Editing British Museum (section)

===Department of Africa, Oceania and the Americas===
[[File:Wellcome Trust Gallery + Living & Dying (Room 24).jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|Room 24 – The [[Wellcome Trust]] Gallery of Living and Dying, with [[Hoa Hakananai'a]], a ''[[moai]]'', in the centre]]
The British Museum houses one of the world's most comprehensive collections of [[ethnographic]] material from Africa, Oceania and the Americas, representing the cultures of [[indigenous peoples]] throughout the world. Over 350,000 objects<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/the_museum/departments/africa,_oceania_and_americas.aspx |title=Africa, Oceania and the Americas |publisher=British Museum |date=14 June 2010 |access-date=4 July 2010 |archive-date=14 August 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070814030755/http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/the_museum/departments/africa,_oceania_and_americas.aspx |url-status=live }}</ref> spanning thousands of years tells the history of mankind from three major continents and many rich and diverse cultures; the collecting of modern artefacts is ongoing. Many individuals have added to the department's collection over the years but those assembled by [[Henry Christy]], [[Harry Geoffrey Beasley|Harry Beasley]] and [[William Ockelford Oldman|William Oldman]] are outstanding.

Objects from this department are mostly on display in several galleries on the ground and lower floors. Gallery 24 displays [[ethnographic]] from every continent while adjacent galleries focus on North America and Mexico. A long suite of rooms (Gallery 25) on the lower floor display African art. There are plans in place to develop permanent galleries for showcasing art from Oceania and South America.

'''Africa'''
[[File:African_throwing_knives.jpg|thumb|Room 25 – A collection of African [[Throwing knife|throwing knives]]]]
The Sainsbury African Galleries display 600 objects from the greatest permanent collection of African arts and culture in the world. The three permanent galleries provide a substantial exhibition space for the museum's African collection comprising over 200,000 objects. A curatorial scope that encompasses both archaeological and contemporary material, including both unique masterpieces of artistry and objects of everyday life. A great addition was material amassed by Sir [[Henry Wellcome]], which was donated by the [[Wellcome Collection|Wellcome Historical Medical Museum]] in 1954.

Highlights of the African collection include objects found at [[Senegambian stone circles|megalithic circles]] in The Gambia, a dozen exquisite [[Kongo ivories#Afro-Portuguese ivories|Afro-Portuguese ivories]], a series of soapstone figures from the [[Kissi people]] in Sierra Leone and Liberia, hoard of bronze [[Kru people|Kru]] currency rings from the [[Sinoe River]] in [[Greenville, Liberia|Liberia]], Asante goldwork and regalia from Ghana including the [[Thomas Edward Bowdich|Bowdich]] collection, the rare [[Akan Drum]] from the same region in west Africa, pair of door panels and lintel from the palace at [[Ikere-Ekiti]] in [[Yorubaland]], the [[Benin Bronzes|Benin]] and [[Igbo-Ukwu]] bronze sculptures, the beautiful [[Bronze Head of Queen Idia]], a magnificent [[Bronze Head from Ife|brass head]] of a Yoruba ruler and quartz throne from [[Ife]], a similar [[terracotta]] head from Iwinrin Grove near Ife, the [[Apapa Hoard]] from Lagos and other mediaeval bronze hoards from Allabia and the [[Forçados River]] in southern Nigeria.

Included is an [[Ikom monoliths|Ikom monolith]] from [[Cross River State]], several ancestral screens from the [[Kalabari tribe]] in the Niger Delta, the [[Emil Torday|Torday]] collection of central African sculpture, textiles and weaponry from the [[Kuba Kingdom]] including three [[Ndop (Kuba)|royal figures]], the unique [[Luzira Head]] from Uganda, [[Ethiopian cross|processional crosses]] and other ecclesiastical and royal material from [[Gondar]] and [[Amba Mariam|Magdala]], Ethiopia following the [[British Expedition to Abyssinia]], excavated objects from [[Great Zimbabwe]] (that includes a unique soapstone, [[anthropomorphic]] figure) and satellite towns such as [[Mutare]] including a large hoard of Iron Age soapstone figures, a rare [[divining]] bowl from the [[Venda]] peoples and cave paintings and [[petroglyph]]s from [[Wildebeest Kuil Rock Art Centre|South Africa]].

