Pitt Rivers Museum of Anthropology, Oxford University, Oxford, England by T. E. Smith-Lamothe

Tucked behind the Museum of Natural History, the anthropology and world archaeology collection of the Pitt Rivers Museum is a hoarder's dream. A dark, cavernous hall is chock-a-block full of artifacts in stacked glass cases. Items are not arranged by culture or historical period, rather, by use. Swords from Renaissance France share the same case as Edo-era Japanese ones, needles from Inuit tribes in Nunavut share space with needles from Incan Peru, and so on through several floors to explore (hopefully, in more than one visit!). The visitor can't focus on one group or one time and has to make mental connections between the variety of things before them. This forces one to appreciate both diversity and commonality at an immediate, almost visceral, level. I am not saying that all anthropology museums should be done this way, but I am very glad at least one is. For more information, visit: www.prm.ox.ac.uk /