British Museum releases scans of artefacts to let you 3D print your own museum at home

The British Museum could soon be coming to your living room – if, that is, you have a 3D printer on hand.

Working in collaboration with Sketchfab, an online platform that lets users share and download 3D scans, the British Museum has created 14 3D models of busts, statues and sarcophagi from its collection for anyone to download and print at home.

The museum’s “first downloadable collection” includes a granite head of Egyptian pharaoh Amenemhat III from the 12th Dynasty (around 1800 BC), a stone figure of the Aztec god Ziuhcoatl (created around 1325-1521 AD) and a marble bust of Zeus of 1 century origin that is described as “found/acquired” -nicer than stolen/nicked - from Roman emperor Hadrian’s Villa.