'''Oceania'''

The British Museum's Oceanic collections originate from the vast area of the Pacific Ocean, stretching from Papua New Guinea to Easter Island, from New Zealand to Hawaii. The three main anthropological groups represented in the collection are [[Polynesia]], [[Melanesia]] and [[Micronesia]] – Aboriginal art from Australia is considered separately in its own right. Metal working was not indigenous to Oceania before Europeans arrived, so many of the artefacts from the collection are made from stone, shell, bone and bamboo. Prehistoric objects from the region include a bird-shaped [[pestle]] and a group of stone [[Pestle and mortar|mortars]] from [[Papua New Guinea]].

The British Museum is fortunate in having some of the earliest Oceanic and Pacific collections, many of which were put together by members of [[James Cook|Cook]]'s and [[George Vancouver|Vancouver]]'s expeditions or by colonial administrators and explorers such as Sir [[George Grey]], Sir [[Frederick Broome]], [[Joseph Bradshaw (pastoralist)|Joseph Bradshaw]], [[Robert Christison (pastoralist)|Robert Christison]], [[Gregory Mathews]], Frederick Meinertzhagen, [[Thomas Mitchell (explorer)|Thomas Mitchell]] and [[Arthur Hamilton-Gordon, 1st Baron Stanmore|Arthur Gordon]], before Western culture significantly impacted on indigenous cultures. The department has also benefited greatly from the legacy of pioneering [[anthropology|anthropologists]] such as [[Alfred Cort Haddon|AC Haddon]], [[Bronisław Malinowski]] and [[Katherine Routledge]]. An artefact is a wooden Aboriginal [[Gweagal shield|shield]], probably dating from the late eighteenth century.<ref>{{Cite web|title=shield {{!}} British Museum|url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/E_Oc1978-Q-839|access-date=12 March 2021|website=The British Museum|archive-date=1 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210501145420/https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/E_Oc1978-Q-839|url-status=live}}</ref> There is some debate as to whether this shield was found at Botany Bay or, given the nature of the wood being red mangrove which grows abundantly only 500&nbsp;km north of Botany Bay, possibly obtained through trade networks or at an entirely different location.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Nugent|first=Maria|date=February 2018|title='A Shield Loaded With History; Encounters, Objects, and Exhibitions'|journal=Australian Historical Studies|pages=39}}</ref><ref name=":12">{{Cite journal|last=Thomas|first=Nicholas|date=2018|title=A Case of Identity: The Artifacts of the 1770 Kamay (Botany Bay) Encounter|url=https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/293268|journal=Australian Historical Studies|volume=49|issue=1 |pages=4–27|doi=10.1080/1031461X.2017.1414862|s2cid=149069484|via=Taylor and Francis Online|access-date=17 January 2022|archive-date=9 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211209020856/https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/293268|url-status=live}}</ref>

The [[Henry Wilson (sailor)|Wilson]] cabinet of curiosities from [[Palau]] is an example of pre-contact ware. Another outstanding exemplar is the mourner's dress from [[Tahiti]] given to Cook on his [[Second voyage of James Cook|second voyage]], one of only ten in existence. In the collection is a large [[war canoe]] from the island of [[Vella Lavella]] in the [[Solomon Islands]], one of the last ever to be built in the archipelago.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/E_Oc1927-1022-1-a-m| title = Museum Collection| access-date = 16 October 2020| archive-date = 16 January 2021| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210116083955/https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/E_Oc1927-1022-1-a-m| url-status = live}}</ref>

The [[Māori culture|Māori]] collection is the finest outside New Zealand with many intricately carved wooden and [[Hei-tiki|jade objects]] and the [[Aboriginal art]] collection is distinguished by its wide range of [[bark paintings]], including two very early bark etchings collected by [[John Hunter Kerr]]. A particularly important group of objects was purchased from the [[London Missionary Society]] in 1911, that includes the unique [[statue of A'a from Rurutu]] Island, the rare [[Mangareva Statue|idol]] from the isle of Mangareva and the Cook Islands [[Deity Figure from Rarotonga|deity figure]]. Other highlights include the huge Hawaiian statue of [[Kū|Kū-ka-ili-moku]] or god of war (one of three extant in the world) and the famous Easter Island statues [[Hoa Hakananai'a]] and [[Relocation of moai objects|Moai Hava]].

