance for your support and understanding as we aim to improve the long-term storage, access, and care of the University of Oxford’s world-class archaeological collections for future generations.

DURING YOUR VISIT

You can view around 15 objects or four archive volumes

Please come to the St Giles’ entrance of the Ashmolean at your appointed time to visit the study centre and ask Reception to call the Antiquities Department.

The centre is accessible via the Museum lifts

PHOTOGRAPHY

When visiting our study centre, please:

  • make sure you have permission from the relevant Ashmolean curator if you wish to take photographs
  • only take photographs for private use or study; permission is needed for any form of publication (you can contact the Picture Library for instructions about ordering and reproducing images).

Enquiries regarding photography for image orders and reproduction rights should be sent to the Picture Library, and more information can be found here https://www.ashmolean.org/ordering-images

CURATORIAL COVER

Reduced curatorial cover for the European Prehistory and Archive collections in 2025

The curator of these collections will be on research sabbatical leave and unable to respond to enquiries during the period January 2025 - January 2026. While the Department will make every effort to provide access to the archaeological and catalogued archival collections during this period, we regret that it will not be possible to respond to enquiries that require specialist knowledge. 

General enquiries about the collections should be addressed to antiquities@ashmus.ox.ac.uk and more information may be found through our online collections pages.

OFFSITE COLLECTIONS

Part of the Antiquities collections, including large groups of archaeological material, is held offsite and currently being relocated to new storage facilities. This major project, involving all the University museums, is due for completion in 2027. During this period, some material may not be accessible for research or other purposes. We apologise in advance for any inconvenience this may cause.