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 & LIMITED ACCESS

Please note that the Department’s Study Room will be closed in Aug and Sep 2025; regrettably, due to the Department of Antiquities embarking on a major Collections Project which began in June 2025. There will be no access to the collections during this time.

Also note that there will be limited access from Spring 2026 while the Collections Project is underway. Further updates will be posted on the Antiquities Department section of the Ashmolean website as information becomes available.

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

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 as these objects are under copyright (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 the the Ancient Egypt and Sudan collections in 2025

The curator of these collections will be on research leave and unable to respond to enquiries in Jul and Aug 2025. While the Department will make every effort to provide information about the collections during this period, we regret that it will not be possible to respond to enquiries that require specialist knowledge.

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 - October 2025. 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.