'''Americas'''

The Americas collection mainly consists of 19th and 20th century items although the [[Paracas culture|Paracas]], [[Moche culture|Moche]], [[Inca]], [[Maya civilization|Maya]], [[Aztec]], [[Taino]] and other early cultures are well represented. The [[Kayung totem pole]], which was made in the late nineteenth century on [[Haida Gwaii]], dominates the Great Court and provides a fitting introduction to this very wide-ranging collection that stretches from the very north of the North American continent where the [[Inuit]] population has lived for centuries, to the tip of South America where indigenous tribes have long thrived in Patagonia.

Highlights of the collection include [[Aboriginal peoples in Canada|Aboriginal Canadian]] and Native American objects from North America collected by the [[Hugh Lowther, 5th Earl of Lonsdale|5th Earl of Lonsdale]], the [[John Campbell, 9th Duke of Argyll|Marquis of Lorne]], the explorer [[David Haig-Thomas]] and [[Bryan Mullanphy]], [[Mayor of St. Louis]], the [[E. G. Squier|Squier]] and [[Edwin Hamilton Davis|Davis]] collection of prehistoric mound relics from North America, two carved stone bowls in the form of a seated human figure made by ancient [[Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast|North West Coast peoples]] from [[Cowichan Bay|British Columbia]], the headdress of Chief Yellow Calf from the [[Arapaho]] tribe in [[Wyoming]], a lidded rivercane basket from [[South Carolina]] and the earliest historic example of [[Cherokee]] basketry, a selection of pottery vessels found in prehistoric dwellings at [[Mesa Verde]] and [[Casas Grandes]], one of the enigmatic [[Crystal Skull|crystal skulls]] of unknown origin, a collection of nine turquoise Aztec [[Double-headed serpent|mosaics]] from Mexico (the largest in Europe), important artefacts from [[Teotihuacan Ocelot|Teotihuacan]] and [[Isla de Sacrificios]].

There are several rare pre-Columbian manuscripts including the [[Codex Zouche-Nuttall]] and [[Codex Waecker-Gotter]] and post-colonial ones such as the [[Aubin Codex|Codex Aubin]] and [[Codex Kingsborough]], a spectacular series of Mayan [[Yaxchilan Lintel 24|lintels]] from [[Yaxchilan]] excavated by the British Mayanist [[Alfred Maudslay]], a very high quality Mayan collection that includes sculptures from [[Copán Bench Panel|Copan]], [[Tikal Temple I|Tikal]], [[Tulum Stela 1|Tulum]], [[Pusilha]], [[Naranjo]] and [[Nebaj]] (including the celebrated [[Fenton Vase]]), an ornate calcite vase with [[jaguar]] handles from the [[Ulua River|Ulua Valley]] in Honduras, the [[Walter Edward Guinness, 1st Baron Moyne|Lord Moyne]] collection from the [[Bay Islands Department|Bay Islands]], Honduras and [[Frederick Boyle|Boyle]] collection from [[Nicaragua]], over 20 stone [[metate]]s with [[zoomorphic]] and [[anthropomorphic]] ornamentation from Costa Rica, a group of [[Zemi Figures from Vere, Jamaica]], and wooden [[Taino ritual seat|duhos]] from the Dominican Republic and [[The Bahamas]].

