Gardens, Libraries, and Museums (GLAM), University of Oxford
Job Summary
Job Description
About the role
The stone tool collections held by the Ashmolean Museum, the Museum of Natural History and Pitt Rivers Museum are vast, comprehensive and of considerable research value – put together they are one of the most significant lithics collection in the UK. This project will focus on the British Palaeolithic – this is the greatest strength of the lithic collections and also sits well with the amazing Pleistocene faunal collections in the Museum of Natural History.
The Project Curator will be responsible for cataloguing and photographing the entire collection and 3D scanning key items. Catalogue data will be held in the internal Collections Management Systems (Axiell EMu; MuseumPlus) and will be made accessible worldwide through the individual Collections Online sites as well as through a web presence on the University’s Gardens, Libraries and Museums site. They will also spend some time developing and delivering teaching sessions for students, learning resources for schools, pop-up exhibitions, public programming, and volunteer opportunities.
This is a full-time, fixed-term post for 36 months. The post could be fully on-site or hybrid (up to two days a week working from home).
Due to the nature of this post, the successful candidate will be required to undertake a satisfactory Basic Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check.
About You
The successful candidate will have an undergraduate degree with a substantial Archaeology component and experience of identifying and classifying prehistoric lithic artefacts.
They will also have a track record of collections-focused museum work, including photographing museum objects and using collections management systems (CMSs) such as Axiell EMu or MuseumPlus.
Experience of using a structured light scanner to make 3D scans would be desirable but is not essential.
Job Requirements
Establish an agreed terminology for documenting lithic artefacts across the three museums, e.g.
for object types, materials, localities
Establish best practice for photographing lithic artefacts, e.g. lighting, scale bars, orientations,
most efficient workflows
Establish best practice for storing lithic artefacts, e.g. packing methods and environmental
conditions, and explore possibilities for storing the collections alongside one another in shared
spaces for enhanced access
Work with the Digital teams in the three museums to enhance the Collections Management
Systems as necessary to properly handle lithic collections (this will involve significant changes to
the MNH CMS and minor changes in the ASH and PRM)
Catalogue or upgrade the documentation for the entire collection, recording object type,
materials used, human cultural period, geographic locality and provenance information, and
creating links between object and archive collections
4
Photograph every diagnostic piece,
Job Overview
- Job Title: Project Curator – UK Palaeolithic Project
- Salary: £30k-£40k
- Hours:
Full time - Role: Curation
- Contract: Temporary
- Closing date: Fri, 08 May 2026
-
Location:
South East
Job: Project Curator – UK Palaeolithic Project
Job: Project Curator – UK Palaeolithic Project
Organisation: Gardens, Libraries, and Museums (GLAM), University of Oxford
Postcode: OX1 3PW
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