The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology is a museum of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1683, it is one of the oldest public museums in the world. The collections of the Department of Antiquities cover almost the entire span of human history from the Lower Palaeolithic to the Victorian era. They incorporate the surviving parts of the Museum's earliest collections, and a comprehensive representation of the early cultures of Europe, Egypt and the Near East which owe much to the Museum's long association with the field of archaeology. Admission is free; open Tues-Sunday and Bank Holidays; please contact the Museum to be sure it is open before visiting. The Museum is opposite the Randolph Hotel. Telephone: +44-(0)1865-278020 Fax: +44-(0)1865-278032