There are a collection of [[Pre-Columbian era|Pre-Columbian]] human mummies from sites across South America including [[Ancon (archaeological site)|Ancon]], [[Acarí District|Acari]], [[Arica]] and [[Villa de Leyva|Leyva]], a number of prestigious pre-Columbian gold and [[Lake Guatavita|votive]] objects from Colombia, three axe-shaped gold [[diadem]]s found near [[Camaná]] from the Siguas culture in Peru, unique collection of [[Moche culture|Moche]] wooden figures and [[Staff of office|staffs]] from the {{ill|Macabi islands|es|Islas Macabí}} off Peru, ethnographic objects from across the Amazon region including the [[Robert Hermann Schomburgk|Schomburgk]] and [[David Maybury Lewis|Maybury Lewis]] collections and part of the [[Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius|von Martius]] and [[Johann Baptist von Spix|von Spix]] collection, two rare [[Tiwanaku]] pottery vessels from [[Lake Titicaca]] and important items from [[Tierra del Fuego]] donated by Commander [[Phillip Parker King]].

<gallery widths="190px" heights="190px">
File:British Museum otter pipe.jpg|Room 26 - Stone pipe representing an otter from [[Hopewell Culture National Historical Park|Mound City]], Ohio, USA, 200 BC - 400 AD
File:British Museum tomb guardian.jpg|Room 2 - Stone tomb guardian, part human part jaguar, from [[San Agustín, Huila|San Agustín]], Colombia, c. 300-600 AD
File:Maya maize god statue.jpg|Room 1 - Maya maize god statue from [[Copán]], Honduras, 600-800 AD
File:Gold Lime Flasks (poporos) Quimbaya Culture, Colombia AD 600-1100 - British Museum.jpg|Room 24 - Gold Lime Flasks (poporos), [[Quimbaya civilization|Quimbaya Culture]], Colombia, 600-1100 AD
File:Maya, lintel 25, da yaxchilan, 725.JPG|Room 27 - Lintel 25 from [[Yaxchilan]], Late Classic, Mexico, 600-900 AD
File:Bird pectoral, Popayan, gold alloy, AD900–1600..jpg|Room 24 - Bird pectoral made from gold alloy, [[Popayán]], Colombia, 900-1600 AD
File:Hoa Hakananai'a, British Museum.jpg|Room 24 – Rapa Nui statue [[Hoa Hakananai'a]], 1000 AD, [[Wellcome Trust]] Gallery
File:Aztec double-headed serpent - Denis Bourez - British Museum, London.jpg|Room 27 - [[Double-headed serpent]] turquoise mosaic, Aztec, Mexico, 1400-1500 AD
File:Denis Bourez - British Museum, London (8747055335).jpg|Room 27 - Turquoise Mosaic Mask, [[Mixtec]]-[[Aztec]], Mexico, 1400-1500 AD
File:AHOTWgold lama.JPG|Room 2 - Miniature gold llama figurine, [[Inca]], Peru, about 1500 AD
File:Benin Bronzes at the British Museum 1.jpg|Room 25 - Part of the famous collection of Benin brass plaques, [[Nigeria]], 1500-1600 AD
File:Benin brass plaque 01.jpg|Room 25 - Detail of one of the [[Benin Empire|Benin]] brass plaques in the museum, Nigeria, 1500-1600 AD
File:Idia mask BM Af1910 5-13 1.jpg|Room 25 - [[Benin ivory mask]] of Queen Idia, Nigeria, 16th century AD
File:Hawaiian feather helmet, British Museum 3.jpg|Room 24 - Hawaiian feather helmet or [[mahiole]], late 1700s AD
File:Hawaiian bowl.jpg|Bowl decorated with pearl shell and boars' tusks, used to serve the intoxicating drink [[kava]], Hawaii, late 1700s AD
File:British museum, totem.JPG|Great Court - Two house frontal [[Kayung totem pole|totem poles]], Haida, British Columbia, Canada, about 1850 AD
File:Punu mask BM Af1904 11-22 1.jpg|Room 25 - Mask (wood and pigment); Punu people, [[Gabon]], 19th century AD
File:Otobo masquerade.jpg|Room 25 - Otobo masquerade in the Africa Gallery, Nigeria, 20th century AD
File:El Anatsui - Man's Cloth.jpg|Room 25 - Modern interpretation of [[kente cloth]] from [[Ghana]], late 20th century AD
</gallery>